Watch carefully. Your teacher is holding out one strip of paper from one end, like a diving board.
What happens to the free end? Why does this paper flop when nothing has changed about the paper itself?
Can the same piece of paper stop flopping just by changing its shape?
We are going to find out with three shapes made from the same paper. Today we care about stiffness: how well a shape holds itself up. We will try a deep V, a tight tube, and fan folds (ridges folded back and forth).
We will stiffen the same paper three ways: a deep V, a tube, and fan folds (ridges). Which shape do you think will resist flopping best when you hold it out from one end? Tell your partner why.
Now test the same paper four ways. Watch how to make each shape, then hold each one out from one end.
- Flat strip
- Deep V (tiny roof)
- Tight tube
- Fan folds (ridges standing up)
Hold each from one end the same way: no books underneath, no weights on top. Your hand is the only test. For the V, hold it like a tiny roof beam, point down or point up, not lying on its side. For the fan folds, run the ridges from your hand out to the free end and leave them standing up a little.
On your Investigation Journal page, record each shape you tested and whether it flopped or held. Note which shape resisted best, and one reason you think that happened.
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