Preparation

For every 3-4 participants you will need a set of building blocks. Depending on the type of blocks or material the number may vary. We experimented with:

• Stackable plastic blocks: about 25 per team
• Dominoes: about 40 per team

You need to setup a scale for the competition. E.g. participants can earn their first point, when they have piled up 8 bricks, then again every second brick. The scale depends on the material you use and how good your participants are at piling up things. We experimented with:

• Wooden dominoes: Start at 20 and give a point every 3 pieces
• Big plastic bricks: Start at 5 and give points every 2 pieces
• Small plastic bricks: start at 8 and give points every 2 pieces

Adjust the scale so that the first level can be easily reached by everybody. You can use the printable to fill in your scale. The worksheet can also be used to track the points.

Method / Process description

The lesson combines the Risky Tower exercise with rounds of group reflections. 

The Risky Tower Exercise

• Line up 2 or more tables in a row so that every team has enough space for building  a tower with the bricks.
• Divide the class into groups of 3-4 people.
• Give each team a set of bricks.
• Each group selects a referee who will switch over to to next group.
• Explain the mission to the participants: pile up a brick tower and get the highest number of points.  
• How to get points: At each level of the scale the team can decide whether they want to take:
  • one safety point
  • skip this level and earn 3 points at the next level.
  • If the tower crashes all points are lost.
• At every level the referee either puts the points on the level or puts the blocker stone on the level to indicate that the group decided to skip this level. 
• If a team exceeds the number of levels on the printed scale simply continue the list above the illustration.
• The team can at all stages decide to stop building further 
• The team with the highest number of points wins.

Background:

• The exercise leaves plenty of room for experimenting:
  • using different kinds of bricks or materials
  • specifying the way the bricks should be tiled or leaving it open.
  • experimenting with different scales (e.g. will 4 point for skipping one level increase the readiness to take the risk).
• If you use the exercise at school you can also talk about the physical background why certain bricks are easier to pile.  

Structuring the Lesson

• Input: Give a short introduction to the challenges teams are facing (Module 6 > 6.1.  Introducing Children to Digital Skills >
  Working in Teams > Training Teamwork Playfully).
• Exercise: Perform the Risky Tower exercise one time. 
• Group discussion: Discuss with the group how they experienced the team work. Let each group report:
  • If they were satisfied with the way they performed in the exercise.
  • Which problems they had.
  • How everybody felt about estimating the risk (Was it easy to guess when the tower would crash?)
  • How they agreed on a strategy  (Was it easy? Did everybody have to same opinion? How did it feel to agree to a compromise?)
  • How they felt when the tower crashed. 
• Exercise: Let the group decide whether they want to perform the exercise again in the same teams or if they want to mix up. E.g. the referees from the first round integrate into the group they monitored and a new referee is sent to the group. You can also leave groups as they are but exchange the referee.
  • Group discussion: After the second round discuss in the plenum: 
    • What changed compared to the first round?
      • Was it easier to assess the risk?
      • Where the options fewer?
      • Did strategies still differ as much in the first round?
      • Did people behave differently?
      • Was the frustration less worse or maybe higher?
      • Was it easier to cope with frustration? 
• Reflection: Either in groups or pairs or in written form as a homework discuss the following questions: 
  • What is the impact of experience on risk assessment (e.g. you can derive assessments from previous situations so you don't make a mistake twice but relying on experiences could also prevent you from taking risks that lead to an innovative solution -> it is best to bring together people with mixed experience together in one team)
  • Discuss what may support risk assessment in difficult situations (unknown situation, changing targets): gathering all information possible, defining what is the difficult part, thinking in scenarios "What might happen? How could the situation turn out", mapping consequences "What might happen if..." 
  • Discuss what can help to cope with frustration (e.g. training it playfully, identifying what the frustration is about  (am I hurt, disapointed, am I overwhelmed), analyze what regularly frustrates you and what you can do in this situation, seeing chances in mistakes, reasonably assess targets) 

Downloads

• Printable "The Risky Tower"