This roof can support over 400 times its own weight, and you don’t need tape! One of the great things about net forces is that although the objects can be under tremendous force, nothing moves! For every push, there’s an equal and opposite pull (or set of pulls) that cancel each other out.
This barrel roof is an excellent example of how to the forces all cancel out and the roof stands strong (hopefully!) If you have trouble with this experiment, just use cardstock or other heavy weight paper instead of regular copy paper.
Here’s what you need:
Please login or register to read the rest of this content.
Be sure you print the template and use it to make your folds. If you still have trouble please take a picture of what you made and email it to [email protected]. That way I can see how things are going.
Whey is it not working for us? We did every single step.
Use the downloadable template – simply print it out or make it large on your computer screen and trace over the lines so you have your own copy.
can you show us how to draw the lines for the project if we don’t have ink
You should have answers on the very last page of the download for each experiment. If you click on the “Live Classes” link, you’ll find recordings of the detailed lectures for the concepts covered in both Grades and Topics.
Hey! I am new to this and checking out this unit for my son to start with. I’m a little frustrated because nowhere in the written materials for this unit can I find the answers to the questions. Newton’s Third Law doesn’t come up anywhere, it’s only briefly mentioned in the “answer” section of the worksheet. Shouldn’t there be a place he should go to actually find out more about these concepts? I would expect this to be in the textbook reading materials for the unit but it doesn’t appear to be. Thanks!
The first item on the supply list has the links for the templates.
I can not find the place where you print it out. Can you please help?
Once you complete all the main folds, it is best to start at an edge as you start to fold the accordion shape. Once you get started, the process continues as you follow the natural bends of the main folds. Keep following the natural bends until you reach the other end of the paper. The video clip skips ahead because it just shows more of the same folding process.
our vidio was editid and for some reason and it skiped a folding part that i think we need to know.
Is this the only video that doesn’t show up for you? What happens if you try a different computer? The video is showing for me over on my side. Let me know what happens so I can help fix this with you.
the august live class said to come here to build a barrel roof. above says i cant see this video. how do we watch how to build a barrel roof?
What specifically did you want to know about?
How did you do that
That was cool
We looked through the comments – and tried again…SUCCESS!
Thanks for the tip! If you send me an email (mailto:[email protected]) with the image attached, I can add it to your post!
Aurora
We gave up on this one last year, even with our years of intricate origami, it wasn’t working. Just tried it again. Instead of following the video’s advice to face lines toward table, we kept them face up where we could see them and folded the valley folds up against a ruler. (Be sure to hold ruler firmly for entire length of fold or line will swerve.) And we creased every fold with edge of the ruler. This solved our problems–lines now end up spaced exactly enough that the folding step finally works! YAY! It held 561 pages or 3040 grams!!! Hope what helped us helps someone else!
now if we could just figure out why there is no way to add a photo to this-not from our mac nor our iPad… 🙁 anyone have solved that problem? 🙂
No, it’s a totally different program. The one you want is here. Bookmark it so you’ll have it anytime you need it!
Was the Barrel Roof experiment part of the Aviation Curriculum we signed up for? I was just getting ready to prep this for today’s experiments but now the system is saying we don’t have access. Help!
Thanks for your feedback! And yes, of course questions are going to come up as you do the experiments, which is why your enrollment includes unlimited support. There’s more detailed info in the reading sections, the introductory videos as well as the sections in the worksheets after the data tables, and in the more advanced HS topic areas. But if you have a specific question, that is where you’d type it in to find out more.
I have now done a couple of your experiments with my children. Here is some feedback from a first time user. All of the experiments we have had the equipment to do have been fun and I have enjoyed reading about the topics. I am having a hard time sometimes explaining the why and how of the experiments even after having read the fantastic reading material.
I was hoping to get a good science explanation of the experiments through the videos instead of just the”how to” make the experiments work. I may understand force from the reading but application to the “real life experiments” becomes tricky sometimes for me. I think it would be amazing if you could explain a little more about the science of what is happening in your videos or perhaps add a paragraph to the science experiments page that explains specifically what is happening with regard to that exact experiment and the topic being studied.
I am enjoying your site and am hoping to add it into my curriculum for next years science program. Thanks so much
This is one of the more complicated experiments. If I were having trouble understanding what to do with the folding, I’d watch the video a couple of time and have a go at it, and if that didn’t work, then I’d get someone who’s good at this sort of thing to help teach me how to figure it out. I wouldn’t have them do it for me, because then I’d need them every time I’d do something like this… I like learning how to do things by myself. 🙂 Have you tried the other experiments in this section yet?
I mean I know it will be cool but it does not make any sense.
To me it does not make any sence which way to fold everything
Do you have Adobe Reader installed? It’s a PDF file. Is it black when you view the page on the screen?
I have been trying to print out this template, and all I get is a completely black paper. Do you have any idea why?
Sure thing! You’ll find them described in detail here and here.
I forget what Newton’s laws are again. Could someone help me refresh my memory?
Yeah, I’ve done this accordion fold many times before.
I’ve learned about mountain and valley folds b4 when I do origami during my free time. I am a pro at origami if i do say so myself.
(Seren Hawtrey)
Probably not… try something that doesn’t move on its own. 🙂
would the bridge hold our Cat… she weighs about 7 pounds… do you think it would
Thanks for writing! That’s a really great question. When students learn about forces, often there’s a real separation between the theoretical stuff, like defining force as a push or pull, as a scalar and vector, etc… and where’s you actually see these things in real life. The bridge experiment shows how force (weight of the paper) is being counteracted by the support structure of the bridge, and that there’s a lot of internal forces going on inside the bridge that we can’t see with our eyes, but we can see the effects because the paper stays up. When I teach university-level engineering classes and we study forces, we also study bridges and building structures, which is a great combination. Students take real measurements and data from building structures and tell me the break points on the bridge by doing their force analysis (along with a little math called trigonometry) in these advanced force classes, so I really like combining the two into a real-world practical example of science, and I pass this along in a simpler version for kids by making this project. You can ask your kids where they think the greatest forces are being felt by the bridge and (if they will let you) snip the paper in those points to weaken the bridge to see if it fails. There’s a lot of fun stuff you can do with bridges and forces!
Can you please explain how the “Building Bridges” and “Barrel Roof” experiments fit into this material? I am trying to match the experiments with sections in the material so go back and forth with my children – but am finding this section of material very hard to do so. Any suggestions???
Our barrel roof made of cardstock worked! Patience and perseverance is the key to getting it to fold up correctly. After loading it with all the paper we could find, we weighed our load — 5 lbs. 7 oz before it collapsed!
Our barrel roof made of cardstock worked! Patience and perseverence is the key to getting it to fold up correctly. After loading it with all the paper we could find, we weighed our load — 5 lbs. 7 oz before it collapsed!
awsome this is so cool
this is so cool totally love it : )
You have to be logged in first, and note that the file is a PDF, so you’ll also need Adobe Reader to view the file. Let me know if you still have trouble.
How do I get the template for the barrel roof? The link is not working. Thanks.
Mary
Woohoo! Today we loaded 20 Jenga blocks on one sheet of paper folded into a barrel roof. That was amazing. Next step… weighing one Jenga block to do the math and find out how much weight this one sheet of ordinary 8.5 x 11″ copy paper carried! Thanks for this great experiment!
What specifically didn’t work? How can I help you with this one? Which step were you on that didn’t work?
I am sorry you are having trouble with this one. Yes, the new video and template are posted. It’s a piece of paper measuring 8.5″ x 11″. You can use regular paper or cardstock (if you want it to last longer). The last step where you fold it into an accordian-looking shape is the trickiest – you’ll want to try different things to make it look like it does in the video, with the mountain and valley folds. (Kids that have trouble with this one reported that they had success after finding someone to help them that was really great at origami.) Let me know how it goes so I can help! 🙂
it dos not worke
15 Seconds into the video you say, “Your next step is to……” but there are no steps before that……..We tried to make our own lines. I wasn’t able to figure out if you are using a square piece of paper or a rectangle. I would also need to know how far apart your lines are, it looks like they are about an inch apart? My daughter is trying the template right now, let’s hope that works for her. I also noticed the posts don’t have dates, only time and day of week, have you already made a new video? Thanks for your help “)
That’s a great question! Did you look at this experiment:
https://www.sciencelearningspace2.com/2009/08/building-bridges/
Does that help?
With all these experiments with different types of buildings, and structures, why does the arch, and the “W’s” hold more weight than the plain flat index card?
Thanks,
Abby
I know you can do it – keep trying! And let me know how I can help.
This is truly an amazing structure. We have yet to succeed as we just cannot get the folding correct, especially the last part. For those who have succeeded, our hats off to you!!! We do not intend to give up although having arthritis in my hands doesn’t help me show the kids too well 🙁
So glad you figured it out! I am sorry you were having trouble. We are updating our video players soon so this may help. 🙂
well, we persevered and it looks like it may have been the great firewall of china slowing things down. we updated and installed some software to help us tunnel through the wall, and finally got the video to finish loading and my daughter created a great paper fold barrel roof that though a bit wobbly, withstood several cardboard and paper “weights” on top of it. Every Friday is now Science day and I have to say she loves every minute of it. thanks!
we cannot watch the video past 2:13 min. We have refreshed the page, logged out and relogged in, turned off pc, tried on 2 diff pc’s with different OS, reset out router, logged on and off the internet provider, and no matter what we do, we cannot get the video to play past 2:13. Might something have happened on your end? My daughter has a folded template but no instructions on what to do next.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why does it DO that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
That is so cool!
I totally encourage photos of the kids doing science! Simply email it to me so I can post it to the site.
Is it interesting how sensitive this roof is?
Yes we do have a photo. We did the experiment again today. We found out that if we add the pieces of paper individually (after putting on the initial 400), we got up to 449 pieces of paper. It crashed on #450.
Joey
(age 11)
Awesome! Do you have a picture I can post?
We found that our barrel roof could hold 410 sheets of paper but it collapses when we put on 420 sheets. Could you do more paper bridges? I like them a lot.
Joey
(age 11)
You do need Adobe Acrobat to open the PDF file. If it’s been awhile since you’ve updated your reader, click this link to get the free latest version. If you still have trouble, what happens if you try a different computer?
Aurora,
We could not open the file for the template. We really want to do it,but without the template cannot do. 🙂
Thank you
Do you have a page or link for all the templates?
That’s a great idea – let me know hat you think of the video once it’s posted.
Hi Aurora,
In addition to giving us a new template and reshooting the video, could you show ALL the folding? Without all the folding shown (and with an incorrect template) we could not get it done properly.
Thanks so much,
Suzanne
Thanks for such great feedback! I really had no idea.
How about we re-shoot the video to match the PDF file so there’s no confusion. Would that help? I’ll put it on the video shoot list for this week.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Aurora, we encountered the same problem Karen Fredrick and her family described: the template we print from the pdf link provided at your website does not match the template featured in your video – at all. I hope following the steps below will help you better understand the problem your online audience is experiencing.
1. Follow the template link provided at your website, then print the template.
2. Play the video and pause it at the 00.22 mark.
3. Hold the printed template to the screen so you can view it side by side to the one used in the video.
If your printed template is the same as ours, you’ll notice the straight lines are drawn horizontally across the length of the paper, while those of the video template are drawn vertically across the width. In other words, our template has a “portrait” orientation, while the video template has a “landscape” orientation.
Further, you’ll notice unlike the video template, the printed one does not feature a straight line at one short end, nor the words “Cut this part off and throw away” directly above. In fact, those words do not appear anywhere on our printed template.
These discrepancies distort the intended design considerably, making a successful outcome unlikely for most. Is it possible the few students who reported a positive outcome had access to an earlier, correct version of this template?
I hope this is helpful to you and my fellow Supercharged Scientists! We’re going to use the video template as a guide to draw one of our own, just as Karen’s family did. I’m mathematically and scientifically impaired, so here’s hoping for the best! Would sure appreciate an official, corrected template to print out.
Respectfully yours, Mom of the SciGuys
I am sorry you had trouble! Science is like that though, so don’t forget the bigger lesson here is to help your kids deal with things that don’t work the way they expected them to – frustration is a great thing, because it is a signal that you’re just a notch below where you think you should be, and you’re almost there! Don’t give up – most people do, and that’s not what you want to teach your kids… make sure you help them through this part by encouraging them to keep going and keep their eye on the goal. There’s no substitute for the *gold* feeling they get when they finally do figure it out and have that “I did it myself” feeling at the end!
I did modify the template so it was easier to fold, and you should still get the same results. Try using card-stock if you’re having trouble (1 sheet of card stock approx weighs the same as three sheets of paper).
Myself and my 2 kids tried our own barrel roofs. All of them folded great and made the shape showed on the video. However, none of them held even a quarter of their weight (we did it on carpet). I think it demonstrated the strength over certain shapes but it was a bit deflating to have it not work like expected. The template is still different from the one on the video. In otherwords, the template does not have the part that you cut off horizontally.
I would encourage everyone not to give up also. After watching Aurora fold, you should pause the video, fold some more, and pay careful attention to what she says too. On my daughter’s first attempt, she had done all the diagonal mountain folds one direction, and the other direction diagonals as valley folds. She missed doing the valley folds on the straight lines altogether! I didn’t recognize what she had done wrong until my second attempt.
SO.. Make sure you are doing ALL the diagonals as Mountain folds and then the straight lines as valley folds.
Hope this helps,
Miranda’s mom
Keep trying – I know you can do it. And ask me specific questions so I can help you better… 🙂
This is a tricky one to fold – it looks easy in the video because I’ve done it hundreds of times while teaching kids! Go slow and don’t be afraid to get a new sheet to start over if you have trouble. And most importantly, take a break between tries and get some air – all scientists get frustrated now and then, and learning how to handle it now is going to save you a LOT of headache as a grown up! 🙂
i was racking my brain out literly its on the ground !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(; ( (): omg
how are you so posed to get this thing to work
Ps could you please write the instructions on the website pleasssssssssssssse
mason P. prewitt
Oh, I’m sorry you’re having trouble with the folding! You can use the straight edge of a ruler to help make the folds sharp. I’ve been folding this one for years, so I just have a little more practice. Keep at it and you’ll get it – don’t hesitate to start over if it gets too messy.
And you are correct – snip off the corner triangles – they just get in the way when you sit it on the table. Let me know how it goes!
On this template it looks like we are suppose to cut off a small amount on each side of the paper, is that right?
Also, you make the folding look so simple! We are having a really hard time.
Great! Glad it worked…
Thank you. It works– although it took a while to actually fold it correctly.
I just checked it and it’s working – you should have one with four diamonds on an end. Let me know if this one is better…
I am wondering if the template has been updated yet? It doesn’t look like it when I printed it.
I’ve tried the barrel roof twice and it doesn’t work right-do you know whenyou will get another form posted?
I was curious, so I printed out the template and made it myself… and you’re right – it looks like the PDF maker I used distorted the lines. I’ll see if I can get a better one posted – thanks for the tip.
This template is not the same one that you use on the video. The one on the video had the hills and valleys spaced much further apart making it actually possible to fold it. The template’s hills and valleys are so narrow that we simply could not do it and by we, I not only mean my 8 and 6-year-old grandchildren and myself, but neither my husband, their mom nor dad could do it either. We finally made our own template (looking at your video and making one with those dimensions) and finally got it to work.
Which part did you get stuck on? Was it the folding? Check the other comments and find the close-up pics to help you out… or just ask a more specific question. 🙂
Hi Seth,
Great question – try making a square by threading string though four straws and tying the ends together. See how it wobbles around?
Now try making a triangle by threading a string through three straws. It’s much stronger and there’s no wobble (unless you push so hard that the straws bend, so pretend the straws are made of steel tubes instead of flimsy plastic). So – what do you think? Why are three stronger than four? Isn’t more usually ‘better’?
I could not understand how to do this expirement!
Seva Cable nine yrs. old.
Aurora,
This shape looks similar to a carbon nono tube ,in my mine. Is that the principle and why it is so strong. And why exactly is a triangle the strongest shape?
thanks
SETH VEENBAAS
I was teaching a workshop in Wasilla, Alaska today and I had our camera crew take a photo of the Barrel Roof for you:
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
So glad you liked this experiment! This roof a bit harder to mathematically analyze (we tackle this particular problem when kids are in the 3rd year in college). Here are resources for further reading:
What is a Barrel Roof?
Images of Barrel Roof Designs
Truss Bridges and More
All About Bridges
I’ll post a large image you can download and zoom in this weekend. Thanks for the great questions!
re: barrel experiment
Hello Aurora,
I have a few questions. We really enjoy making these types of experiments (folding paper to make various bridges, etc). Could you tell us how, exactly, the force is distributed along these folds? My son is at the point where he would like to understand this in more detail. Also, could you recommend some books or websites that might explain the forces on structures and how they are designed to support the weight? Finally (sorry for so many questions!), I’m not sure we folded this correctly. The experiment worked but I ended up with folds peaking and dipping on alternate diagonal lines. Can I send you a photo?
Thanks so much,
Anne Montano