Every piece is the same. KEVA planks are about 1/4 inch thick, 3/4 inch wide and 4 1/2 inches long.
You build structures by simply stacking the planks. No glue, no connectors. They can be stacked upright which looks like it would be unstable as a house of cards, but even this type of structure is surprisingly stable.
From the simplest counting exercises to the most complex bridge challenges, KEVA can change abstract concepts into tangible form. Children can get a “feel” for numbers and a first hand understanding of the physical forces acting on the planks. The fundamental understanding of number relationships gained by a first grader playing with blocks can benefit him years later in high school calculus.
KEVA Planks are based on a ratio of 1:3:5. This allows the blocks to fit together seamlessly in the structures.
The width of one plank = the depth of 3 planks.
The width of five planks = the length of 1 plank
A Gravity-defying Design Challenge
Video clip of Grand Canyon Skywalk.
What questions do you have?
We are going to use Keva blocks and our knowledge of Physics to answer our questions.
1. Using only 5 blocks and the edge of the table build your own version of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.
2. Use a ruler to measure how many mm your structure overhang fhe edge of the table.
3. Next measure the distance between the front of each block to the front of the block beneath it? Is there a pattern? Why or why not?
Take it further..
4. What will happen if someone walks on your Skywalk and stands at the edge of the top block?
5. Place a penny at the very end of the overhanging edge of your top block. Don't worry there is an invisible guardrail there.
6. What happened? Was the invisible guardrail able to save the "person" we will call him Abe from falling into the canyon.
7. Redesign your Skywalk so that Abe is able to stand on the very edge and still enjoy the amazing view below? What did you change? Why?
8. Measure your new structure to determine how far it overhangs the edge of the table now.
9. What about if you add another guy (coincidentally named Abe as well) right on top of the last guy?
10. After another redesign, how many mm is your overhang now?
11. What about if you have ten guys named Abe standing on the edge?
12. How far does your structure overhang now?
Take it even further...
13. How many guys named Abe can your Skywalk support until it no longer offers a view of the Canyon below?
14. Is there a way to make improvements so you can hold that number of guys named Abe plus more?
15. Do you think that there is a limit to the number of people that the actual Grand Canyon Skywalk can support?
16. What properties of Physics did the engineers that designed it use?
