Two Windham High School students walked to the restroom, their hands covered in gooey marshmallow fluff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kind of made paste,\u201d one of the students said.<\/p>\n
The students were making marshmallow bridges on UConn\u2019s campus May 25 for the 6th<\/sup> Annual GK-12 Engineering Design Competition. Ten technical high schools competed in short engineering competitions designed to expose students to the STEM fields.<\/p>\n The bridges were one of three competitions at the event, with a paper airplane distance competition and a downhill car race that had to protect an egg from a collision into a solid wall. Students were given the competition guidelines and an hour to build their project. The airplanes were judged on the distance they flew, the bridges had to support a cup that was filled with chocolate until it sagged an inch. The egg car competition was based on keeping the egg safe, completing the test ramp in a fast manner and minimizing the resources used.<\/p>\n Many of the designs were creative.\u00a0 One bridge was basically a log of toothpicks joined with smashed marshmallows. One of the faster cars used CDs as wheels.<\/p>\n