Classroom activity Kindergarten Engineering & Design

Building a Stand for the Oakhollow Water Tower Cup

A 35-minute kindergarten build activity where groups count out 12 blocks, raise a cup of water on a stand, and watch a straw carry water down to a paper house.

Grade: Kindergarten
Subject: Engineering & Design
Material: Classroom activity
Time: 35 min
Prep: Moderate prep
Materials: Wooden or interlocking blocks, at least 12 per group, in a shared bin, A small plastic cup with a hole near the bottom, 1 per group, A bendable drinking straw, 1 per group, Modeling clay or tape to seal the straw into the cup hole, A paper house or paper cup to stand in for a home at floor level, A pitcher of water and a tray or towel under each build

Standards

K-2-ETS1-2 NGSS

Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

How this material aligns: Groups build a stand and then explain how its wide base and tall legs hold the cup high enough for water to run down the straw, which is the physical model of how shape helps an object work that this expectation asks for.

All materials for K-2-ETS1-2 →

K.CC.B.5 Common Core Math

Count to answer 'how many?' questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1-20, count out that many objects.

How this material aligns: Each group counts out exactly 12 blocks from a bin before building and then counts the blocks used in the finished stand, which is the count-out-a-given-number task within 20 that this standard sets.

All materials for K.CC.B.5 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-23.

Objectives

Students will count out 12 blocks and build a stand that holds a cup up high.
Students will show that water runs down the straw only when the cup is higher than the house.
Students will describe one part of their stand that keeps it from tipping.

Vocabulary

Key words: tower, stand, high, count

Teacher overview

Groups of three or four build a block stand that lifts a cup of water above a paper house, then watch water travel down a straw into the house without any pump. The make-believe town of Oakhollow needs its tower to reach the houses on the ground, and the only way that happens is if the cup sits higher than the straw's far end.

The setup teaches the concept directly. Students raise and lower the far end of the straw and see the flow start, slow, and stop, which is why real towers stand tall rather than sitting on the ground. The counting is not decoration either. Each group counts out exactly 12 blocks before building, which is the count-out-a-given-number task, and counts the blocks in the finished stand afterward.

Seal the straw into the cup with clay before class, or the first ten minutes will go to leaks rather than building.

Activity Directions

Before class, punch a small hole near the bottom of each cup, push the short end of a bent straw through it, and seal around the straw with clay. Test one cup with water to be sure it drips from the straw and not from the seal.
Put students in groups of three or four. Send one student from each group to the block bin to count out 12 blocks, one at a time, into a tray. The rest of the group sets the paper house on the table and puts a towel underneath.
Say the problem out loud together: the water in the cup has to reach the house, and nobody is allowed to pick the cup up or push the water along.
Groups build a stand from their 12 blocks and set the cup on top. The rule is that the stand must hold the cup without a hand touching it, so groups will need a base wider than the top.
Point the long end of the straw at the paper house. Pour a little water into the cup and watch. If nothing comes out, ask the group where the far end of the straw is compared with the cup.
Have each group lower the straw end toward the floor and then raise it above the cup, watching the flow change. Stop the round when every group has made the water start and stop at least once.
Groups count the blocks in their finished stand and say the number aloud. Some will have used all 12 and some fewer, which is worth naming.
End the building after about 22 minutes and gather the class around the sturdiest stand for the three debrief questions on the group page.

Building a Stand for the Oakhollow Water Tower Cup — Kindergarten Engineering & Design

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

Read each question aloud during the debrief. Groups answer together.

Where did the water go when the end of the straw was higher than the cup?
What part of your stand kept it from tipping over?
A real water tower stands up high on legs. Why is it built that way?

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: It stayed in the cup. Water runs downhill on its own, so it will not travel up the straw when the far end is higher than the water in the cup.
Answer: The wide bottom. Accept any answer naming the base, the bottom layer, or the blocks spread out at the bottom, since a stand that is narrow at the bottom tips when the cup goes on top.
Answer: So the water can run down to the houses by itself. Being high up is what pushes water through the pipes to homes below, which is the same thing students saw when they raised and lowered the straw.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Give these students a printed square outline the size of a stable base and ask them to fill it with blocks first, building upward only after the base is complete. Assign them the block-counting job, with a ten frame in the tray so 12 blocks land in a countable arrangement.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask these groups to rebuild using only 8 blocks while keeping the cup at the same height, then explain what they changed and why the new stand still stands. Have them predict, before testing, whether the water will run faster or slower from a taller stand.

ELL supports

Pre-teach high, low, stand, and pour with the whole class raising and lowering both hands as they say each word. Let students answer the debrief by pointing at the tall cup and then at the house rather than speaking, and pair each student with a partner who narrates the pour aloud.

Extensions

Look for the nearest real water tower on the way home and ask families to help students notice whether it stands on a hill, on legs, or both. If your utility has a photograph of the local tank on its website, project it and ask students to point at the part that does the same job as the blocks in their stand.