Landmark Challenge

Objective:

Explore how national and historical landmarks are designed and built by analyzing architectural patterns, replicating, and creating your own landmarks

Real-World Connections

Ever seen the Eiffel Tower? Big Ben? Burj Khalifa? Empire State Building? These are more than recognizable structures — they are architectural designs that reflect innovative engineering and culture. From bridges to towers to public spaces and monuments, landmarks are built with intentional design choices that shape human history.

In this challenge, students step into the real-world roles of engineers, designers, builders, and inspectors to:

Observe and analyze patterns in how real-world landmarks are structured
Recreate key architectural features of landmarks with different design choices
Design and construct replica or original landmarks with stability and balance in mind
Experience trade-off analysis first-hand in selecting design features and materials

Materials & Constraints

Students don’t get unlimited resources — just like real life. Each challenge is solved within a budget system where students choose from materials like:

Wooden studs (of various sizes and shapes)
Fasteners (string, rubber bands, pipe cleaner, and tape)
Creative elements (chipboard, paper, markers)

With each decision, students are learning to balance trade-offs between design, structural integrity, and resource-use.

Example Solutions

Every solution is different. There is no single “right” build — only more effective solutions.

Challenge Format

Makers challenges are designed to be flexible and can be adapted to fit a variety of schedules, age groups, and program needs, including condensed pilot formats that deliver core experiences and measurable student outcomes in as little as 1 - 2 classes.

4 - 12 Classes

Program Duration

45 - 75 Minutes

Lesson Length

Gr 3 and Above

Typical Age Appropriateness

Curriculum Alignment

The Landmark Challenge supports hands-on learning across core academic and technical standards

Math - Geometry & Spatial Reasoning

NGSS - Engineering Design & Modeling

ELA - Speaking & Presentation Skills

CTE - Design & Construction

Ready to bring this challenge to your students?

Get in touch and we’ll help you customize a program that fits your schedule and age group.

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Team Roles & Career Connections

Students take on defined roles within their teams so no one sits on the sidelines and every team operates like a real crew.

Leads the build strategy and guides the team’s decisions about resource-use and presenting and story-telling.
Constructs the design and makes real-time adjustments during the build to better meet the challenge’s requirements.
Plans aesthetic enhancements and creative elements in each challenge to balance form with function.
Tests for weak points in the team’s solution and evaluates against challenge requirements to recommend improvements.

What Students Take Away

Beyond the build, students develop skills that transfer across subjects and into real life.

Engineering & Design Skills

Hands-on understanding of structural stability and balance
Translating real-world structures and diagrams into models
Applying geometric concepts into physical models
Measurement & precision

Critical Thinking Skills

Trade-off decision-making
Iteration & improvement
Cause-and-effect reasoning
Problem-solving under constraints

Collaboration

Presenting and explaining solutions
Communication
Shared ownership of outcomes
Resilience through testing and iteration

The Makers Process

Here’s a glimpse at what students actually do

Key Vocabulary & Engineering Concepts

Students build a shared language for the challenge and relevant engineering concepts by making real-world connections with their surroundings and personal experiences.
Concepts in Action

Students put these terms and concepts to the test through hands-on practice, building low-fidelity prototypes, testing their designs, and making adjustments through real-time feedback.
Explore & Design

Students begin exploring the challenge materials and experimenting with how they connect, balance, and support weight. Working individually or in small groups, students explore different combinations of materials to understand how they impact performance.
Plan & Build Strategy

Students use their new understanding of the materials (what works & what doesn’t) to plan their designs. With a limited amount of resources, students must make strategic decisions about which materials to use to best meet the challenge requirements.
Build & Iterate

Now in small groups, students bring their ideas to life by building and iterating on their solutions. As they test their designs against the challenge requirements, they identify weak points, make targeted improvements, and add in creative elements that reflect their team’s ideas and identity.
Present & Test

Students share their designs, the strategy behind their decisions, and how they improved their solution over time, oftentimes incorporating story-telling elements along the way. Then they put their build to the test — evaluating performance based on the challenge criteria.