Photo Realism

The UNI-01 class recently participated in a group activity, which tested both our abilities to coordinate and communicate. In short, we were all separated into groups, given a variety of crafting materials, and were told that we had five minutes to plan a design for a stable, and tall tower. During the five minutes of planning, however, we were not allowed to touch any of the materials we would use. We were then left to construct the tower, but were to remain silent. During the first phase of this assignment, I felt my partners and I did an excellent job of communicating and delegating all tasks evenly. We came up with a strategy that we felt would be simple to accomplish and an overall sturdy design. While our planning went well, the execution fell through completely. Our original idea was not successful, and caused a minor moment of panic amongst the group. Communication throughout the second phase was the most challenging for our group in particular. Due to our lack of a Plan B, we were left with nothing to do, other then each group member grabbing different materials, working on one portion of the tower separately, and hoping that it would all come together in the end. If we had decided to draw out our design or even come up with a back-up plan, we might have been one of the more efficient groups. Going into this project, we all agreed on one single design. Our lack of critical thinking skills left us with a faulty design and a short and unstable tower. The most important piece of any tower is the foundation. The legs are what support all of the weight, and would determine the success or failure of your tower. Our group foolishly decided that we would create stilts, using only paper and rubber bands to hold up the heavier plastic and cardboard materials. This lack of a solid and substantial foundation led to the dwindling of our tower. As a whole, I feel this assignment relates to the cohort’s everyday growth as students in many ways. We were