Charlotte's Web - Activity - www.TeachEngineering.org

Line drawing shows a spider hanging from a corner web.

Spiders use their silk for travel, to catch prey, to construct a home, to cover eggs, to enclose young, and for flight. Spider silk is the strongest natural and human-made fiber. Spider silk can be stretched 20-25% without breaking and returns to its original shape. Different types of webs include spiral orb, tangle or cobwebs, funnel, sheet, tubular, triangle, dome or tent webs (see recommended resources and Attachment sections for examples and more information).

Recommended Resources:

Ed Nieuwenhuys' excellent website on The Spider: Web and Silk: http://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/Spiders/InfoNed/webthread.html

Garden Orb Web Spider; step-by-step pictures and diagrams show the creation of an orb web structure: http://www.oocities.org/brisbane_weavers/Garden_sp.htm

Spider Web, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_web

Spider Silk, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_silk

Do a Google image search for "spider silk" for pictures to show students.

Gather materials and make copies of the worksheet and other attachments.
IF USING FOAM CORE BOARD: Pre-cut two 9 x 12-in pieces of foam board per student. Glue the two pieces of board together and let dry.
IF USING EXTRUDED FOAM INSULATION: Pre-cut to 9 x 12-in pieces, one piece per student.
Measure out the string. Technique: Measure and wind the string around a one-foot ruler until the desired length is achieved. Then cut the string and wind it around a Popsicle stick as you take it off of the ruler. (Takes about one minute to measure, cut and wind around a Popsicle stick.)

PROBLEM - THE CHALLENGE: Communicate without using sounds, and preferably without using pen and paper.

Introduce spiders, their webs and silk. Discuss the purpose of webs (and silk), how they are created, and basic types. Discuss various forms of communication (a brief look at the history of communication would be appropriate) and the story of Charlotte's Web.
Have students pick one type of web to build. Have them draw preliminary design sketches for their webs.
Give students the materials. Have them glue the piece of black construction paper to the foam board (or foam insulation).
Demonstrate how to create a web (as follows): Push the push pins into the foam board at every point you want change directions. The push pins act as the "skeleton" of the web. Wind string around the push pins to create the web. Technique: To secure the web, pull the push pins up a little bit to expose a tiny bit of the metal post. Wrap the string around the post once and then push the push pin down. You can also wind string around the upper part.

Example completed web design with a message.
Have students create their own webs patterned after one type of web structure used by spiders. Show them how they can use the string on the Popsicle stick to easily wrap around the push pins. The string pulls off easily, just like thread off a spool.
Once students have created their webs, challenge them to create words, just as in Charlotte's Web. Restrict the words to three or four letters in length.
As a class, share the completed webs and read the words contained within them. Was your method of silent communication successful?