Team Building: PVC Pipeline Challenge

Pipeline Challenge: 

Materials

(10) 1 inch PVC pipes cut to 18 inches; (10) 1 inch PVC joint connectors (to connect the ends of the PVC pipes); (6) 1 1/2 inch PVC pipes cut to 18 inches and then cut across the diameter to create "gutters."; (18) 4 foot marking sticks or 1/2 inch dowel rods; (2) rolls of packing tape - not duct tape!; (10) 4 foot foam noodles; (2) 40 foot rope perimeters; (2) buckets; (1) marble; (?) enough spot markers for each participant.

Set Up

1. Lay out the rope perimeters so that they are right next to each-other. This is where the two teams will work side-by-side. 2. Place one of the buckets at the far side of each rope perimeter. These are the starting line and finish lines. 3. Place half of the spot markers in each rope perimeter. These will be the vehicles used by the teams when they go out to pick up the construction equipment. 4. Divide up the rest of the equipment into four groups, and then place each pile of gear about 25 feet from the "four corners" of the rope perimeters. These are the piles of equipment that the teams will have to traverse out to pick up using the spot markers.

Directions

Split the team in half, and direct each half to enter the two rope perimeters. Describe the objective of this activity, and tell them that in order to construct the free-standing pipeline, the two teams will first have to traverse out and pick up the equipment using the spot markers.

Once the teams have retrieved the equipment, they will have a set time limit to construct the pipeline. Once the time limit is up, the teams must make their first attempt to roll the marble from one end to the bucket on the other end. If the team is unsuccessful, they will have 5 minutes to make improvements to their pipeline before the second attempt. If the team is still unsuccessful, they will have two more minutes to make changes. The third and final attempt will lead to a debrief about the process.

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