Empire State Toothpick

This toothpick skyscraper can inspire word problems!
Materials 1 box of toothpicks 1 sheet of paper glue Instructions Using a pencil, make an outline of the building. Make a line of toothpicks standing vertically on the bottom. This will be the widest row. Glue the toothpicks to a sheet of paper, using lots of glue. Line up and glue the remaining rows of toothpicks. Let dry completely before picking up. Now you can make word problems using the picture. For example: How many more toothpicks are there in the first level than in the second level? How many more toothpicks are there in the first level than in the third level? How many toothpicks are there in levels ___ and ___ ? How many toothpicks are there in all? If there are 75 offices on level 2, how many offices are there likely to be on level 1?  level 4? If each floor of the building is 12 feet high, and if there are 5 floors per level of toothpicks, how many floors are there in the building? How tall is the building?	Ideas If you like, use a longer sheet of paper and make a taller skyscraper with more levels. You might like to color every 10th toothpick to make it easier to count them.
This math craft was created in January 2004 by Donald P., grade 5, Philip G. Vroom Elementary School, Ms. Geis's class, Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.