All you have to do it fold it!

We did an experiment with just one sheet of paper today. I balanced a sheet of paper on two cans and places small plast ic circles right in the middle.  How strong do you think this sheet of paper is? Well, we found out it could hold 10 small plastic chips right before fall/caving in. 

Did you know you can make a sheet of paper stronger by just folding it!?! Well, we made many different predictions on how many small plastic circles the same sheet of pape could hold just by folding it into a "fan", and the kids were amazed!  Unfolded, it could hold 10, and folded it could hold over 100!!!!

What a difference!  We made the paper 10 times stronger with just two folds! Try this at home!  Balance a sheet of paper between two cups and use pennies as your small weights.  Can you make your sheet of paper stronger?