You might want to use a disposable container as the concrete might harden and be difficult to remove. This experiment allows students to make a concrete bar and test that bar as to its tensile strength. Some suggested variables might be the amount of water used, adding or subtracting aggregate, removing aggregate altogether, the temperature of the water, etc. Different groups of students may want to vary the composition of the concrete mixture to test the effects of that change. Students should develop their own methods of testing these bars for strength.
Students conduct an online search of concrete companies.
The teacher should designate whether the data to be collected should be national or international. Then the students record the location of the companies on a hard copy of a map. Depending on the ability level of the students, they may wish to make a key and differentiate types of concrete. Students then discuss plausible explanations for the company locations. Each student then writes a paper about starting their own business.