World's Longest Straw
Chain
On
Friday, December 16, 2005, students at Eisenhower Junior High School (EJHS)
in Taylorsville, Utah, set a new world record for the Longest Straw Chain.
According to Guinness
World Records, the previous world record for the Longest Straw
Chain was 3.87 miles long and was held by a school in Bridgehampton, New
York. However, after school was over on December 16, 2005, 133 ninth grade
students at EJHS successfully connected 42,963 standard drinking straws
to produce a continuous straw chain that measured 4.5770 miles (or 24,166.8
feet) in length. The record took eight hours to achieve, used thousands
of red colored jumbo-sized 7-3/4" drinking straws and hundreds of
red-lined flexible drinking straws.
To produce the world's Longest Straw Chain--or
Mega Straw Chain--students used a unique design system that utilized
18 two-by-four boards which were dotted with medium-sized nails separated
one-inch apart. They then connected hundreds of lines of straight straws
to numerous flexible straws that allowed the straw chain to wrap around
the nails on the boards. (Eisenhower's Longest Straw Chain was constructed
in accordance with rules established by Guinness
World Records, which were: 1) [The Straw Chain must use] standard
drinking straws, made from plastic or similar [materials]; 2) There is
no limit to either the time taken for the attempt nor the number of participants;
3) A count of the number of straws used must be taken. This is essential
and must be done efficiently; 4) The chain is made by joining individual
straws together. Each drinking straw must be joined to its neighbour on
either side by inserting it in the end of those next to it in the line;
5) The entire chain of joined straws must be measured accurately along
the length of the chain. Measurements will not be accepted which multiply
the length of the straws used by the number of straws used, as if joined
in the required fashion, this will not be accurate. All joins in the chain
must be inspected by the witness[es]--claims will not be accepted for
chains in which there are broken or incomplete links.)
All student participants donated $10 each
towards this after-school project, which paid for all the straws, event
logo T-shirts, and food and drinks. Ramrock Construction contributed all
the building supplies used to make the unique design system that supported
the straw chain.
Many Eisenhower teachers and staff members
supported the students in this record attempt, including the following
adults who helped direct and guide the students during the actual event:
William Allen, Clayton Brough, Denise Fiack, Fred Hebling, Kelly Huntington,
"T" Lealaogata, Robin Lyman, Charles Morris, Michael Roach,
Nermin Sasivarevic, Tom Sharpe, Carlos Silva, Danny Stirland, and Malamene
Wong.
This world record attempt has now been accepted
by Guinness World Records
in England, The
Book of Alternative Records in Germany,World
Records for Schools in the United States, and Mormon
World Records in the United States.
Additional, specific information on this
world record attempt can be obtained by reading and viewing the following
accounts of the event contained in the Saturday, December 17, 2005, newspaper
editions of the Deseret Morning News:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635169466,00.html
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635169429,00.html
and by KSL (Channel
5) Television.
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