In this middle school lab exercise students test the strength of a single strand of spaghetti using readily available materials. The activity could also be easily used in a late elementary classroom with little or no modification. The activity is well described, and there is space for students to reflect on the ideas of independent versus dependent variables, as well as the important scientific strategies of constants and multiple trials. This activity could benefit from a teacher introduction or some sort of answer key in order to make this lesson immediately useful for teachers of all levels of experience. This is one of those great labs – quick, simple, inexpensive and a springboard for further discussion of experimental design.