My grade 7 students will begin building bridges next week. They will be allowed to use white glue and wooden sticks of their choosing, such as popsicle sticks, toothpicks, and stir sticks. They will model it after a real bridge that exists somewhere in the world, and so a research component will be involved. They will have to meet the following design specifications:
- The bridge deck must be able to span a distance of 30cm but may not be longer than 40cm.
- The bridge must be able to carry a load of at least 1kg.
- The bridge can be no higher than 20cm off the ground.
- The travelled portion (width) of your bridge must be at least 3cm wide, capable of transporting a Hotwheel © or Matchbox© car (each car’s dimensions are approximately 30 mm wide x 70 mm long x 25 mm high).
The following websites will help them as they prepare to build their bridges:
Bridge Building page from 42Explore
Physics Balsa Bridge Building Contest – scroll down to the links at bottom
In addition, they can also explore the following bridge building game sites:
Have a great week.
