Our mini unit on bridges went so well this year! It was full of both history and engineering!
Designing K-2-ETS-2
To set up our bridge building project I set out:
I put them into groups of three. They had to look at the materials available, choose which 4 they wanted to use, and then draw a design of a bridge that spanned 10 inches. Once they had a list and a design, they could come get their 4 different material to build their bridges. Once they were satisfied with their bridge they brought it to be tested by the mighty penny!
- popsicle sticks (6)
- Q-tips (10)
- tooth picks (10)
- tape (1ft)
- glue (1bottle)
- rubber bands (4)
- sheets of paper (2)
- small plastic cups (2)
- straws (6)
I put them into groups of three. They had to look at the materials available, choose which 4 they wanted to use, and then draw a design of a bridge that spanned 10 inches. Once they had a list and a design, they could come get their 4 different material to build their bridges. Once they were satisfied with their bridge they brought it to be tested by the mighty penny!
Testing Our Designs
Next we tested how much weight the bridge could withstand. We measured the weight using pennies. I used a 1,000 cube at either side of the 'canyon'
Redesign
We did this project two days in a row. The first time 3 out of my 7 teams made something that looked like a bridge that could span 10 inches. Since they are so young it was a difficult concept even with a model. We tested the 3 bridges that worked, but then tried it again the next day. All students created some sort of beam that spanned the 10 inches, and we had some awesome designs!
Books
During this unit we read Pop's Bridge. This is a sweet realistic fiction about two boys (friends) whose dads work to build the Golden Gate Bridge. Another great book is Bridges are to Cross. |
Videos
BrainPop has a great video on Bridges. If you have a BrainPop membership, go check it out!
This video is a little long and slow, but has great drawings and reasoning about the different types of bridges and how they were creates.