Stability is key when building a bridge. Scholars explore the forces acting upon bridges through an analysis of Newton's Laws and Hooke's Law. The activity asks individuals to apply their learning by building a bridge of their own.

Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.

Students view a video clip about suspension bridges. They discover what forces support this type of bridge. They build their own suspension bridge using classroom materials.

Ninth graders use model-building to help comprehend the forces and phenomena at work in the world around them. They describe gravity as a universal force that pulls everything toward the center of the earth. Students distinguish between...

Students view a video on bridges and domes. They discuss the importance of shapes, especially triangles for these structures. They participate in an activity in which they create their own dome out of paper clips.

Students are introduced to the different types, designs and nature of bridges. They observe a historical look at the bridges in and around the Pittsburgh area through a video presentation. Connections are made between science and...

Students use simple materials to design, build, and test a model of a free-standing structure used to support overhead road signs. First, students watch a video on the engineering design process. Then the design challenge is defined.

Students use simple materials to design, build, and test a model of a free-standing structure used to support overhead road signs.

Students build an earthquake shake table. They design and build the table and test their completed structures using sandbags.

Sixth graders study the different methods to build a shake table.  In this earthquake lesson plan students build their own shake table and experiment with their own structure design. 

Students use simple materials to design, build, and test a model of a free-standing structure used to support overhead road signs. Students view a video on the engineering design process and conduct research by observing actual overhead...