Curated OER
Put Your Truss in Building Bridges
Students apply abstract concepts, such as stress, fulcrums, the law of gravity, and the strength of different geometric shapes. Groups of student contractors operate simulated architectural firms to create strong, economical bridges.
Curated OER
Bridge Building
Learners design and build their own balsa wood model bridges. The technological development of bridges, the science principles that apply to bridge building, and the construction techniques and skills necessary for creating a bridge be...
DiscoverE
Build a Bridge
Cost overruns are unacceptable—in the real world and in an engaging activity. Groups of pupils get together to build a bridge out of straws, paper cups, and tape. They keep track of costs ($1,000 for each material) and must stay within a...
Teach Engineering
Strength of Materials
Pupils examine a stress-strain diagram that compares the advantages and disadvantages of the two common bridge building materials, concrete and steel. The also consider the factors that influence the materials builders choose for their...
Curated OER
Intro to Building Bridges
Learners participate in groups to complete the best bridge. In this bridge building activity, students are assigned a role in building the bridge. Learners will have to keep to their budgets. After the bridges are built,...
Cornell University
The Physics of Bridges
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.
Curated OER
Suspension Bridges: Connecting Lives
Middle schoolers explore bridges. For this bridge lesson, students design and build a suspension bridge after visiting related websites and reviewing famous bridges in non-fiction books. Middle schoolers follow the...
Curated OER
Paper Suspension Bridges: You Want Me To Go Up There?
A few class periods will be required to complete this physics investigation with your high schoolers. There is an unavailable video written into the lesson plan, but there is plenty of material here to bridge the gap. Two terrific...
Curated OER
Bridge Building lab
Young scholars investigate the 4 types of bridges and their strengths and weaknesses at an Internet Website. They describe one type of bridge that they have seen. Students pair off and face each other with their palms touching and feet...
Curated OER
The Math in the Design and Building of Bridges
Research various types of bridge designs. Your class will be asked to consider what it would be like without bridges while learning about how they work. They will construct a model bridge based on given parameters. They then calculate...
Curated OER
Bridge Design and Bridge Building
Seventh graders conduct an investigation into the design of bridges and their construction. Students design bridges and draw detailed plans. For assessment they construct a model of a bridge that is made entirely of toothpicks. Students...
Curated OER
Pasta Bridges
Students design a bridge using pasta. They explore the elements of architecture involved in bridge building. They practice problem solving in a hands-on cooperative group effort.
Illustrative Mathematics
Christo’s Building
Hook your charges on how to solve a real-world art problem with mathematics by showing works of Christo. You can find eye-catching images on the Christo and Jeanne Claude webpage. Here, math learners help Jean Claude and Christo prepare...
Curated OER
Building Bridges
Learners use glue, toothpicks, cardboard, marshmallows and more to build a structure. In this building lesson plan, students budget money to get their materials and make their building in teams.
Curated OER
"The Big Bridge Scheme": The Building and Impact of the Brooklyn Bridge
Young scholars watch a video and examine archival newspaper articles to study the different points of view about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. They examine the impact the bridge had on those living in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Curated OER
Construction Technologies: Construct the Strongest Bridge
Middle schoolers investigate how engineers use different types of bridges for different places. In small groups they design and construct bridges for three different scenarios, and answer a series of investigating questions applied to...
Curated OER
Building Challenges
Young scholars work together to complete different building challenges. They use prior knowledge to build tunnels and different types of bridges. They share their creations with the group.
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors
Bridges
This engineering activity gets youngsters working together to design and construct a bridge. Each bridge is tested in front of the class to discover how much weight it can hold before showing any change in form. The lesson plan does not...
Teach Engineering
Show Me the Money
Class members learn how to estimate the total costs involved to design and build a bridge by including design, material, equipment, and labor costs. The activity includes a discussion about the trade-off between cost and aesthetics.
Curated OER
Spaghetti Bridge
Students work together to build their own spaghetti bridge. They test the bridge to see how much weight it can hold before breaking. They discover how engineers use this type of information to design bridges.
Curated OER
Bridge Construction
Students build a model of a bridge and test the amount of weight it support. They identify different types of bridges: suspension, arch, girder, truss, cantilever, cable-stayed and moveable.
Curated OER
Toothpick Bridges
Students study the techniques of building a bridge. They explore different type of bridges and then plan and build a bridge to specified instructions. Students draw plans, keep a budget, and prepare balance sheets during their bridge...
Bonneville
Engineering 101
Make a structure too sturdy to fail. Scholars first watch a video and consider the reasons for the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse. They take part in two engineering challenges, one using newspapers and the other using spaghetti sticks...
Curated OER
Build and Test
Young scholars display what they have learned about bridges as they construct their bridge. They present their projects to the rest of the class. They compare and contrast the construction of the bridges.