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Straw Bridges ActivityStraw Bridges Activity
Publisher
Teach Engineering
Resource Details
Curator Rating
Educator Rating
Not yet Rated
Grade
6th - 8th
Subjects
STEM
1 more...
Resource Type
Activities & Projects
Audience
For Teacher Use
Duration
1 hr
Instructional Strategies
Collaborative Learning
1 more...
Technology
Internet Access
Year
2006
Usage Permissions
Fine Print: Educational Use
Activity

Straw Bridges

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Straw Bridges activity also includes:
  • Vocabulary
  • Graphic & Image
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Pairs work as engineering teams to design and build model bridges from drinking straws and tape. In this third segment in a series of 10, teams compete in an attempt to build the strongest bridge. To help with the design, the groups experiment with geometric shapes to determine which would be the strongest.

38 Views 31 Downloads

Concepts

bridge design, design, engineering design, constraints, compression, bridges, scale models, model building, geometric shapes, triangles, technology resources

Instructional Ideas

  • Require teams to support their designs with research
  • If time allows, let the groups redesign their bridges based upon their performance 

Classroom Considerations

  • Build a wooden support or use two desks to hold the bridges
  • The third in a series of 10 resources

Pros

  • The resource has instructions on how to build a wooden support out of scrap 2 x 4s
  • The activity scaling sections gives suggestions for lower and higher grades

Cons

  • None

View 3,628 other resources for 6th - 8th Grade STEM

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