Students acted as structural engineers and learned about forces and load distributions.  They followed the steps of the engineering design process to design and build small-scale bridges, using Balsa wood and glue. Teams brainstormed ideas that met the size and material design constraints. After much planning, they created prototype bridges.  They tested their bridges to see how much weight they could hold until they broke and then determined which have the highest strength-to-weight ratios. They examined the prototype failures to identify future improvements. We were fortunate enough to have a structural engineer come and consult with the students before they started building and then during our weighted challenge to consult with students on success and failures. I myself was happily impressed with the students’ accomplishments with the final bridge holding 38 pounds without breaking!

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