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Building a Spaghetti Bridge

4 views - Published 10/24/2022

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Description

Basics of bridge design and construction, main elements of a bridge and their function, tips/advice for designing/building bridge

Key Questions

I am a gifted education teacher who is certified in English, so I struggle to help my students understand the engineering of bridge design. They will be construction truss bridges out of spaghetti and hot glue. I have more detailed requirements and directions that I can communicate later. I would love for them to understand how a bridge works and doesn't fall down, and what they need to know before designing their bridge.

Outcomes

Understand the parts/elements of a bridge and how they function, understand the main forces to consider in designing a bridge, what do they need to understand in order to design a strong bridge

Documents

Craig Merrett

Associate Professor at Mississippi State University

Alternative Titles

Assistant Professor,Associate Professor,Instructor,Professor

What they do

Teach courses pertaining to the application of physical laws and principles of engineering for the development of machines, materials, instruments, processes, and services. Includes teachers of subjects such as chemical, civil, electrical, industrial, mechanical, mineral, and petroleum engineering. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

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Bridge Building

We are studying the basics of bridge design, planning, and construction. 

10/09/2017

Bridges-Civil Engineering

This semester we have been studying bridges. We learned about three different truss bridges: pony, through and deck. We talk a little bit about tension, compression, the project team (The Design Professional, The Constructor, The Project Manager and The Owner).  For our first unit, students built a bridge out of 3 file folders and wood glue. This bridge was supposed to hold 12 lbs. Students are now working on testing the compressive and tensile strength of the bars and tubes similar to the ones from their bridge. We also briefly watched a clip about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. (If you see the following website we do Learning Activity #1 and Learning Activity #2)https://www.okcareertech.org/educators/cimc/resources/resources-by-title/supplemental-resources-for-tlas/filefolderbridge.pdf 

06/01/2017

Building Bridges

They are studying how to demonstrate that things can be done to materials to change their physical properties such as cutting folding to create different things. Combining materials that when put together can do things they can not do by themselves such as building a bridge.  

10/11/2017

Building Bridges

My fourth graders are studying bridge building, which will culminate with an individual creation of a bridge , in which they will test weight and resistance. They have researched the history of bridges. They have research history and different types of bridges.

01/22/2021

Civil Engineering- Bridge Design

My class is researching bridge designs and they will be required to construct a bridge made out of balsa wood and/or popsicle sticks. The bridge will need to hold a minimum of 50 lbs. 

04/21/2017

Blueprints for Bridge Design

One of my 4th grade gifted & talented students is completing her year long TPSP (Texas Performance Standards Project) on bridges and bridge designs.  She is almost to the part where she will be creating her own model bridge that is planned and built to scale.  I would love to have an expert help mentor her through this part, give suggestions, teach the specifics of blueprints and plans, etc. 

03/06/2019

Bridge and/or Structure safety inspections

They are doing a Project Based Learning project about bridge/structure inspections.  The driving question is:  As an engineer, how can we determine if a bridge or structure fails or succeeds? 

08/24/2021

Bridge and/or Structure safety inspections

They are doing a Project Based Learning project about bridge/structure inspections.  The driving question is:  As an engineer, how can we determine if a bridge or structure fails or succeeds? 

08/24/2021

Building highways and bridges

Our 5th-6th grade gifted class is studying the infrastructure of the US, including highway systems and national parks. We would like an engineer to share his or her expertise with us.

10/05/2015

Bridge and/or Structure safety inspections

They are doing a Project Based Learning project about bridge/structure inspections.  The driving question is:  As an engineer, how can we determine if a bridge or structure fails or succeeds? 

08/24/2021