The students in Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation’s Summer Warriors Program designed and engineered bridges!
The students began with an introduction to types of bridges and how they operate, such as an arch bridge, a beam bridge, and truss bridge. They learned about components and corresponding vocabulary of each bridge design: load compression, tension, and the importance of these components to the type of bridge being designed.
After learning about these components, their focus turned to the strongest shape design in a bridge. They learned that a triangular shape is used in a variety of structures for the strength it offers, and how that can translate in design to a geodesic dome.
Then the students began their popsicle bridge building activity, and drew out “blueprints” with specifics to their respective bridges’ design, materials used, and predictions of its load bearing abilities.
Finally, the designs and finished bridges were presented, including a weight test for each bridge and an evaluation of their bridge structures, initial predictions, and results. It was a very successful lesson on design and engineering for the students!