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
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...
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Bridge Building
Young scholars 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...
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Suspension Bridge Construction
Students study types, strength and construction of a variety of bridges. They build a model bridge and test the amount of weight it support.
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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.
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Suspension Bridge Building
Students build a model of a suspension bridge and test the amount of weight it will support. In this engineering lesson, students study types of bridges and attempt to construct a suspension bridge shown in a diagram. They use string and...
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Bridge Building lab
Students 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 flat...
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Suspension Bridges
Students view examples of suspension bridges and discuss their structure. They complete a tension and compression experiment with a partner then perform a similar experiment with books. They discuss engineers and how they design and...
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Suspension Bridge Construction
Students build a model of a suspension bridge and test the amount of weight it support. They identify different types of bridges: suspension, arch, girder, truss, cantilever, cable-stayed and moveable.
Scholastic
STEM Challenges and Activity Sheets for Grades 6–8
From 3-D cities to building bridges, young engineers engage in innovative STEM challenges that promote brainstorming and collaboration. Learners take on the roles of different types of engineers as well as become familiar...
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Science: Motion Commotion
Students examine Newton's three laws of motion to discover what causes it and how it changes. They conduct motion experiments by building catapults and constructing balloon rockets. Finally, they conduct peer studies correlating...
Teach Engineering
Constructing Sonoran Desert Food Chains and Food Webs
Investigate desert biomes by creating food chains and food webs. Groups first research feeding habits of organisms in the Sonoran Desert. This information helps pupils draw food chains and webs to determine relationship between organisms.
CK-12 Foundation
Expand and Contract
Gaps are essential to engineering bridges and roads. Learners watch a video showing a typical construction of a bridge to see why they're so important. They then manipulate an interactive to model the effects of temperature change on the...
Scholastic
STEM Challenges and Activity Sheets 3–5
How can engineers help their communities? Three challenges in the first unit explore why STEM is important to communities and how neighborhoods are engineered to experience those benefits. The second unit prompts groups to plan an...
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A Good Foundation
Students examine how regional geology affects bridge foundations. In this physical science lesson plan, students explore how bridge types are constructed for different purposes.
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Designing An Investigation
Students will design a scientific investigation. In this engineering design lesson, students will set up an investigation, collect data and form a conclusion about bridge design. They will use common household items to construct their...
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Tension and Compression
Young scholars explore the forces of tension and compression by manipulating a variety of objects, and apply what they learned in the construction of a model bridge.
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Tacoma Narrows Bridge Lesson Plans
Students design and construct a suspension bridge. Math is used to compare the actual measurements of the bridge to the student's version.
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Lemon Battery
Students construct their own battery made of lemons. For this electrochemistry lesson, students explain why lemons conduct electricity. They perform a series of experiments to investigate its conductivity.
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Earthquake Experiments
Students discuss the effects of earthquakes. In this earth science lesson, students create earthquake models and earthquake-proof buildings. They construct their own seismograph.
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Environment: Wild Wind Direction
Students examine the different types of wind patterns. Using common materials, they construct weather vanes to measure and record wind direction over a two-week period. After analyzing the data, they draw conclusions about the...
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A Walk on the West Side
Students comprehend what makes up the physical community. Read and construct scale drawings and models. Explore the history of infrastructures and how the contributions of science, math and industry have led to the development of their...
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Strong as the Weakest Link
Students recognize that compression and tension forces are important considerations in building structures. They construct their own building structure using marshmellows and spaghetti to see which structure can hold the most weight.
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Tension and Compression
High schoolers experience the forces of tension and compression by manipulating objects that are strong in each but not in both. Students construct a simple model of a beam bridge.