Building Challenges

Using popsicle sticks and glue, groups must work together to design and build a bridge that can support weight and is aesthetically pleasing. The lesson begins by learners reading about different features of bridge architecture, followed...

Build teamwork skills while building a bridge. Scholars work together in groups to create a bridge out of 20 straws and tape. There is a minimum span length of 25 centimeters, but otherwise, let creativity run wild.

Can't build a cantilever? You'll be able to after a hands-on, constructive activity. Young engineers build cantilevers out of straws and tape. The finished products must be able to hang off a table as far as possible.

Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.

Host a design challenge of Olympic proportion! Junior engineers build their own bobsleds using simple materials. The activity focuses on kinetic and potential energy and how the center of mass affects motion on a downhill track....

When is it okay to be suspended in school? When you're part of a human suspension bridge! Learners first model tension and compression in pairs. Once complete, they get together as a class to model a suspension bridge.

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...

There is never a bridge too far. Using common items, class members build bridges to span an opening. Pupils test different geometric shapes to determine which is the strongest. Learners use pennies to find the strength of their bridges...

Students identify different bridge designs and construction materials used in modern day engineering. They work in construction teams to create paper bridges and spaghetti bridges based on existing bridge designs. Students progressively...

Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...