Suspension Bridge Construction

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.

Construction engineers research types of bridges online and diagram the forces exerted on each. The create different shaped trusses and test for strength. Finally, they will form teams and compete in "Physics Olympics: Bridge Building."...

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...

Sometimes bridge building is a family business. An enlightening video describes the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge and the engineering principles behind suspension bridges. Viewers also learn about the people who led the project,...

Students explain the concepts of tension and compression, and then state the purpose of suspension bridges. They also study some of the most famous suspension bridges in North America.

Spanning across time—well, maybe not time. Using simple materials, teams design, draw, and then construct a bridge. Teams build the strongest, safest, and most economical bridge using the materials from the supply price list. Each team...

Bridges rely on tension and compression to keep them standing. Pairs test this principle by constructing simple bridges and applying a force to the center. Teams use the provided worksheet to record their observations of the reaction of...

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...

Students explore bridges.  In this bridge lesson, students design and build a suspension bridge after visiting related websites and reviewing famous bridges in non-fiction books.  Students follow the instructions from the "Build a Bridge...

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.