Boom Construction
Student teams design their own booms (bridges) and engage in a friendly competition with other teams to test their designs. Each team strives to design a boom that is light, can hold a certain amount of weight, and is affordable to build. Teams are also assessed on how close their design estimations are to the final weight and cost of their boom "construction." This activity teaches students how to simplify the math behind the risk and estimation process that takes place at every engineering firm prior to the bidding phase—when an engineering firm calculates how much money it will take to build the project and then "bids" against other competitors.
A construction crane with a horizontal boom.
Complex engineered structures can be described as tall buildings, bridges, tunnels and highways. The use of mathematics in engineering is important because each of these structures has a different design depending on its purpose and where it is built. While the math associated with the design of complex structures is difficult (precisely figuring out the beams, columns and floors of a structure, for example), another application for math exists, one that is not as complex. The bidding phase of a project, for instance, also involves the use of math for estimations and unit conversions—a simpler but also important type of math than what is used to design vital structure components.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Estimate the cost and weight of a design project.
- By applying concepts of the engineering design process, explain how to build a bridge out of paper that can hold more than its own weight.
- Explain the different type of failures that occur in buildings.
- Describe how the accuracy equation can be used.
- (If Microsoft Excel® is used): Use a software spreadsheet application to tabulate results and/or use an ultrasonic sensor to measure distance.