Activity (Hands-On)Grades 4 - 6
Building Our Bridge to Fun!
Materials List
Each group needs:
- LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 robot, such as EV3 Core Set (5003400) at https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-mindstorms-education-ev3-core-set/5003400#lego-mindstorms-education-ev3
- 1 LEGO MINDSTORMS Ultrasonic Sensor, available at https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-mindstorms-education-ev3-ultrasonic-sensor/45504
- 10 - 15 sheets of blank paper
- 1 pound (~450 g) of regular, thick spaghetti (raw, uncooked)
- glue gun
- 1 package of glue sticks
- scissors
- colors, markers or crayons
- Building Our Bridge to Fun Pre-Assessment (PDF)
- Building Our Bridge to Fun Post-Assessment (PDF)
To share with the entire class:
- For intro demo: flexible rulers, one per student (alternative: sponges)
- For intro demo: small bag of gravel, such as a 28-oz (~0.8 kg) bag available at pet stores
- For intro demo: 4-pack of Play-Doh®, available at Target®, Walmart® or Amazon.com®
- Building Our Bridge to Fun Presentation (ppt) (PPT)
- Paper Bridges: Strength through Form, an Illustrated Teacher's Manual, available at https://www.amazon.com/Paper-bridges-Strength-illustrated-teachers/dp/B0006QX0PK
- LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 Software 1.2.1, free online, you have to register a LEGO account first; at https://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/downloads/download-software
- computer, loaded with EV3 1.2.1 software
- 4 standard mass sets to use as weights, such as a student standard mass set at https://www.enasco.com/p/Student-Standard-Mass-Set%2BTB17619?searchText=student+standard+mass+set; the ideal combined weight is ~600 grams
Note: This activity can also be conducted with the older (and no longer sold) LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set instead of EV3; see below for those supplies:
- LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Base Set
- LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT Software 2.1
- computer, loaded with NXT 2.1 software