Materials List: Operation Build a Bridge and Get Over It

Each group needs:

  • 100 wooden tongue depressors or craft sticks
  • Elmer's white school glue (NOT wood glue)
  • ruler
  • paper and pencil, to sketch and re-sketch bridge designs
  • Pre-Activity Quiz, one per student
  • Mission Possible Activity Worksheet, one per student
  • Post-Activity Quiz, one per student
  • computer with Internet connection, for research
  • safety glasses, one pair per student, to use during testing

To share with the entire class:

  • (optional) 8 x 10-inch printouts of a few broken bridges from around the world, such as the four pictured in Broken Bridge Photos Visual Aid, slipped into a manila envelope, for the activity introduction
  • binder clips (clamp-style paper clips), used to clamp together bridges while drying
  • small hand saws
  • a way to test bridge strength, such as science lab hook masses or a hanging bucket with rocks, sand or other weights, with the bridge spanning a gap between two tables placed some distance apart; alternatively, use bridge-breaker equipment if available
  • scale
  • calculator
  • (optional) camera
https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/ucd_bridge_activity1