Bridge Designs by 4th Class

In Geography class we enjoyed learning about the different bridges and saw different examples of bridges. Using the “Curiosity Box” pack we designed a straw bridge.

We knew that the material from which a bridge is made is important, but you can strengthen a material by changing its shape. Bridge designers often use different shapes, e.g. arches and triangles. The curve of the arch spreads the load on the bridge and makes it stronger

Materials needed: Drinking straws, sticky tape, spring-balances, weighing bags, Card, scissors, and items to add to the weight such as pencils, rubbers, pencil cases.

Challenge: The challenge was to use the items above to build a super strong bridge. The rules were that the bridge could only be made from the drinking straws and sticky tape. The tape can only be used to join the straws together and not the make the bridge stronger. In groups we decided on the design of our bridge.

Results:

Our bridges were able to hold different weights.