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LESSON PLAN GOAL: The child to discover the principles of compression and tension, and practical uses in the fields of engineering and technology applications. We are using inquiry based learning where students would ask questions, do experiment and find answers from their experiments Target: children 9-12 years old. 1. BIG QUESTION: HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW THE BRIDGES WORKS? (Suggestion activity write down all your questions about bridge)
What is a bridge:astructurecarryingaroad,path,railroad,orcanalacrossariver,
ravine,road,railroad,orotherobstacle. Inasimplebridge,therewouldbeasupport,thebeamandtheload(carisamovingload. Thebridgeweightisadeadloadtothebridgesupport..Theloadisspreadoutbythebeam toitssupport
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Try to think how many different type of bridge you can find around you. Sometimes, the river or the gap is very wide. If the gap is only 3 ft wide, you can go to a hard ware store, by a wood plank and put it on top. What will happen if the gap is 10 ft wide, or 100 ft wide, or even 1000 ft wide. What would you do? In the old days, where they only have stones as the material, the Romans constructed arch bridge. Nowadays, people use steel and concrete to make the bridge.
Look at this video: The worlds most beatifull bridges [Link]
How come so long and support much weight without falling? What makes bridges so strong? Write your hypothesis:
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2. ANALYSIS. To better understand how bridges work, check the following items: HOW BRIDGES WORKS by Michel Morrisey [Link] LES/[Link] VIDEOS: Truss Bridges [Link] How does a suspensin bridge Works? [Link]
How arc bridge works
[Link] What is a truss bridge Look for other videos or websites related if you wish. Do a show and tell. Couple questions suggested: What kind of forces works in a bridge ( Tension and compression ) What is the strongest shape ( triangle or square?) What is the height and width ratio for a beam to hold a load better ( usually, the taller the height, the better) What is the material people use to build a real bridge? (Is it steel, stone, wood, concrete? ) How long do you think each material can reach,? ( Wood is usually limited to 12 ft or how tall the tree would grow. Steel is a man made, that can be connected to make it longer. Steel usually good in holding tension forces but not so compression. Concrete and steel is a good sample of combining both strength together. Concrete can hold compression best while steel inside the concrete could hold the tension best. Where do you think the strongest part should be ( usually where the joints are)
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3. SUMARIZE.
EXERSISE 1 Place each word in the right place: Tension Compression
Tension Compresion
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Exersise 2. Now take your IDEA Kit and build a new bridge using what you learned. You need to build a bridge to help Rhino safely cross a 2-3 ft gap ( or decide how wide the gap depending on difficulties). with budget provide. Each team has a budget. e.g, each team can only use 50 pieces of sticks etc. After building the bridge, they need to test the bridge ( you can use canned goods as the moving load). The bridge needs to withstand 10 second of 4 lbs weight. You can work in a team of 4. Sample for roles: One can be the accountant to keep track your bridge cost. One can be the architect where you have to think how to make the bridge eye pleasing. One can be the civil engineering where you can design what is the basic bridge looks like. One can become a project manager who keeps track the time. Take a picture of your bridge and email it to ideagroupproject@[Link]
Please give us feedback; 1. Is the lesson is about right for the age 2. Is there any topics you would like to add or learn 3. How much time do you need to work on these project 4. Would you do this at part of school enrichment program? Summer program? 5. If you school doesnt have this kit, would you ask the school to get this? 6. Would you ask your parents to buy the kit?
