Bridges!
Bridging the Gap!
Think about the places you have been in the past month. Is it possible to get to many of these places without crossing a bridge? Across gulfs and rivers, between peoples and countries, bridges break down separation and foster connectedness. Students explore ancient and modern bridges, get a little arch, do as the Romans did, learn how people balanced on blades of grass and grew living bridges, figure out how to hang in there and so much more! Let’s span the gap!
We don’t want to fall into the gap, but what if it’s in the way? And you really need to get there today…without going miles and miles and miles out of your way! Well thank the Romans because you’re in luck! A bridge will help you cross without getting stuck. Bridges: the end-product of centuries of mental ingenuity coupled with constant technological development, of imagination held in check by the need for safety, reliability, and peer approval.
Let’s learn their story, do as the Romans do (and learn what happens when an Empire is falling down, falling down!), get a bit arch, cross a few bridges of our own, figure out if you can really balance on a blade of grass, and discover that a bridge can be alive! Hang in there, we’re not done! We’ll discover that weaving rope can be really fun and find out what happens when the shakedown is won. Are you feeling the suspense? If not, you will! Because when you add bridges, Brooklyn, and grudgeball…this lesson is a thrill!
Quill you make a bridge with us? Don’t leave us in suspense! Then we’ll see if we can make words like compression make a lot of sense. We’ll feel the force and beam it up and things get simply suspenseful when students are hired as bridge engineers and make their best models to ease a city’s traffic fears. We’ll span the distance and learn the secrets of the longest bridge in the world and learn just what makes a bridge big, bigger, or the biggest!
Let’s end the suspense! Or maybe we’ll just build some more…Since, we’re going to build a bridge now, going to build a bridge now. Oh! Lookee! I see a…challenge! And you’re up to it you budding engineers you! After all, it’s just a matter of truss. And you can do it if you tri. Triangle that is! Learn the power of three as you try to defeat all problems, triangularly!
Suspenders aren’t just for your pants! Let’s meet Galloping Gertie, the bridge who did the twist (when the engineers built her, there were a few things that they missed!) Then we’ll take a challenge to see whose bridge will tower above the rest and follow it up with a test of truss (toothpicks are the best!) as we cross the great divide! And finally we’ll meet the creatures who aren’t too fond of goats, charge a pretty penny, and live underneath the bridges that cross rivers, streams, and moats!
