May Howard students practiced their civil engineering skills the first week of school during science lab. After reviewing rules and procedures, the children built a control bridge out of a large index card placed on two support cups that were ten centimeters apart. Most of these bridges only held six to ten pennies.
Students then redesigned their bridges. They could only use the index card and masking tape. The index card could not be taped to the cups or table. We have some very capable future civil engineers. Many of our classes ran out of pennies because their bridges supported so much weight.
The older students calculated the weight of the pennies. The younger children practiced their number skills by counting the number of pennies their bridges held. Students found that the triangular and the cylinder shaped bridges held the most pennies.