Eighth Grade Project Builds Bridges And Confidence

By Larissa D. Lytwyn

Bridges –– and expectations –– were shattered June 3 at the culmination of Newtown Middle School’s fifth annual Eighth Grade Building Bridges project.

For the first time ever, this year’s class challenged technology education teacher Daniel Ramsey to build the best model bridge –– and won. Amy Kopchik, Catrina Morgan, and Courtney Sullivan received the highest score with an efficiency rate of 631.6. Mr Ramsey received a score of around 601.2.

“At first, I simply asked Mr Ramsey to teach the class a little bit more about bridge building,” said eighth grade computer and science teacher Martha Babbit. “But then the class decided to challenge him to build a better bridge than they could.”

“Theoretically, there are a lot of different subjects that this project relates to,” said Mr Ramsey. Though, at 49, Mr Ramsey has taught technology education for more than two decades, he said the contest was helpful for him to touch up on his own construction skills. “The kids have really good motor and coordination skills,” he said. “My hands are bigger and I’m older.”

After spending several months learning about the process of bridge building, student groups spent two weeks –– including hours before and after school –– designing and constructing as architecturally efficient a bridge as possible.

To measure their model’s strength, each group attempted to fill a pail attached to the bottom of their bridge with bags containing 500 grams of sand. How much weight could it withstand before collapsing? Efficiency was determined by calculating the difference between the bridge’s structural mass and the amount of grams needed for it to collapse.

Mrs Babbitt’s husband, Donald, videotapes the event each year. “I used to be an industrial salesman,” he said. “So, I know a lot about what Martha is teaching. She is just an excellent teacher. Some of the high school’s top students that had her in science said that they still reference the notes from her class.”

Mrs Babbitt has taught “her class” for more than 35 years. “When you first introduce the project at the open house in fall, kids are convinced they can’t do it,” she said. “But I just tell them that by the end of the year that they will. And they do.”