Bridge Building Project Becomes Annual Affair

By Larissa Lytwyn

Last year, Newtown Middle School technology teacher Donald Ramsey challenged students in computer and science teacher Martha Babbitt’s eighth grade class to pit the basic engineering skills they had recently learned against his.

Breaking into groups of three to five members each, the students constructed a scaled model of a bridge that would be evaluated by both its artistry and construction quality.

To measure their bridge’s strength, or efficiency, each group attempted to fill a pail attached to the bottom of their bridge with bags containing 500 milligrams of sand each.

How much weight could their bridge withstand before collapsing?

Efficiency was determined by calculating the difference between the bridge’s structural mass and the number of grams of sand it carried before breaking.

The larger the number calculated, the stronger the bridge.

In addition to competing against their peers, students sought to achieve a number higher than Mr Ramsey’s.

Last year, Mr Ramsey scored a whopping 601.2. This year, he scored a lower but certainly still respectable 326.1. And, both this year and last, students beat Mr Ramsey!

This year’s top team, consisting of Andy Maret, Taylor Boles. and Jennie Samson, scored a 728.7.

The second place winners were Doug Kissack, Brittany Williams, and Nancy Wilder, with a score of 546.8.

Like last year, Ms Babbitt’s husband, Don, videotaped each student’s project.

“It’ll be very exciting for them,” he said. “Like last year, they’ll get to view it on the last day of school [June 23].”

Brittany and Nancy said that the project helped them become better at math. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be,” said Nancy.

“I don’t like math very much, so I was kind of nervous,” said Brittany. “But it turned out fine.”

Taylor described the activity as “fun.” She said, “You learn so much! It makes the subject less intimidating.”

Ms Babbitt says that the students always surprise themselves at the end of the project. In the beginning of the year, she said, when the project is first mentioned, it can seem rather daunting. By the end, she said, they realize they are capable of more they ever thought possible.