This short week, the 1-2s took a deep dive into Civil Engineering. We learned that engineers design or improve technologies. And we learned that technology is more than iPads and electronic devices - it is almost anything made by people to meet a need or solve a problem. After the design work is done, engineers hand off their plans to artisans to build it and then technicians to run or fix it. Maya, Morgan and Jackson helped role play those different parts so we could remember them and learn the new vocabulary.
The House Tables were then tasked with building a bridge that would span a gap of 15 inches. They could use paper, crafts sticks, coffee stirrers, paper clips, string and tape. Their prototypes were then tested for stability and strength by seeing how many times out of 4 a car could make it from one end of the bridge to the other as well as how many penny weights the bridge could withstand before distorting or collapsing.
Each group's plan and score can be found today in your child's backpack.
The testing is always heartbreaking for them as we do test the bridges to failure, but we point out that this is how we learn what makes a bridge strong and stable and helps us determine what we can do to improve them the next time around. Check out the before and after pictures below of each group and their model.
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