1st Graders Become Engineers!

1st graders have been using their knowledge about properties of solids to build bridges and towers! Each structure uses different materials that have distinct uses based on their properties. We discussed the purpose of a bridge (to cross over something) and decided that there had to be room for something (car, boat, train, people) to pass under the bridge. Each student had the same amount of supplies and....no glue, scissor or tape could be used!

Some people worked on their own.

Some people worked together.

This bridge is long and goes around the corner!

The rubber bands can be tricky to use!

A tunnel bridge.

A covered bridge.

A boat with a red sail to pass under!

This bridge even has an on/off ramp!

A slim bridge.

Next class, new challenge! Building and measuring a stable tower! We also had a new material to work with - aluminum foil! This time we draw our tower in our journals and measured how tall it was.

We have to use two rulers to measure how tall our tower is.

I made my tower lean like the leaning tower of Pisa.

I made the Eiffel Tower.