8th Grade Explore Engineering

Mrs. Smith's 8th grade class enjoyed exploring the field of engineering while building bridges. The students had to research, design, and construct a bridge in teams. Each group developed a construction company with a budget of 1.5 milllion dollars. The jobs of contractor, engineer, accountant and communications director were given among the teammates. Each team had to design a company logo and checks, they had to purchase building materials and insurance, fill out paperwork to aquire permits, research and design truss bridges, and construct their bridge within the guidelines set.
After the bridges were built, they tested the strength of each bridge by adding weights of 5 and 10 lbs increments. The strongest bridge, which was built by Jordan Davis, Dylan Harrell, and Tyler Jones was able to hold 318 lbs before it broke. The students had so much fun that at time Mrs. Smith noted that they actually forgot they were learning. Mrs. Smith stated that "math, science, and technology objectives are very important to create the interest but how the students use the objectives and what they learn in class is priceless"!