Instructional Guide

Construction: Building and Beams

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During this unit you are going to:

Explore forces that act on structures.

Discover the strength of a beam varies.

Design, construct, test, and evaluate paper beams.

Forces

Compression - The act, process, or result of pressing or squeezing together.

Tension - The act or action of being stretched or the condition of being stretched.

Beam Efficiency

Beam Efficiency = Weight Beam HeldWeight of Beam X 100

Design Challenge

You are a structural engineer and you are helping your parents design a family room addition to a house that has a deck on the roof.The challenge is to design a deck strong enough to support family and friends. You will create the strongest beam possible. A successful beam will support family, friends and the deck itself. The strength/efficiency of the beam will be determined by dividing thefinal load by the beam’s weight.

EngineeringDesign Process

Step 1 – Identify a challenge

• What is the challenge?

• Brainstorm ways of constructing the beams out of one sheet of paper.

Step 2 – Explore Ideas

• Draw end and side views of two possible beams.

√ Identify a challenge

Step 3 – Plan and Develop

• Sketch the best idea.

• Sketch a refined design.

√ Identify a challenge

√ Explore Ideas

Step 4 – Testing and Evaluating

• How much weight did it hold?

• What can you do to make it stronger?

• Revise and draw design. What changes did you make? What are the differences from the first

design?

• Which design was better? Why?

√ Identify a challenge

√ Explore Ideas

√ Plan and Develop

Step 5 – Presenting the Solution

• What are the final dimensions, weight, and load?

• Determine the efficiency.• List the materials used.• How well did the project go?

Would you change anything?

√ Identify a challenge

√ Explore Ideas

√ Plan and Develop

√ Testing and Evaluating

Conclusion

Compare all of the beams with the class. How are they different? How are they similar? How could they be made better?

Discuss and design a final beam with the whole class.