Building BridgesAuthor Lindsay @ Strawbees

Build a bridge to help Mio cross over a river safely!

ENGINEERING SCIENCE

120 minutes

30 Students

Individual

Bridges are very important for connecting places andallowing us to travel easily. Students will listen to thestory of Mio arriving at a problem of trying to cross abridge to make it to Mia's house in time for herbirthday! Use Strawbees and straws to make a bridgebetween two surfaces over a river. Students at the endwill collaborate and make the longest running bridgethey can!

DurationClass SizeGroup SizeOverview

© 2 0 1 7 S T R AW B E ES . A l l r i g ht s re s e r ve d

Age Group

5-7

Building Bridges - 1

Straws

300 x Straws2-Legged Strawbees

3001-Legged Strawbees

3003-Legged Strawbees

300

Scissors

30Tissue Paper

20Cardstock Paper

40Pencils

15

Materials

ModificationsLesson Split TimeDepending on needs, this lesson can be split and taught in two 45-minute periods with an additional 15minutes dedicated to setup and clean-up for each.

Learning ObjectivesLearn the engineering design process: begin to recognize a problem, build a prototype to test, startiteration, and share the results with classmates.

Building the spatial reasoning capacity to visualize objects in three dimensions and beginning to drawconclusions about those objects from limited information.

Gain the ability to describe what was built using basic engineering vocabulary and demonstrate knowledgeby identifying parts of their creation that work.

Fine-tune physical functions such as eyesight and motor skills with tools and assembling materialstogether.

Understanding a story with a beginning, middle, and end with a problem and/or conflict with a solution.

© 2 0 1 7 S T R AW B E ES . A l l r i g ht s re s e r ve d

Age Group

5-7

Building Bridges - 2

1 To add extra flair to story time, cut out shapes relevant to the scene. Create props from constructionpaper or felt to add to the scene.

2 Have additional small caddies or bowls around the room on desks or the floor to collect cut or brokenstraws pieces to save for future projects and help with cleanup.

3 Place containers of materials to the side of the room until students are ready to build.

4 For adding the deck/flooring of the bridge, you can cut sheets of paper into thick strips or long sheetsfor students to add on top for Mio to safely cross over in the bridge design.

Preparation

© 2 0 1 7 S T R AW B E ES . A l l r i g ht s re s e r ve d

Age Group

5-7

Building Bridges - 3

Lesson Steps

1. Welcome

Who plans, designs, and builds bridges? Some of our community helpers do! Civil Engineers plan anddesign bridges for our construction crews to build. These important community helpers get us wherewe need to go, especially if we have to cross large bodies of water like rivers. There’s a lot of work thatgoes into building bridges, and it takes special skills to create a safe bridge for your community.

2. Story Time: The River

Start with the fun story of Mio going on ahike. You can choose to add sound e ects,make body gestures, or making noise withyour hands or feet to add an extra flair of funfor your storytelling.

"Mio was walking on a beautiful, sunny day on his way to a friend'shouse. Mio knew that the house was near the river down the road andit took him exactly 21 minutes of walking to get there. Today inparticular, was his friend Mia's birthday! Naturally Mio did not want tobe late, so he packed up treats in a basket and a beautiful scarf for herto wear. He left his house and begin his walk. 11 minutes into his walk,Mio saw the bridge he used to normally cross over, was gone!"

"Mio gasped! He was going to be late and to be late for a birthdayparty was no good indeed. He had to figure out cross .. but how?"

"Then Mio had a lightbulb! Reaching into his pocket he realized he wasprepared. Fortunately, Mio always carries Strawbees and straws, afavorite toy that both be and Mia enjoy. What can Mio build to crossthe river?"

© 2 0 1 7 S T R AW B E ES . A l l r i g ht s re s e r ve d

Age Group

5-7

Building Bridges - 4

3. How Do Bridges Work?

Introduce to your students that Mio, the engineer must take into consideration many things whenplanning a bridge or even fixing an old bridge. Ask your students the following questions:

How long must the bridge be? What is the water like? What is the land around the water like? Rocky,muddy, sandy? What materials should be used to build the bridge? What style should the bridge be?How can we cross over safely without going into the water?

4. Make a Bridge!

Pass out straws and Strawbees to your students to start to build abridge between the two surfaces. Students can assemble simplebridges by connecting straws with 2-Legged Strawbees and make longrows of them. They can also slide straws through the heads of the 2-Legged Strawbees to build a basic form that will give the bridgestrength.

Remind your students that the challenge is to build a bridge betweentwo surfaces, such as stools, tables, or even cardboard boxes.

5. Crossing the Bridges

Have your students place their bridges on top of both surfaces tomake sure Mio can cross over! Ask your students, "Do we see holes onthe bridge?" If they say yes, have them point where they are and try topatch them up with paper or even laying down more straws. This willallow Mio to cross safely over.

Place a small sheet of paper on top to build a floor for Mio to walkacross. You can test the bridge by carefully pressing down on thesheets of paper. Encourage your students to patch all the holes so Miowon't fall into the river!

For extra collaborative fun, you can challenge your students tocombine their bridges to make an extra long bridge between multiplesurfaces!

© 2 0 1 7 S T R AW B E ES . A l l r i g ht s re s e r ve d

Age Group

5-7

Building Bridges - 5

6. Finishing the Story and Reflection

Thank your students for helping Mio to cross the bridge as helpers ofthe community! Mio thanks everyone and was able to safely make itacross the bridge to Mia's house! By building these bridges share thatyour students worked together as designers and engineers to build asafe bridges for Mio and anyone else afterward.

Bridges are very important for connecting places and allowing us totravel between places. Ask your students to raise their hands if theyhave seen a bridge near their house? If so, ask if they cross it and ifthey do, point out the parts of the bridge that makes it work! Afterlearning this lesson, ask your students if they think they can build thatbridge out of Strawbees.

BridgeA built structure creating apathway over an obstacle.

BendWhen an object is pushed down

and begins to flex.

LimitA set restriction on what can be

done.

BuildCombination of materials to

construct a whole object.

FloorThe surface of a building.

StrengthThe physical capability of

endurance and resistance offorce.

Vocabulary

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Age Group

5-7

Building Bridges - 6

This project was developed by Strawbees® and is featured on MakerHub with their permission.

For more makerspace projects, visit makerhub.demco.com.