6th Graders Build Bridges
by Trisha Gibson
May 22, 2009
During the month of March, the six grade students took a break from the state assessments and came together to brainstorm ideas on how to create a bridge. All sixth grade students were assigned a task of building a bridge using a given set of supplies that could span twenty-four inches and support at least 20 pennies. The students worked hard in small groups to cooperatively share ideas, and then they came up with a plan for the best bridge building design. Once all small groups were finished with their planning, they built and tested the bridge designs to see which bridges were able to withstand the most pennies. Sadly to say, most bridges had a hard time just being able to span the twenty-four inches. After all of the bridges were tested, each classroom discussed the pros and cons of each groups' bridges. Then the whole class began brainstorming ideas to create a stronger classroom bridge that could compete against the other 6th grade classrooms. Much discussion occurred, and newer, stronger bridges were constructed. Finally, all three of the 6th grade classrooms competed with their newly designed bridges. Mrs. Gibson's classroom ended up winning the competition with Mrs. Brintnall's class in a close second place. Mrs. Mitchell's class trailed for third.
