The Bridge Model
The second component of the Bridge Project was the construction of a bridge model. Students organized themselves into groups of three or four. Ms. Texas cautioned them from forming groups only with their friends; she reminded them that each group would need a diverse collection of "experts" to complete the project. She referred them to the skills inventory they completed at the beginning of the year. Before launching the Bridge Project, Ms. Texas had each student present to the class his or her strengths (e.g., good math skills, artistic, strong team leader). The students recorded these attributes in their notebooks. Ms. Texas recommended students refer back to this list to ensure that their groups had the right combination of skills and abilities to get the job done.

Each group operated as a company and was required to create a company name and logo, and develop a plan for the bridge including scaled drawings, estimation of materials, estimated cost of construction, and a timetable for construction. Then using only commercial pasta products, glue or epoxy, and watercolors the group constructed their bridge to specifications. The bridge was required to support 1 kg for 10 minutes. After the load test, students wrote a proposal that included operation and safety features, economic benefits for the community, records maintained during the project, photographs or video documentation of the process from start to finish, differences in the original estimations and the actual numbers, and discussion of the physical and mathematical principles used. Students presented their final proposals in a community exhibition that included members of the Louisville Department of Transportation, engineers, retired teachers, pre-service teachers, and former students.

Choosing a Group
Model Building
Bridge Proposals
Proposal Rubric
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