Challenge and Discover: Build a Bridge

I’m excited to be hosting a new monthly science challenge link up with Science Sparks and The Imagination Tree. We are calling the party Challenge and Discover. Each month we will challenge you to complete a specific science activity with your children. This month’s theme is: Build a Bridge. We will give you examples of projects for the theme on our blogs and in our Science at Home video series.

How to Build a Bridge

Our bridge is made of cardboard and plastic hangers. My husband, Patrick, gets credit for designing this bridge. I challenged him to create a bridge from a thick cardboard tube and a flat piece of cardboard.

Patrick used a serrated knife to cut the cardboard tube into 4 pieces. He cut notches into the tubes about the same width as the flat cardboard piece.

To add more stability to the bridge, he added a piece of plastic from a broken clothes hanger to each side of the bridge. He simply poked a hole in each cardboard tube.

Patrick showed Aiden how to assemble the bridge. They took it apart. Then, Aiden put it together by himself. He continued disassembling and reassembling the bridge over and over again.

Time to test how much weight the bridge holds. I weighed some containers of rocks on our kitchen scale. Each container weighed a little over 1 kg (which was perfect since the challenge is to build a bridge that holds at least 1 kg).

Aiden stacked the containers on top of the bridge. The bridge held the weight just fine. Aiden stacked a few other items on top of the bridge and had fun knocking everything off.

We originally used thick cardboard tubes for the bridge. I was curious to see how much weight regular cardboard tubes (from a paper towel roll) would hold. The thinner cardboard tubes held up at least 2 kg as well.

Both bridges need further testing to see exactly how much weight they can hold.

Science at Home Video Series

Watch the video to see 4 examples of bridges built out of different materials.

Check out the Science at Home post for more information and links to the other bridge projects.

Challenge and Discover: Build a Bridge

The theme for this month is bridge building. Link up posts that showcase bridges you and your children built. Remember your bridge must hold at least 1 kg (a little over 2 lbs) and must be constructed of at least one item from the recycling bin. By linking up, you are giving us permission to grab one picture and feature your projects on our blogs and social media sites. We’d love for you to grab a button and add it to your post.

<div align="center"><a href="https://inspirationlaboratories.com/" title="Inspiration Laboratories" target="_blank"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8122/8631618164_9ea44b9587_m.jpg" alt="Inspiration Laboratories" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

You can also share photos of your bridges on our Facebook pages or in the Science for Kids community on Google+.

Link up your bridge projects from today until May 10th.

Thanks for sharing your bridge building ideas!

Linking up here.