This week the STEM challenge is to try and build the strongest bridge. Bridges come in all different shapes and sizes. They are also built with lots of different types of materials. I have attached a short video about bridges and some materials they can be made of.

The material that the bridge is made of can sometimes determine how strong the bridge is. Let’s experiment and build our own bridges out of different materials that we can find in our homes and test how strong they are.

You can use a range of different materials such as tinfoil, paper, cardboard or anything you find around your house that you think would make a good  bridge. Encourage your child to feel, bend and explore the quality of the materials they choose. Encourage descriptive language such as strong, weak, long, short, hard or soft. Ask your child to try and predict which material they think will be the strongest before testing your bridges.

Here is an idea of how to create your bridge however I’m sure you will all have other fantastic ideas that I can’t wait to see.

Use two objects to create a balance point each side for your bridge.
Attach your material to create your bridges.
Place a few of the same item on each bridge and continue to place them on until your bridge cannot hold anymore. Count how many each bridge can hold before collapsing.

What you will need:

Two thick books or small boxes
Paper, cardboard or tinfoil
Tape
Coins or other small, heavy objects to use as weights (small rocks, nuts and bolts, etc.)

You could get your child to record how many of the different items each bridge could hold.  A tally mark chart is a good way to record information and to compare which material was the strongest.

Hope you have fun and please upload any photos to your child’s learning journal or email them to easherrie.devlin@glow.sch.uk