Bridge Competition 2023 

Video of Bridge Event 2023     

               Bridge Competition 2022

     I am amazed at the hard work that all of my 4th grade students demonstrated in designing and building these bridges. They listened to our engineering lessons, decided on a category to try to win, and BUILT! These kids are AMAZING!

Spaghetti Bridges

We learned about the "Engineer Design Process" to help us design spaghetti bridges. Watch out....they will break!

Ramp Challenge

Who can design a ramp in which a ping-pong ball will roll the farthest?  Engineer Design Process in use!

  Back Scratcher Challenge

        We used our creative abilities to meet the challenge of designing back scratchers. 

                                                                        How Does Juggling Change Your Brain?

     Juggling boosts brain development. Research indicates that learning to juggle accelerates the growth of neural connections related to memory, focus, movement, and vision. ... Juggling builds hand-eye coordination in ways that improve reaction time, reflexes, spatial awareness, strategic thinking, and concentration.    

Challenge Pictures of Bridge Event 2020

                                                                                                                     Bridge Competition 2020

Fourth Grade Challenge

     The students in fourth grade will practice the qualities of being part of a team.  As we use the engineering design process, we will build structures within teams.  Students will quickly learn that all members of the team bring ideas and support to our class building projects. Watch for our building pictures soon. 

BRIDGE BUILD 2020

                                                                                                                     Bridge Design

     Designing . . . . After gaining a large background of knowledge on engineering design of bridges and buiding simple models, students are now creating a pre-design of their dream bridge. Our district wide competition will be Saturday, February 29th, beginning at 9:00 am. The location is the Greenville Convention Center at 1 Exposition Drive. Mark your calendars now!

                                                                                                                                    Simple Models

               Partners and small groups build simple models like "The Span" or "The Ramp" to learn about basic engineering principles. These BUILDS help us to see designs that work and those which do not work. We also learn a lot about team building through this process. 

The Engineer Design Process

   Fourth Graders are designing models from a variety of materials. They are going through the process of design with a great emphasis on PLANNING. Working together as a team is paramount in order to have successful prototypes.

IMAGES FROM 2018-2019 BELOW

Bridge Competition

March 9th, 2019

      We made it to the fantastice Bridge Competition Saturday. What an exciting morning with hundreds of bridges from across Greenville County being tested. Our bridges were tested towards the end of the morning, and we all waited patiently. Even though we didn't have any "100 lb" bridges, we still scored and will see our scores this week.  Enjoy the pictures. The first group of pictures were taken this week after all of our bridges appeared on the moring news at school. The remaining pictures were taken during the competition. 

Building Structures....Teamwork

   We are learning how to work as a team to design and build structures using the "Engineer Design Model".  Students are putting their minds together to make stable structures and competing to build the BEST. 

Exploration I

       As we begin our studies in fourth grade Challenge, we will take a  look at the essential qualities of building a cohesive team.  The class will look at productive team structures to help facilitate this process. These lessons will dive into the process of developing engineer-like thinking and problem solving skills. 

First Week Introductory Activities

    We had a great week with many "ice-breaker" activites so our new 4th graders would feel a part of our class. We talked about our hopes and dreams and danced to the pop-song, "You Can Have It All".  We also learned about the hopes of a little girl, Ruby, from the Chinese culture of 1800's. Students then developed their own haiku and painted Chinese watercolors. 

This begins archived information and  pictures from 2017-2018 .      

 Regions Project

 Fourth graders took a trip across the United States by studying various regions. Within this study, students selected one state to research and  make an itenerary  to travel to the state.  See below. 

                                                                                                                     Challenge in January

     Fourth graders are preparing for our Bridge Competition on February 24th, 2018. We designed a variety of bridges from engineering lessons. Now, we are putting our bridges together on Day 1. What an exciting time. See below for pictures of Day 1 Building. We hope you enjoy viewing. 

                                                                                          Challenge in December

   What an exciting time in 4th Grade Challenge. We are working on our designs for the BRIDGE COMPETITION. Students are taking into account all of their knowledge about engineering of bridges and using this information to make the best design possible.  Shown below is Stage One of the design process.   12/1/2017

Fourth graders in Challenge have just completed a series of designs using the Engineering Design Process. Students have worked as a team to brainstorm and plan their creations. They've learned that some plans work well and some designs need to be adjusted. This process is preparing us for our upcoming designs of bridges. See below for our plans in action.

        UNDER THE BRIDGE...Our final bridge for Part 1. Build a structure as long and as tall as possible.