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Project Description: This project-based scientific inquiry project: Earthquake and Boise River Bridge Design is centered on researching different types of bridges, various aspects of earthquakes, and seismic safety features of bridges. In this project, students work in small groups to explore different bridge types, the destructive aspects of an earthquake, and the safety features for bridges that could resist earthquakes. Then students will design an earthquake-tolerant bridge and test their design with an earthquake simulator. To develop computational thinking and an understanding of STEM subjects, students from 4th, 5th and 6th grade will work in small groups of six, with one in-service teacher and one pre-service teacher, twice a week for eight weeks in a community center's after-school program.

Overview of Project 2: Earthquake and Boise River Bridge Design

Table 1: Illustration of Project 2

Week 1 Activities

Project Implementation: Please refer to the weekly activities (such as Week 1 Session 1 and Resources from the left side bar) for detailed information on how to use this project either in a classroom or informal settings such as community centers' after-school programs.

Outline of Weekly Activities:

Week 2 Activities

Week 3 Activities

Week 4 Activities

Week 5 Activities

Week 6 Activities

Week 7 Activities

Week 8 Activities

This project was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant Number 1640228. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Please contact Dr. Dazhi Yang at dazhiyang@boisestate.edu if you have questions.