Project 2: Earthquake and Boise River Bridge Design - A Project-based STEM +Computing Inquiry (90 minutes in total including 10 minutes break in the middle of the session)
Overall guiding question: How can we build a bridge for the Boise River that is strong enough to resist earthquake forces?
Task Challenge: How can we design and construct a bridge over the Boise River to resist an earthquake?
Learning outcome:
Think through the process of designing and constructing a bridge to resist earthquakes
Note: This will be the final day of the project during which the designed bridges will be tested and the winner of the competition announced.
CT component embedded in student activities:
Heuristics: Students will build a bridge to satisfy requirements by trial and error
Conditional logic: Students will apply logic learnt regarding shapes and bridges in designing the bridge
Communication: Students will keep a journal and make a presentation to the class
Preparation for Final Competition: 25 minutes
Students are given ten minutes to prepare their bridges for the final competition. They make any last minute changes to their bridge.
Cost Estimations: For the final designs that were built, students estimate the cost of their bridge by using the table (will be provided to students by teacher) provided. The lowest cost of the bridge that meets the design specifications wins!
Bridge Testing: 45 minutes
Once all teams have completed building their bridges, the teacher starts the testing process that includes loading, earthquake simulation and reloading.
Loading requirement: The bridge should support 2 kg anywhere on the load without any bending
Earthquake performance: The bridge should receive ‘OK’ or ‘Caution’ performance remark
Reloading requirement: The bridge should support a loading of 1.5kg anywhere in the load without any bending
Judging the Performance:
The judge compares the costs and the performance of the bridges and determines the winner. Here is the Final Competition Evaluation Form.
Reminder:
Please help make sure all students' work/artifacts/journals are collected by the project team;
All students have completed a post survey at the end of the program. (This could be completed prior to the final competition testing/judging.)
End of Session Reflection and Debriefing: 10 minutes Using the Problem Solving Process diagram, the teacher will ask students to identify what kind of problem solving skills/process/computational thinking they used in this session and explain how they used it. The following are some sample questions that can guide the debrief.
What did I learn today?
What problem solving skills/processes or CT components I used today in this diagram?
How did you use the problem solving skills/processes/CT components?
Copyright 2018 Boise State University