Have you ever wondered how structures stand strong and stable all around us? Scientists in the Schools visited the Grade 3 classes on Tuesday to teach us about structural engineering. We learned that structures are anything that can be built that serve a purpose. Structures can be man-made or natural and must either be able to contain, span, or support a load. Try sorting the following into natural or man-made structures: skyscrapers, beaver dam, bee hive, house, schools, trees. The students had fun exploring how shapes affect structures as well as investigating tension and compression. We ended our workshop with a design challenge. Students were asked to design, build, and test bridges constructed out of only paper and tape. Our bridges were original, strong and stable and were able to support the weight of a toy dump truck. The visiting scientist encouraged us to investigate famous structures that we see in our world…can you think of any?
