Building Bridges

For the last 2 weeks of first semester, my colleagues and I provided a series of brief science electives--students got their choice. The one I taught was on Design and Engineering, and culminated in a bridge-building project. Their goal was to make the most attractive bridge possible that would hold a maximum weight over a 30 cm gap, using as little pasta and glue (their only materials) as possible.

The results: here's the winning student bridge, which held around 12 kg (that's about 24 lb, for those who don't speak metric). I hate to boast, but I will, by pointing out that the bridge I made held 31 kg (62 lb). OK, no fair, I do have an engineering degree. For all the pictures of bridges (and their architects) click here.