Bridges Here, Bridges There....Bridges, Bridges Everywhere!

Bridges

By: Lupita

Bridges here, bridges there,

Bridges, bridges everywhere! 

Dangerous lifts open slowly,

majestic cast iron holds faithfully.

The fancy Golden Gate stretches elegantly,

steel towers support strongly.

Bridges above the boats,

bridges between West Portland and East Portland,

the St. John’s Bridge above the Willamette River,

and bridges through the valley.

Bridges here, bridges there,

Bridges, bridges everywhere!

Bridges! Bridges! Bridges!

The month of December has been focused on engineering and design, with the end project of building and testing our own straw bridges. Throughout our study we have learned bridge and engineering vocabulary, written bridge chants, researched and written reports on world famous bridges, read about engineers, famous bridges, and bridge design, as well as visited our beautiful Portland bridges, and finally planned, created, and tested straw bridges.Phew! What a month of fun and engaging learning it has been! 

 

Below are some pictures of some of our activities, be sure to ask your children about their learning because their engagement was astounding!

Peter our tour guide shows and explains the sights and bridges of  Portland on our walking tour.

Our first bridge was the Broadway Bridge. 

Enjoying a view of the Freemont Bridge as we crossed the Broadway Bridge. 

A quick stop at Union Station to learn about many different forms of transportation people in Portland take. 

Taking in the sights and learning about the Steel Bridge's double vertical lift. 

Can you spot our class walking along the lower deck of the Steel Bridge? 

We were so lucky to see four bridge lifts during lunch while eating on the East Bank Esplanade- a floating bridge! 

We had a great day of learning in our Bridge City! 

When learning bridge vocabulary during ELD, we played a fun partner vocabulary game. Be sure to ask your child about this vocabulary and see how many words they can teach you. 

Throughout December we earned Bridge Bucks for good behavior, turning in our homework, walking quietly in the hall, and teamwork! Now it's time to use them to buy our bridge building supplies! A mini-economy at work, lots of real life lessons learned.

After buying supplies, we took our blueprint plans and started building!

Caution: Serious engineers at work!

Engineers using teamwork to work on a cable-stayed bridge design. 

Each group was only allowed 50 straws, 50 paperclips, 1 yard of tape and string. Look how creative our engineers got! 

Final products done! Look at the trusses and anchorages incorporated in this design. 

Ready to test and proud of our work! 

Thumbs up for a strong bridge!

We learned valuable lessons, sometimes our designs don't always work out as planned, but perseverance and determination are important skills to possess. Just look at that final product- very creative use of string as a support! 

Check out those great supports connected to the desk. 

Girl engineers rock! Another thoughtful design. 

Check out that strong and sturdy deck!

We learned that trusses help with the forces of compression and tension that act on a bridge, great design girls! 

Our winning team of engineers- Kylee and Laura. Their bridge held a can with 144 marbles before the can tipped off the side. A design made with strong supports and a barrier on the side was the key to their success. Way to go girls! 

     There was so much learning going on this past month, I'm very proud of everyone's hard work and learning. Enjoy your break! I'm looking forward to seeing you all when we get back and start our study of energy and WWII. 

                                                                    Mrs Dessert