Students are challenged to build a bridge with 18 drinking straws and masking tape that spans 18 centimeters between two stacks of books without touching the surface in between. They will test their bridges by measuring how many grams of mass their bridge can hold without collapsing, and can modify and retest their designs.

1. STRAW BRIDGE : PROTOYPE FOR POPSICLE STICK BRIDGE
1
Name: ________________________
Date: ________________________
1. Your challenge for this project: Each group is to build a bridge that will span
18 centimeters.
2. Set the following rules:
• For the two ends of the span, students will use two stacks of books or
wood blocks placed 18 centimeters apart.
• The only materials students may use for the bridge itself are 18
drinking straws and 1 meter(about 39 inches) of masking tape.
• The straws may be shortened, bent, or cut.
• No part of the bridge may touch anything between the two ends of
the span.
3. After all bridges have been completed, have students test their bridges by
seeing how many grams(mass measurement) the bridge will hold. Students
may modify their bridges, at this point, and then see if they will hold more
mass.