Bridge Unit Study - Lesson 5: Suspension Bridge Model

My son made a model of a suspension bridge.

Throughout history humans have built three main types of bridges: beam, arch and suspension.

The book Bridges: Amazing Structures to Design Build and Test explains each type in detail including how the loads are carried, steps in design, installation issues to consider, well-known examples of each type and suggestions for hands-on activities. After reading the section on suspension bridges, we watched the video Bridges of New York.

With the East River and Hudson River surrounding the island of Manhattan, New York City is full of bridges. This video details unique aspects of many of the New York bridges as well as the people who designed and built them.

After learning about suspension bridges, my son built a model.

First he secured to main lines raised on chair back supports to two books serving as anchors.

Then he placed a cardboard road deck on top of the books with a heavier book on top of each end to hold it in place.

 Next he added thread lines connecting them from the deck to the main support cables.

Voila! What a cool project. I highly recommend this book The book Bridges: Amazing Structures to Design Build and Test.