Bridges are amazing feats of engineering and a great logic challenge for your children designers. Here are some resources to help teach them more about bridges and how they work.
Lesson Plans
- Bridge Lesson on Forces, Arch Bridges, & Truss Bridges – a detailed hands-on unit study designed for a homeschool co-op.
- Bridge Lesson on Suspension, Cantilever, & Cable-Stayed Bridges – a detailed hands-on unit study designed for a homeschool co-op.
- Triangles: Designing a Straw Bridge – based on a PBS show called Zoom, includes a video of the show, discussion questions, and instructions on running your own straw bridge.
- Suspension Bridges: Connecting Lives – from Scholastic. Research, design, build, and test a suspension bridge.
- Engineering a Bridge – from Scholastic.
- Bridges – from Discover Kids. A multi-lesson study on bridges. (free membership to the site required to download).
- Design a Bridge – a lesson plan to create a bridge that can hold coins.
Worksheets, Notebooks, and Lapbooks
Crafts & Activities
- Bridge Silhouettes by Art with Mr. Hall
- Monet Inspired Bridge Art – from The Crafty Classroom
- Monet’s Bridge – from For the Love of Art
- Suspension Bridge Craft from Crayola
- Bridge Builder Instant Challenge: Logic for Kids – Instructions on how to hold a bridge challenge with cards, a pair of scissors, and a taped off start and end point.
- Plans for Building a Popsicle Stick Bridge
- Popsicle Stick Bridge – Instructions on how to make a truss style Popsicle stick bridge.
Websites
- The Bridge Site – this site has an extremely huge list of resources and references, fun activities, and more.
- Bridges in Canada – a list with some pictures of really neat bridges across Canada (and some that are in the US)
- 15 Most Famous Bridges of the World
- SuperBridge – from PBS Nova, based on a video of the same name. Includes an interactive section to investigate types of bridges and make a decision on which kind to make for the space available. Teacher’s resources have a building challenge and suggestions from other educators.
- Building Big – a reference site that teaches about spans, types of bridges, famous bridges and more.
Online Games & Activities
- Bridge Builder – build a bridge that the truck can get across
- Bridge Building Games – a collection of 10 Bridge Building Challenge games.
Videos
- What Makes Bridges So Strong? from SciShow Kids
- Victoria Bridge: The 8th Wonder of the World – From the National Film Board, a short film showcasing Montreal’s amazing bridge that was once an engineering marvel
- Tacoma Bridge Collapse – this amazing bridge went into a crazy wave that eventually lead to its collapse. Please note: a mention of a dog dying in included in the commentary. If your child might be sensitive to that, turn commentary down
- 25 Scary Bridges You’ll Have To See To Believe – some amazing bridges from around the world
Books & Toys
Owner at The Canadian Homeschooler
Lisa Marie Fletcher is a mom of 5 with 15+ years of homeschooling experience. She started The Canadian Homeschooler in 2010 as a way to support the homeschooling community in Canada.
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This is great! Thanks!