Student Guide
Your challenge
You must build a 60-cm long bridge using only spaghetti, spaghettini or linguini. At its centre, the bridge must be able to support a two-kg load.
Materials
You can use as much of all of these materials as you want.
Pricing:
1 strand of Spaghetti = $90.10
1 strand of Spaghettini = $66. 34
1 strand of Linguine = $114. 89
1 hot glue stick = $110.99
1 bottle of white glue = $605.78
1 metal hook = $199.99
String (per cm) = $25.66
Rules
· The deck of the bridge must be at least 50 mm wide over its entire length.
· The bridge must be 60 cm long.
· The bridge must be built without any attachments between the two support points, which are 50 cm apart.
· The bridge must be supported at these points.
· A one- or two-cm hook or eye must be attached at the centre of the bridge.
· This hook will be used to hang a 2-kg load in order to measure the bridge’s resistance.
· The cheapest bridge that is able to support the 2-kg load will be declared the winner.
· Last and most important rule: Be creative and have fun!
Procedure
· Students will start with a journal, which will be written in 2-3 min. at the beginning of each class.
·All information is recorded in the Construction Log → diagrams, daily notes, materials, hypothesis, etc.
· Each student will be given a position →
· General Manager – Leader and Responsible for Construction Log
· Accountant – Records information in Construction Log
· Supplier – Purchases and tracks supplies (Only)
* Each member of the company has equal responsibility no matter what there position.
· Each team is responsible for creating an organization chart to track equipment and spending
· Each team will have a turn to measure the resistance of its bridge.
· The organizing committee will provide the support points on which the bridges will rest.
· All the bridges will be evaluated on the same support points.
· The least expensive bridge that is able to support the 2 kg load will be declared the winner.
Materials for organizing the challenge
· 1 scale accurate to the gram
· Hot Glue Sticks
· String
· Pasta – Spaghetti, Spaghettini, Linguine
· 1 tape measure
· Wooden supports for the bridges
· 1 2 kg mass
· 1 small wooden plaque to attach the hook
· 1 hook or eye with a one to two-cm centre
· 1 table to record results
Competition area
The area in which the activity will take place will be divided in two. One part will serve as the inspection and waiting area, while the other will be the bridge testing area.
There will be two supports (tables) on which to rest the bridges and be able to hang a load from the bottom of the bridges. Each support will be 60 cm apart and will have sufficient clearance to hang a 2 kg weight.
Preparation & Getting started
In science class, the four main types of bridges (truss, beam, suspension, and arch) will be introduced, discussed, and diagramed. The students will be shown pictures of other spaghetti bridges from other contests. Students will be divided into groups of 3.
You will need an inquisitive mind: A good scientist is curious about the world around them and sees experiments and questions in everyday things. Your first task is to answer the following questions in your journal.
- What kind of bridge do you think will be the strongest? Why?
- What kind of bridge do you think will be the cheapest to build? Why?
- How many pieces of pasta do you think you will need to complete the project?
You will next form your groups and compare journal questions. You must decide on a company name and appoint each position (General Manager – leader, Accountant – record information, Supply Manager– Purchases supplies). Be sure to fill in this information on the title page. As a group, decide what type of bridge will be the strongest and cheapest. Complete the Committee Proposal Form.
Once your proposal is approved you may start construction of your bridge.
At the completion of the Bridge, you will be responsible for submitting a detailed Project Report. This will include all the information in your journal, Committee Proposal and the parts of the “Scientific Method” listed on the next page. You will also be responsible for presenting for bridge to Mr. Dempster and required to answer questions about your bridge. Good Luck!
Marking
Proposal (max 15)
Bridge (max 25)
Project Report/Presentation (max 25)
______________________________
Total (max 65) -------> ? %
The Scientific Method
Question
As a result of your project research, you will have asked several questions. One of these questions will be the specific problem you want to answer.
Record this question in your journal labeled Question. You may want to include some background research or reasons why you choose this question to refer back to later. It will help to keep you focused on the purpose of your experiment.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is an educated guess as to a solution to the question you have asked. Note it is an educated guess because you have done a fair bit of research in this field of science.
You may have several different possible explanations. It is important to record all of them as you work through which seems to be the best. It will most likely be a combination of several.
Finally record your final hypothesis. All this information should be kept in your journal in the section labeled Hypothesis.
Materials
The experiment that you devise should be able to be repeated by anyone and get the same results. In order to do this others must know the materials you used.
In this section record all the materials you used, the quantities, name brands if applicable, and so on. As your experiment develops you may delete materials or add to the list. Be sure to make these changes in your journal.
Once you have the final procedure down and you are satisfied with your experiment, you can write up a final complete set of materials at the end of the section labeled Materials in your journal.
The procedure is a set of numbered steps outlining the exact instructions you followed to test your hypothesis.
Before you begin you procedure there are some things you need to define.
Independent Variable: this is the variable you purposely manipulate or change. There should only be one variable tested at a time. If you have several variables you wish to test, your experiment will have to have several tests.
Dependent Variable: the variable being observed that changes in response to the independent variable.
Controlled Variable: these are variables that are not changed.
Control: all variables are identical, establishes a baseline to compare your experiment to.
Once these are defined in your journal in the section labeled Procedures, you can begin outlining the specific steps you will follow to test your hypothesis. Record these in your journal as well.
Repeat the experiment more than once to verify your results. You can take just one set of results or average the results from several attempts.
Observations
You will need some format to record your observations of the Dependent Variable.
In your journal, draft possible charts, tables, diagrams that could be used to record observations. Finalize a method to collect your data. Each experiment is different so there are many ways to collect the data.
Once you conduct your experiment, all your data should be collected and kept in your journal in the section labeled Observations. It will be required later for when you do your project report.
Once you have collected all the data, you have to make some sense of it all. You must decide on some way to organize the data so that patterns can be found and a clear picture of what happened illustrated.
Possible ways to organize data are in graphs (bar, line, circle, pie, etc.) Once the data is organized you will need to provide some explanation of the data. Explain what happened, what your observations were. Avoid making conclusions at this point. Describe patterns, unusual results, exceptions, trends, anomalies.
Research for Understanding
Before you can make proper scientific conclusions, you will have to go back to research. Finding out more information as to WHY things happened, WHY those trends exist, WHY those anomalies appeared, and so on. This information will help you to make a detailed and scientific conclusion based on facts and scientific principles.
This research should be included in your journal in the section labeled Research for Understanding.
Conclusion
The purpose of the conclusion is to provide a summary and a statement of how the results relate to the hypothesis. Reasons for experimental results that are contrary to the hypothesis are included. If applicable, the conclusion can end by giving ideas for further testing.
Don’t change your hypothesis.
Don’t leave out experimental results that do not support your hypothesis.
Do give possible reasons for the difference between your hypothesis and the experimental results.
Do give ways that you can experiment further to find a solution.
Do try to answer the question you asked at the beginning of the experiment.
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