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19 Apr 2006 - 17:22
from Steve:
Lock them in a sealed room with a handout on trusses, 125 popsicles sticks, and Elmer's Glue, and see what they can discover.
I'm going to have Ed suggest that at the next school board meeting
update: be sure to check out Steve's description of popsicle bridge night at his son's school - sounds wonderful.
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Apr 2006 Back to main page.
Please consider registering as a regular user.
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Well, we busted our bridges last night. Three of us parents did bridges too. It was lots of fun. But. But, the best ones were those where the parents were involved. At least my son learned about laminated wood strength from me. One student's bridge held 188 pounds, but there were rumors of SuperGlue? use. A couple of other students got up to about 100 pounds and my son got up to 50 (glue failure). My minimalist bridge (no trusses) got up to 160 pounds before delaminating. As I said, lot's of fun and cheering. (Advice for those building popsicle stick structures. Lamination works great, but Elmer's glue is not very strong, so you have to spread out the load.) The older kids were doing popsicle stick towers (18 ") that had to resist a crushing compression test. Lot's of excitement and cheering. Overall, it was a good idea, but unfortunately, the learning was left up to the students and parents. Some bridges broke when they hung the bucket on the bridge and before any weights were put into the bucket. One student got a rousing ovation when his bridge got up to 3 pounds before breaking. All good-natured fun. But. But, the teachers know that any learning comes only from parental involvement. I don't think that parents built any of the bridges, but you could see a direct relationship between the success of a bridge and who the parent is. I rate it high on the fun scale and low on the learning scale. -- SteveH - 20 Apr 2006
If Elmer's is all-important, let me warn you about washable Elmers. It's TERRIBLE. I got some for my three year old (washable!), but after it dries, it will just separate from lots of materials (like, um, paper!). So get the old-school, non-washable stuff. -- StephanieO - 20 Apr 2006
Best to buy your Elmer's at a hardware store or lumberyard, specifically the Carpenter's Wood Glue version. It makes a stronger joint than regular Glue-All. (Works best if clamped while setting.) Elmer's also makes a polyurethane adhesive called ProBond, but that would be cheating ;-) -- OldGrouch - 20 Apr 2006
We had to use Glue-All. It was in the rules. -- SteveH - 20 Apr 2006
a bridge too far
from Steve:
Speaking of learning-to-work ratios, we just got done building our popsicle stick bridges for the science fair. (Parents can do them too.) They are going to weigh them down until they break. Lots of fun, but not the building part. Using a very superficial handout on trusses, the kids are supposed to design and build their own bridges, with no help from parents. Right! The parents are the only way these kids will learn anything about anything. Lock them in a sealed room with a handout on trusses, 125 popsicles sticks, and Elmer's Glue, and see what they can discover. Perhaps the teachers would discover that this form of education is equivalent to educational child abuse.
Lock them in a sealed room with a handout on trusses, 125 popsicles sticks, and Elmer's Glue, and see what they can discover.
I'm going to have Ed suggest that at the next school board meeting
update: be sure to check out Steve's description of popsicle bridge night at his son's school - sounds wonderful.
-- CatherineJohnson - 19 Apr 2006 Back to main page.
Comments
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Look here for syntax help.
Well, we busted our bridges last night. Three of us parents did bridges too. It was lots of fun. But. But, the best ones were those where the parents were involved. At least my son learned about laminated wood strength from me. One student's bridge held 188 pounds, but there were rumors of SuperGlue? use. A couple of other students got up to about 100 pounds and my son got up to 50 (glue failure). My minimalist bridge (no trusses) got up to 160 pounds before delaminating. As I said, lot's of fun and cheering. (Advice for those building popsicle stick structures. Lamination works great, but Elmer's glue is not very strong, so you have to spread out the load.) The older kids were doing popsicle stick towers (18 ") that had to resist a crushing compression test. Lot's of excitement and cheering. Overall, it was a good idea, but unfortunately, the learning was left up to the students and parents. Some bridges broke when they hung the bucket on the bridge and before any weights were put into the bucket. One student got a rousing ovation when his bridge got up to 3 pounds before breaking. All good-natured fun. But. But, the teachers know that any learning comes only from parental involvement. I don't think that parents built any of the bridges, but you could see a direct relationship between the success of a bridge and who the parent is. I rate it high on the fun scale and low on the learning scale. -- SteveH - 20 Apr 2006
If Elmer's is all-important, let me warn you about washable Elmers. It's TERRIBLE. I got some for my three year old (washable!), but after it dries, it will just separate from lots of materials (like, um, paper!). So get the old-school, non-washable stuff. -- StephanieO - 20 Apr 2006
Best to buy your Elmer's at a hardware store or lumberyard, specifically the Carpenter's Wood Glue version. It makes a stronger joint than regular Glue-All. (Works best if clamped while setting.) Elmer's also makes a polyurethane adhesive called ProBond, but that would be cheating ;-) -- OldGrouch - 20 Apr 2006
We had to use Glue-All. It was in the rules. -- SteveH - 20 Apr 2006
| WebLogForm | |
|---|---|
| Title: | a bridge too far |
| TopicType: | WebLog |
| SubjectArea: | ConstructivistTeaching |
| LogDate: | 200604191321 |