The final math unit of the year includes all of the skills the students have acquired, in addition to a connection to the real world. For third graders, the real world problem they must solve is: How can we use math concepts and our knowledge about bridges to construct our own bridge?
To begin our project, student had to learn about the three different types of bridges: suspension, beam, and arch. Students were introduced to key vocabulary terms like abutments, tension, and compression.

The first bridge we practiced building was a beam bridge. The components of a beam bridge are abutments, columns, and a beam.

The second bridge the students practiced building was an arch bridge. The components of an arch bridge are abutments, a keystone, and an arch.

Finally, the students were given anchors (tape), cables (string), and towers (books) to create a suspension bridge.
In between bridge buildings, we went over area and perimeter, finding shapes in bridge designs, and multi-digit subtraction and addition.

The students were tasked with using their knowledge and previous experience with “building bridges” to build the strongest bridge they could. They were given a variety of materials and were able to choose one of the three bridge types to model theirs after. In order to test the strength of their bridges, the students used gram blocks.

The bridges were so strong, they had to add books! Each team did a great job.