Columbia Weekly Review (3/27/25)

Hey Cougars! Last Thursday, we continued on our bridge lesson to get Cinderella across the ravine. Each team was assigned 30 spaghetti strands, 5 marshmallows, and a tube of super glue to build a truss bridge across two tables. To make this activity challenging, I increased the gap such that it was longer than a strand! Each team started by drawing the archetype on a paper. Some remembered that triangular faces were stronger than square because they were hardly deformed. Then, we laid out the spaghetti and connected them with super glue. After ripping off the paper, we assembled them onto the main construction. If there were some loose joints, we patched them up with marshmallows. Finally, it was time for the weight test. Since I could not find something to weigh on the deck, I decided to put my phone on, and some bridges remained stable or sagged down a bit. It really came to show how weight distribution worked effectively with truss bridges. With the bridge lesson and Cinderella done, what fairy tale and its lesson will we come to next? Stay tuned!