Building Brilliant Bridges Kit

Discover the engineering marvels that connect our world with the Building Brilliant Bridges kit—an immersive, hands-on STEM experience for aspiring civil engineers.

Students will explore the basics of structural engineering by building guided bridge models from various materials and applying the engineering design process to create their own bridges. Through engaging experiments, they’ll learn about key concepts like forces, materials, shapes, and structural design, all while picking up essential engineering vocabulary.

The kit includes a full-color Student Workbook and a comprehensive Teacher Guide, packed with activities focused on structural engineering and bridge design.

This Accelerate-level kit offers over 11 hours of hands-on learning about civil engineering principles and the science behind how bridges stand strong.

Activities include:

1. Building initial bridges using noodles and gummy bears
2. Testing materials and shapes against different types of stress
3. Creating quick models of major bridge types
4. Constructing an advanced truss bridge with craft sticks and hot glue
5. Applying the engineering design process to create and test an original design

Key questions students will answer:

• How do materials handle pushing, pulling, and bending forces?
• Why are triangles crucial in bridge construction?
• How do beam, arch, truss, and suspension bridges differ in design and function?
• What is the engineering design process, and how do engineers use it?

Recommended for grades 3-7, this kit is part of the Science Unlocked Accelerate series—designed to spark curiosity and build real-world STEM skills.

What's included:

• Craft sticks
• Glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Gummy bears
• Index cards
• Marker
• Masking tape
• Noodles
• Paper, construction
• Pipe cleaners
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Spanning box
• Spring scale
• Straws, flexible
• Straws, straight
• String
• Student Workbook
• Teacher Guide
• Teasing needle
• Toy car

• NGSS science standards alignment

  • 3-5-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

  • 3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions toa problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

  • 3-5-ETS1-3: Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.