Building Brilliant Bridges Kit

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

In this kit, students will experience the fundamentals of structural engineering firsthand, work through guided bridge models using various materials, and apply the engineering design process to create their very own bridge.  Students will use these engaging science experiments to explore the fundamental concepts of bridge construction--forces, materials, shapes, and structural design--while learning specialized engineering vocabulary and construction principles. The bridges kit comes with a full-color Student Workbook and comprehensive Teacher Guide.  This kit contains activities and information that focuses on the phenomena of structural engineering and bridge design.

This Accelerate level kit will provide over 11 hours of learning, educating your students about civil engineering, structural principles, and the science behind how bridges work.  

This kill will guide students through the following activities:

1. Build initial bridges using noodles and gummy bears before moving into a da Vinci Bridge using craft sticks
2. Test materials and shapes against different types of stress
3. Create quick models of some major bridge types
4. Build a more advanced truss bridge model using hot glue and craft sticks
5. Apply the engineering design process to create and test an original design

Use Building Brilliant Bridges to answer questions such as:

• How do different materials respond to pushing, pulling, and bending forces?
• What makes triangular shapes so important 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 apply it to build bridges?

Our Building Brilliant Bridges kit is part of the Science Unlocked Accelerate series and is recommended for grades 3-7.

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.