Strong and stable structures and Forces acting on structures

The activity write up for this activity was developed by Sue McKee for Let’s Talk Science in Ottawa.

Target audience: Grade 5 and Grade 7

Ontario Science Curriculum Connections

Grade 5 Forces acting on structures: structures and mechanisms throughout our environment
have forces that act on and within them; forces that result from natural phenomena have an
effect on society and the environment; social and environmental impacts of forces acting on
structures and mechanisms; forces that act on and within structures and mechanisms and their
effects

Grade 7 Form and Function: Structures have a purpose. The form of a structure is dependent on
its function. The interaction between structures and forces is predictable .

Materials for the introduction

 Can of coke (or two) [note coke works because of the shape of the bottom of the can)
 Mini marshmallows (4 per student)
 Toothpicks (4 per student)
 Spaghetti (1 whole piece per student)
 Laminated photos/pictures (for tower building use the towers and tall building photos; for
bridge building use the bridge photos)

Materials for Bridge building and costs associated with them (make a sign with the costs for
each item)
 Popsicle sticks $25 for a package of 6
 Tape: Duct tape $10 for 30 cm; Scotch tape or masking tape $5 for 60 cm; Electric tape $5 for
40 cm
 Toothpicks $5 for a package of 30
 String $4 per foot
 Elastics $5 for 10
 Straws $20 for a package of 5
 Pipe cleaners $20 for a package of 10
 Newspaper
 Youtube video of the Tacoma Bridge – this one is just under 2 minutes long and show the
bridge before and after (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XggxeuFDaDU)

Introduce yourself and say what your research is in simple terms. Today we’ll be building and
testing structures but before we do, let’s go through some things you already know and maybe
a few new things you don’t yet know about structures.

What is a structure? [one definition: “something that is built by putting parts together that
usually stands on its own”; a structure has form and function]
What are some examples of structures and their function that we see everyday or maybe
have seen while we’ve been traveling? [houses – keep us safe from the elements, malls – a
place where multiple shops can be enclosed, CN tower – a tourist attraction, play structure – for
exercise and play, bridges – so we can get from one side to another over water, etc., animal
nests, beaver dams, - protect animals, etc.]

Why is it important that structures are strong and stable? (strong/strength = capacity to
withstand forces; stability = capacity to stay fixed in one position and maintain balance) [so they
don’t fall over and hurt us, so when we walk on them or drive on them they don’t break, etc.]

What types of materials do we build structures out of? [cement, wood, plastic, metal, etc.]
Some structures are strong because of the materials they are made out of and some because of
the shapes used to make them and some both.

Does anyone know what are some strong shapes to build structures with? [triangle, arch]

Let’s do a little experiment to see if we can show that the triangle is a strong shape to use. Pass
out 4 toothpicks and the mini marshmallows or play dough pieces in the size of
minimarshallows to each student.

Can you build a square using the sticks and marshmallows? (let them try themselves but you
may have to help a few).

Can you hold up your square by the corners and test it to see if it is strong (it’s bendy and
collapses easily). Can you make it stronger with a piece of spaghetti (let them know they can
break the spaghetti into smaller pieces)? (don’t tell them how but let them try to figure it out –
give hints as needed – you want them to make two triangles using the spaghetti along the
diagonals). Now is it stronger? Does it bend like the square did? [no] The triangle is one of the
strongest shapes and we see it in many structures.

Show some pictures of the bridges and ask if they see the triangles and talk about some of the
different types of bridges below.

Beam – just a flat surface across two points – like a log across a stream supported by the bank
on either side; forces of bending/flexure and shear/sliding

Truss – similar to the beam but with triangular structures giving it more strength

Cantilever – The Quebec Bridge spanning the St. Lawrence River is the longest cantilever bridge.
It failed the first two times it was built; once because the dead load of it was too much and it
wasn’t tested properly. Lives were lost, but it finally was built properly and tested.

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Arch bridge – the arch and the triangle are two of the strongest structures. The arch allows
more load.

Suspension – supported by cables on towers to give extra support

Cable-stayed bridges – like a suspension but less cable is required and towers are often taller

For all:
What other shapes do you see in the pictures? [arches] Arches are also very strong shapes. You
want to keep these in mind when you are building your own structure today.

So we want strong structures and we can do this with shapes of materials and different types of
materials, but we also want to be sure our structures are stable. Show the picture of the
Leaning Tower of Pisa. This tower was built in Italy and started leaning as it was being built
because the ground on one side was too soft to support the weight of the tower. It eventually
stabilized and no longer sinks into the ground. Does anyone know why it is able to be stable
and safe even though it is leaning? [they might know or they might not – it has to do with the
centre of mass or very simply most of the heavy materials being close to the bottom]

I brought in a coke can today to see if we can make a leaning tower of coke. Do you think we
can?

Do the demo.
Take a full can of coke and ask a student to try to make it stand tilted (or you can just try). They
won’t be able to. Try not to let it fall on the floor if it falls over. Pour out about ½ the coke and
try it again? It probably still won’t work. Pour out a little more and try again. Keep doing it until
the can of coke does lean and stand up (I believe it’s about 100 ml of liquid to make it lean and
be stable). Explanation: you are bringing the centre of mass (most of the weight or material) of
the structure closer to the bottom and as you do this, it allows the structure to be able to lean.
Note: Although weight and mass are different, at Grade 3 and 5 they haven’t learned the
difference in mass and weight yet and the centre of gravity also doesn’t make much sense to
them yet).

Okay so now we know some about strong and stable structures.

What are some natural forces that affect a structure? [wind, snow (weight), vibrations (e.g.
from large trucks), tornados (violent winds that extend from a thunderstorm to the ground),
hurricanes (huge storm with winds that spiral around and upward with a calm eye in the centre;
rain, very strong winds), earthquakes (shifting of the earth’s surface causing shaking)].

We’re going to watch a video that shows what happens when structures may be build with
strong materials and shapes but where the engineers didn’t build the bridge to withstand the
forces of nature. Put on the Tacoma Bridge video. Watch the video.

Before we build your bridges, let’s review a few of the forces that could affect any structure.

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Ask questions to try to get some of the information below out of the students. You don’t need
to say it all.

E.g. What is the force that acts on a bridge if there is a large load in the centre? [Compression]
What was the force in the Tacoma Bridge that caused the collapse? [Torsion], etc.

Tension (stretching out like a tug of war) – material becomes longer – there is tension in a beam
that sits on two points

Compression (squeezing together) – material becomes shorter (compression is often most

noticeable in the middle of a bridge)

Bending - if too much weight put on one part of the bridge it might cause bending and
eventually collapse

Shear/Sliding - parts of the material itself slides over each other (this happens with materials
that are made up of sheets (like some metals) that could slide over each other)

Torsion or twisting – we saw this in the Tacoma Narrows Bridge video

Dead load – the force of the bridge itself

Live load – something other than the structure than puts a load on the structure – so a car on a
bridge

Settlement load– the soil beneath the brigde may settle unevenly

Thermal load caused by heat

Earthquake load – causes the bridge to jet back and forth

Wind load – pushes the bridge horizontally

Dynamic loads – caused by vibrations

Now that you know a few forces that might affect your bridge, you are going to build your
own bridge as a team in teams of 4.

Your task
You work in a group of 4
Build a bridge to hold the most weight/load at the least cost
Span 1.5 feet, no anchoring to tables (e.g. no tape on the ends of the bridge or books to hold it
down)

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Must draw your design outlining the materials you need and where you will have arches or
triangles before starting and have it approved by the one of the adults in the room before
purchasing materials
Each group will get 3 pieces of newspaper and 1 meter of duct tape
Each student in the group takes on a role (see below)
Only the purchaser can come to the store. The purchaser cannot purchase materials until the
design has been approved, but can come and take a look at what materials are available and
report back to the group.

Each group will be given:

$100 (in $5, $10 and $20)
3 pieces of newspaper
1 foot of duct tape

Groups of 4
Project manager – assigns each person in the group a role and if there are disputes about what
to do, makes the decision for the group
Engineer– draws the design
Purchaser – reports on what type of materials are available at the store and purchases them
after talking to the group.
Quality control officer – tests the design to be sure it is safe and sound and built to code

Costs of and types of materials

Popsicle sticks (wood) $25 for a package of 6
Tape: Duct $10 for 30 cm; Scotch tape or masking tape $5 for 60 cm; Electric tape $5 for 40 cm
Toothpicks $5 for a package of 30
String (steel or aluminum) $5 per foot
Elastics (rubber) $5 for 10
Straws (plastic) $20 for a package of 5
Pipe cleaners (steel or other metal) $20 for a package of 10
Newspaper (bricks/concrete) $15 for 6 sheets

Have this note at the store

Each of the materials costs a different amount of money and has different properties:
Wood – medium cost and light weight, but it rots, swells and burns easily
Plastic –light weight, flexible and long lasting, but very expensive
Aluminum – strong in compression and tension, light weight, doesn’t rust, but expensive
Brick – strong in compression but weak in tension, heavy, but inexpensive
Concrete – inexpensive, fireproof, strong in compression, weak in tension and cracks in weather
Iron- molds to any shape, strong in compression, weak in tension, breaks without notice
Steel – strong in compression and tension, rusts and loses strength in extreme temperature