Bridge Basics Goes National

by Tim Wright, National Curricular Coordinator

Blueprints Fall 2008
Volume XXVI, No. 4

Philadelphia, PA: Thirty minutes of cutting, measuring, folding, and mounting had culminated in a contest of sorts. Four teams of teachers, each convinced that its model bridge was the strongest in the room, were about to put their structures to the test. The Philadelphia teachers had constructed their model arch bridges out of playing cards during an educator workshop, Bridge Basics: Engineering FUNdamentals Through Bridge Design and Construction, conducted by the National Building Museum.

The workshop marked the Museum’s first effort to make its award-winning school programs and curricula available to teachers across the country. Previously offered at the Museum as a school program, the Bridge Basics Program Kit is designed to increase understanding of how bridges are engineered, demonstrate their importance to the built environment, and expose students to new problem-solving methods through hands-on design activities. The kit was conceived with national learning standards in math and science in mind.

Barry Ratmansky, an eighth grade science teacher at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Philadelphia, was among those attending the workshop. He learned about Bridge Basics when he received a colorful Museum-designed poster featuring Philadelphia’s own Walt Whitman Bridge, which was mailed to teachers throughout the Philadelphia Unified School District. Because one of his goals as an educator is to get his students interested in architecture, and in particular the physical forces that are involved in building projects, Ratmansky was strongly interested in the kit. “I can use [Bridge Basics] with the forces and motion curriculum,” he said. “I thought the idea of building bridges would interest the students.”

The Turner Construction Company has partnered with the National Building Museum to distribute Bridge Basics Program Kit free to Philadelphia teachers like Ratmansky. To support teachers who have received the kit, Turner plans to bring company and industry representatives into classrooms to encourage students to consider careers in the built environment. In a letter to participating teachers, Michael Kuntz of Turner Construction emphasized that “Turner is focused on preparing children for the workforce to address the needs of the construction industry… therefore, Turner Construction is proud to add the sponsorship of Bridge Basics to the list of programs we support.”

Back at the educator workshop, Barry Ratmansky beamed. His team finished first. Barry considered their arch bridge the most aesthetically pleasing of the three, although all were similar. In the end each one of the bridges stood up to some gentle testing and the teachers left with a fun and functional souvenir to use in the classroom with their Bridge Basics Program Kit.

Bridge Basics in Philadelphia is sponsored by Turner Construction Company. The program was developed with support from the Construction Industry Round Table. 

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