Today in engineering, James started off the class by discussing the scientific method. He challenged the group to use the process to determine why something might topple over or why it might stand strong as a structure. Each group of two or three students was given a lego kit and was asked to draw each type of lego on a piece of paper. The students were then asked to make structures by changing the location of the base lego piece to see if the structure would stand or topple. Once they completed multiple variations, the students came to the conclusion that there was a link between where the base parts were placed and whether or not the structure toppled. They learned that their observation supported the idea of the center of mass of an object. They were able to visualize this idea by building more structures with legos and with a Shodor applet.
After the break, James talked about trusses with the students. They pulled up a bridge designer applet and learned how to build sturdy bridges by using triangles. They changed the size and shape of the triangle trusses and added force to see what would happen. They were given the challenge to build a bridge structure using the Truss Applet that will minimize the maximum tension and compression of the structure.