It was a really fun project to do with the kids. I am being compensated for my time in writing this post. Want a simpler bridge without glue? Try this one! Bridge building is a great STEM engineering project for students.
It is a simple way to teach about how important structure is to strength. You can build a bridge many different ways, and they will not all be equal. Take this bridge building project a step further by competing with other bridges to see which one hold up the most weight. Yes, our popsicle bridge is messy and crooked, but my kids had a blast making it and it is strong! All you need to make this popsicle stick bridge is a good strong glue and some popsicle sticks.
Wood glue also works great here. When building the bridge, you need to start with your bridge design. We decided to make a truss bridge with our sticks. Be creative with your design! Some things to keep in mind: A clamp of some sort is a good idea when constructing. I used Tim Andersons method, but bulldog clips work just as well.
Clamps are important because most of the popsicle stick aren't flat, so if you don't clamp them when you glue them together your bridge probably won't hold together very well. Don't pinch your fingers. Keep your workspace clean! I glued everything on top of a piece of paper, as I have a tendency to get glue everywhere.
I started by making smaller pieces that would be easier to glue together. I counted out how many I needed and started with that. Once they'd dried just enough to not fall apart, I moved on.
I glued the smaller pieces together, to create the main supports for the bridge. I then repeated the process and made some slightly shorter pieces for the top. I started with each side of the bridge, keeping them symmetrical, then flipped each side and added more. I added angled supports across the bottom to start with, to hold it together, then across the top.
Keeping in mind the idea that triangles are strong, I added some center supports going across as well as up and down. I finished it off with some pieces across the top. I'm not sure they add any structural support, but they look good. I also touched-up on the glue where it was looking scarce, and added more horizontal supports.
Lastly I sanded the top, to make it completely flat so that weight wouldn't be focused on any one point. This is the last step, obviously. We decided we'd test the bridge with sand in a bucket. We bought two 60 lb bags of sand, thinking surely my bridge would break under lbs. It held lbs. We emptied the sand out, and added 40 lbs of water, then added all the sand back. It still held. We tried the intern, and it still held. Two days later we bought another lbs of sand.
The bridge finally broke under lbs! How much does yours weigh? Excellent tutorial- you helped us launch our first ever "Builder Badge" project for 80 Grade 4 and Grade 5 students at our tribal school. That is the Dakotah language for "we make things here. So, thanks for letting us incorporate geometry, measurement, force and simple machines, as well as oral and written language development, collaboration, and problem-solving skills into a great month-long project.
Enjoy the pictures. You'll notice that while many student teams incorporated truss bridges, most did their own adaptations to a basic truss design. Challenges: We had about 80 students doing this project simultaneously two Grade 4 classes and two Grade 5. You can use regular craft glue, or superglue as well; it is just that a hot glue gun speeds up the entire process, especially useful for the less patient builder! Not Helpful 42 Helpful Around sticks, but you can make smaller or larger trusses depending on the material you have.
Not Helpful 35 Helpful How much load can this type of bridge carry, if it has a span of 50 cm in length? A 50 cm long, well-constructed bridge like this could hold a few kilograms of weight, and 8 kg would probably be the limit. However, it's not the weight placed on a bridge that matters, it's at the force with which it comes into contact with the bridge. For example, if you were to drop a 4 kg ball on the bridge from two meters high, the bridge would weaken or even collapse.
Not Helpful 64 Helpful Bah Bah Black Sheep Gaming. Depends on how big you want to build it. If you want to make it small, use - sticks. If you want it bigger, - sticks. Not Helpful 53 Helpful You can speed up the entire process by using a hot glue gun, and asking friends for help. Hot glue gun glues dry substantially faster because of the hot temperature.
In fact, you could make different sections of the bridge with friends, and later join them all together! Not Helpful 65 Helpful It depends on the glue you use and how well you construct it.
Some people have created bridges that can hold over lbs. Not Helpful 57 Helpful I'm doing this for a school project, and I was wondering if you can build the bridge faster with less Popsicle sticks and still have it as strong? Not Helpful 72 Helpful This bridge will hold about 8kg which is approximately It also depends on how well-constructed the bridge is.
Not Helpful 33 Helpful If you're talking about the truss walls, then you will need someone to hold it for you so you can glue it on with hot glue. If you're using white glue, which takes longer to set, then you will need to get something to hold it up.
Not Helpful 39 Helpful It depends. It could be any size. Generally it is preferred to use bigger ones as it will take up more space, and there would be less to build. They could be colored if you like, but they do not have to be. Not Helpful 55 Helpful Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. For the construction of this bridge, there were two sizes of popsicle sticks used. However, you should be able to accomplish this design even with only one size of popsicle stick.
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. If you have difficulty getting your glue to set firmly, you might consider using binder clips to maintain pressure between two glued popsicle sticks until the glue dries. When layering sticks together, a process sometimes called "lamination," you can achieve better strength by staggering your popsicle sticks.
Make sure to not touch the hot glue or touch near the newly applied hot glue, until it appears almost clear or just clear! Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Always exercise caution when operating a hot glue gun. Improper handling can result in you getting burned. Be very careful and be prepared. Helpful 10 Not Helpful 1. Related wikiHows How to. How to. About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: November 3, Categories: Model Making Craft for Kids.
Article Summary X To build a bridge with popsicle sticks, first glue some sticks end-to-end to make 4 trusses, which are beams that run the length of your bridge. Nederlands: Een brug bouwen met ijsstokjes. Italiano: Costruire un Ponte con i Bastoncini da Ghiacciolo. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times.
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