Arches

To continue our study of bridges and bridge design, we talked about arches.  The arch is one of the oldest design elements used to strengthen bridges and other structures.  We looked at pictures of the Roman aquifer's and how many of the earliest bridges rested on a series of arches.

We watched the PBS show NOVA called Building the Great Cathedrals, but we only watched the section related to how to construct an arch.  After discussing the important parts of arches, we decided to build our own using sugar cubes and icing.

For the most part, it went well.  The students laid out their arches and started gluing them together.

They looked great, until we tried to move them.....it was an #archfail!!!  The icing wasn't strong enough to hold the arch.....some of them were sturdier than others....those used LOTS of icing......really caked it on.   Next year, I will have to make some changes to the icing mixture and perhaps change the technique we use....but all in all, it showed the students how hard it is to make an arch.  Those ancient builders were really very talented to do that kind of work with huge blocks of stone!!!

For those interested, here is the video to the NOVA video.  The kids were interested in watching more of it, in case you want to look at it at home!!!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/building-gothic-cathedrals.html