Toothpick Bridge
Name____________________________________________ Hour___
___/20 pts
Objective: To brainstorm the construction of a toothpick bridge
On Friday March 2, 2007 we will be traveling to UMD for a toothpick competition. The competition will be
based upon the building of a bridge to hold mass. The basic requirements are that each team will have a single
span bridge that has a mass less than 90 grams and uses only elmers glue or elmers wood glue and 500
toothpicks. To do well at this competition one needs to practice the skill of bridge building and to have the
understanding of toothpick bridges. We will have our own toothpick bridge competition Thursday December
21 in class. We will have more details on Monday but for today, you need to complete this worksheet and turn
it into Mr. Parendo before you leave.
Questions
1. What is the purpose of a bridge?
2. What is a single span bridge?
3. Draw an example of #2.
4. Where does the Fn need to be displace to on a bridge?
5. What is the purpose of a truss?
6. Is it easier to break a toothpick the horizontal way
or the vertical way?
Explain.
7. What was the purpose of flying buttresses in our French architecture?
8. Draw an example of #7.
9. Explain two designs of toothpick bridges and the reason behind each design on the back of this paper.
Draw a blueprint for two bridges on the back of this paper as well.
Lab Follow-up Questions
1. Was it helpful to think about, build and test a preliminary bridge before the UMD
competition? Explain.
2. After going to the competition at UMD did you learn anything that you would apply to
your bridge design to get better results? Explain.
3. Rate how much you learned from this lab on a scale from 1 (nothing) to 10 (a lot).