What do the Firestone Project Lead the Way Students do for fun? Why, we build and break bridges of course! The entire program (all eighty-six of us, regardless of class or grade) comes together twice a year; for Balsa Wood Bridges in the winter, and Cardboard Canoes in the spring. This is one of the few opportunities where you can see the program as a whole, doing what they do best! Each student team of three is given the same bill of materials: -10 x 36" sticks of balsa wood (3/32'') -1 bottle of Aerospace Model Glue -3 razor blades -2 sheets of wax paper -Their collective brain power Armed with that, they are given a time period and a simple task; Design and build a bridge. Students spend time in class designing a bridge on Inventor Auto-CAD and printing out a lifesize .ipt file for them to build from. Inventor Auto-CAD is taught in the freshman Introduction to Analysis course, and stress-strain analysis and truss calculations are touched upon more intensively in Principles of Engineering, so by the end, we all get a fairly working knowledge of bridges. Then, for one day, we build from 8am to 11am. Sounds pretty awesome, right? This event is traditionally run by program alumni, who return to their alma mater to help Mr. Spak stay sane on this day. All families are invited to come for the breaking ceremonies and watch the students compete for the top efficiency. Bridges in this competition are NOT ranked based upon load carried, but rather efficiency; load carried over bridge mass. The top two winners of this competition move on to represent all of Firestone at the Summit County Engineering's Annual Balsa Bridge Competition. We hope to see you there! |