This lesson is designed to fit the needs of a diverse range of courses including but not limited to courses covering introduction to design, civil engineering, architecture, computer aided modeling, construction and more. Students will work in groups of two/three to research various truss bridge designs. Lecture/class discussion should focus on introducing students to the forces that act on structures including: tension, compression, torsion, and shear, as well as live loads and dead loads. Following this introduction to the topic students will work in their groups of digitally fabricate a bridge (or multiple bridges) using the West Point Bridge Design software. Unfortunately, this software will not export a 3D model for printing so students will have to take their new-found knowledge of the ultimate bridge design and create their own 3D model using your preferred modeling software. Finally students will have the ability to print and test chosen solution, recording testing data for themselves and their classmates and ultimately synthesizing the data.

View the entire curriculum unit by visiting www.seemecnc.com and following the link on their page to the SeeMeEducate curriculum.

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Curriculum, STEM, SeeMeEducate, SeeMeCNC, Bridge, Design, Project, MotivatingStudents, CivilEngineering