1. Children’s Engineering
Bringing
Children’s Engineering
to the Elementary Classrooms
Unit #5
Structures
Created by Miss Kelley Davis
Page County Public Schools Division-Wide STEM Coach

2. What is a structure?
A structure is something built out of a number of parts that work together AND must resist the force of gravity.

3. Did you know there are 5 types of structures?
Can you name them all?
supporting
sheltering
containing
directing
transporting

4. Supporting Structures
SUPPORTING structures hold themselves & other things up

5. Sheltering Structures
SHELTERING structures hold themselves up & something else out

6. Containing Structures
CONTAINING structures hold themselves up & something else in

7. Directing Structures
DIRECTING structures control the flow of materials & humans going from one place to another

8. Transporting Structures
TRANSPORTING structures provide support and move themselves & something else (portable)
(vehicles that fly, hover, roll, and float)

9. I have like a million SOL’s to teach
I have like a million SOL’s to teach!!! I CAN NOT justify OR find time to do this!!!

10. But wait...don’t get your knickers in a twist. I can show you how!!!

11. I found structures in the SOLs!!!
Supporting Structures:
Statue of Liberty
Washington Monument
The Parthenon
Great Wall of China

12. I found structures in the SOLs!!!
Sheltering Structures:
Pyramids
longhouse & teepees
log cabin
Jamestown Settlement

13. I found structures in the SOLs!!!
Containing Structures:
pottery
sarcophagus
woven baskets
handmade items from China, Rome, & Native Americans

14. I found structures in the SOLs!!!
Directing Structures:
Rome’s aqueducts
Erie Canal
Native American irrigation

15. I found structures in the SOLs!!!
Transporting Structures:
canoes
Rosa Park’s bus
Civil War iron clad ships
steam boats

16. Time for a POP QUIZ!!!
STRUCTURES cards from Pitsco

17. Can you match the word to the picture?
supporting sheltering containing directing transporting
supporting = bookshelf
sheltering = bus stop
containing = laundry basket
directing = garden hose
transporting =

18. Let me show you how to integrate structures into your classroom...

19. LANGUAGE ARTS
At Halloween, we read the story The Runaway Pumpkin. It’s about a giant pumpkin that is rolling down a hill towards a town. The farmer builds a bed to stop the pumpkin and save his friends. So we decided to design our own bed to stop pumpkins rolled down a hill.

20. MATH
We built 3D shapes using toothpicks and mini marshmallows to learn about sides, vertices, and edges.
On the 100th day of school, we had to design the tallest free-standing tower using 50 toothpicks and 50 mini marshmallows.

21. SOCIAL STUDIES
We learned that the Great Wall of China was built to keep out enemies and protect the citizens. We then had to design a wall that would withstand a wrecking ball and have at least 1 person still standing.

22. SCIENCE
While learning about the 3 states of matter, we made soap in order to see how matter changes from one state to another. Once our soap was complete, we then had to create a containing or transporting structure to hold the soap.

23. Building Background Knowledge
A little more about structures

24. Key Facts about Structures
Hold up its own weight
Hold the weight of the materials it holds in, keeps out, or carries away
Affected by compression & tension
Supports static and dynamic loads

25. What are compression & tension?
compression = state of being pushed or squeezed together; the force on a material or structure from pushing or squeezing tension = state of being stretched or pulled apart; the force on a material or structure from pulling or stretching

26. compression

27. tension

28. Structures need to be able to balance both of these forces equally.

29. What are loads?
Loads are weight or mass that is carried, lifted, or supported. There are two types of loads: *static = weight that does not move or change *dynamic = weight that moves around

30. static loads
dynamic loads

31. Now it’s your turn to be an engineer and try your own design brief!