Bridges week produced eleven structures, three collapses, and one span that held the weight of two nine-year-olds and a rather nervous guide.
Summer at MMS keeps the prepared environment and drops the academic sequence. The children vote on themes in May. This year they chose bridges, and weeks four and five were given over to it entirely.
The brief
Span the gap between two tables, seventy centimeters apart, using only what is on the materials cart. Hold as much weight as possible. Show your working, and be prepared to say why it failed if it fails.
Eleven groups built. Three structures came down during testing, which the children found considerably more interesting than the eight that did not.
The winning span was a truss. Nobody taught them what a truss was. They arrived at it on the fourth attempt, by removing everything that was not doing anything.
What we noticed
- The groups that failed early built better than the groups that succeeded early.
- Every successful design was lighter than the design before it, not heavier.
- Two groups independently reinvented the same joint, four days apart, and were mildly outraged about it.
The strongest span held both a nine-year-old and, at the group’s insistence and against his stated preference, one adult. Photographs are in the Parent Portal. He is fine.
Marcus Treviño
Summer Program Lead, Montessori Makers School
Writing from the classrooms is published four times a term and collected in the termly letter. Questions are welcome at hello@montessorimakersschool.org.