Year 5 DT - Bridges

This week was DT week- we learnt all about bridges! To begin with,  we learnt about two types of bridges: an arch bridge and a beam bridge. We looked at the specialist subject vocabulary and a range of real bridges. We discussed the beams, arches, supports and walls. We then tested our bridge knowledge and made paper prototypes of bridges.  Later on, we learnt about truss bridges. They are made up of lots of triangles. The triangles will help to take the pressure of the weight on a bridge. Finally, we learnt how to make our own wooden truss bridge. We had to measure our pieces of dowel very carefully to ensure our bridge parts were accurately assembled. We used Tenon saws to cut the dowel against a bench hook (being careful of our fingers!) then used sandpaper to smooth any rough edges. We then used a glue gun (which was very hot!) to glue our pieces of wood together.  Next, we used card triangles as support. We assembled the bridge together which took a lot of team work but we did it!