In a mere 30 seconds one pound could make or break a grade.

Physics classes spent two weeks building toothpick bridges just for them to fall under the pressure of dumbbell weights.

“It was frustrating,” junior Amanda Jones said. “I spent so much time and effort on it and it collapsed in hardly any time.”

The requirments for the bridge were only two things, flat toothpicks and ‘white’ Elmer’s glue. The students had complete control of the design.

“A truss bridge was what I did,” junior James Higgins said. “It was the easiest, most standard and it would hold enough to get an ‘A’.”

To recieve a 90 or above the students’ bridge had to hold a minumum of 10 lbs and for every pound a bridge weighed it had to hold a 20 pound dumbell.

“I was so nervous my bridge would not make the weight requirements,” junior Tate Mulligan said. “My whole semester grade depended on this project.”

As well as designing the bridge, students had to complete a research packet.

“The packet was a pain in my butt,” Tate said. “On top of building my bridge I had to write a paper and make a scale model. It seemed to take as much time as the bridge.”

The physics teachers broke the bridges at showcase last Monday in front of the students and parents. The bridges were broken on a two 3 foot columns with a bungie cord wrapped around the center to hold the bucket’s weight.

“This took so much more stress for it to just fall apart in the end,” junior Jordan Mordecai said.

by Jackie Harrison 

photos by Gunnar Lund