1. The space between the books should be 6 inches apart The plastic knives should be parallel to your books

2. Strengthen the arch design to hold more weight. You must use 2 more pieces of paper and…. Books should be 6 inches apart You may NOT tape the paper to the table or the books One piece of paper MUST be folded The weight (plastic kinves etc) should be parallel to the books and in the middle

4.  On your paper, sketch what happens to each shape you gently apply force (with your finger) at each green arrow.

5. BEFORE

6.  The TRIANGLE is the only shape that won’t collapse!  WHY?

7.  The other shapes collapse because the angles between the structural members change.

8.  The TRIANGLE cannot collapse because the angles are fixed based on the opposite side length. A C B ab c

12.  All other shapes can be deformed because the angles are not fixed. Draw these shapes in a way that will keep them from collapsing.

13.  Make TRIANGLES!

14.  The same thing applies in 3D

16. Exploring Structural Engineering Fundamentals