1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Alice Keeler is a mother of 5 and a teacher in Fresno, California. She has her B.A in Mathematics, M.S. in Educational Media Design and Technology and is currently working on a doctorate in Educational Technology with an emphasis in games and simulations. EdTech speaker, blogger, and presenter. Founder of coffeeEDU, a 1 hour conference event for educators. New Media Consortium Horizon report advisory panel member. High school math teacher for 14 years. Currently teaching pre-service teachers curriculum, instruction and technology at California State University Fresno. Teaches online for Fresno Pacific University in the Masters in Educational Technology. Passionate that kids are not failures, researches gamification in education to increase student motivation.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Mathematics
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.MG.A.1 Use geometric shapes, their measures, and their properties to describe objects (e.g., modeling a tree trunk or a human torso as a cylinder).*
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.MG.A.3 Apply geometric methods to solve design problems (e.g., designing an object or structure to satisfy physical constraints or minimize cost; working with typographic grid systems based on ratios).*
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 Model with mathematics.

2. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.
© Hercules Milas/Alamy
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.
On the road outside of Trikala in central Greece, the Paleokaria bridge joins the banks of the Portaikos River, wedged between two small waterfalls. Though there are numerous stone arch bridges just like this one in the area, the Paleokaria attracts photographers like ants to a picnic. And who can blame them, with this storybook scene?
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.1
Web Search
What style of bridge is the Paleokaria bridge? 2
Create a timeline of different types of bridge styles and when they were popular. 3
Image Search
Locate images for the different types of bridges on your timeline. 4
Thinking
What geometric shapes are included in the different bridge designs and how do they contribute to the structural soundness of the bridge? 5
What are some mathematical formulas that are used in bridge design?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.1
Web Search
What style of bridge is the Paleokaria bridge? 2
Create a timeline of different types of bridge styles and when they were popular. 3
Image Search
Locate images for the different types of bridges on your timeline. 4
Use Bing images to find a picture that identifies the parabola in a bridge. 5
Thinking
What geometric shapes are included in the different bridge designs and how do they contribute to the structural soundness of the bridge? 1 2
Create a timeline of different types of bridge styles and when they were popular. 3 4 5
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.1
Web Search
What style of bridge is the Paleokaria bridge?
(Possible Search Queries:”types of bidges” )
Sources
The Paleokaria bridge is an arch bridge.

8. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.2
Web Search
Create a timeline of different types of bridge styles and when they were popular.
(Possible Search Queries:”bridge styles” “history of bridges” “history of bridge styles” )
Sources
Clapper Bridgers - Bridges built upon natural bridges like:
tree trunk fallen across a stream
vines hanging over a river
stones across shallow stream
Roman arch bridge - Romans added arch and natural cement
Asia developed bridges that could reach across wide areas that were low with a shallow arch
200 years ago first cast iron bridge
1850 began using steele
Truss - covered bridge
covered bridges
suspension cables
100 years ago they started using concrete
Today they use a method called “prestressing” concrete and stele

9. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.3
Image Search
Locate images for the different types of bridges on your timeline.
(Possible Search Queries:”clapper bridge” “Roman arch bridge” “The great stone bridge in china” “first cast iron bridge” “Britannia tubular bridge” “covered bridge” “brooklyn bridge”)
Sources
Clapper bridges
Roman arch bridge
The great stone bridge in China
first cast iron bridge
Britannia tubular bridge (steele)
covered bridge
Brooklyn bridge

10. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.4
Image Search
Use Bing images to find a picture that identifies the parabola in a bridge.
(Possible Search Queries:”bridge parabola” )
Sources:

11. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.5
Thinking
What geometric shapes are included in the different bridge designs and how do they contribute to the structural soundness of the bridge?
(Possible Search Queries:”mathematical formulas bridge design” )
Sources
Students may include that a common geometric shape in bridges are parabolas. Their shape gives even support to the bridge by
giving uniform distribution of the massive weight of bridges.

12. Research the mathematics of different bridge designs.
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.