Noodles of Bridges: An Engineering Challenge for Middle and High School Students

Ever wanted to build a bridge? What about out of spaghetti? And then, want to see how much weight your pasta bridge can hold before it breaks? That’s the entire premise of our event and we hope you’re up for the challenge.

The video below details the exact challenge. Essentially, you have to build a bridge using only spaghetti noodles and glue. The bridge must span one foot and then we’ll see how much weight it can hold. To test the bridge, you’ll have to hang a reusable grocery bag on the bridge and then put items with defined weight in it until it breaks.

What You’ll Need

1 Box of Spaghetti Noodles
1 Glue Gun
Glue Sticks
Tables one feet apart
A reusable grocery bag
Anything with defined weight: canned goods, gatorade bottles, etc.

Students interested in taking part have three weeks to build their pasta bridge. They can submit a video online and send the link to info@cannondesign.com or sign up here for a live event at 7 PM ET on April 27. During the live event, students will test their bridges live and get feedback from engineers at CannonDesign.

Bonus: Sam of More With Sam (watch his viral video here) will be building a bridge himself and joining us to watch other bridges on April 27.

Prizes: Everyone who builds a bridge that can support 5 lbs will be entered in a drawing to win a $50 gift card.

Why Pasta Bridges?
This science activity also teaches students a great deal about engineering, design and construction principles. The event is hosted by CannonDesign, one of the most innovative design firms in the world. Their engineers will join the live event to watch students test their bridges and share insight.