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In lugnet.announce, Duane Collicott wrote:
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Duane Collicott of Bricks for Brains presented his “The Science of Bridges”
exhibit at COSI Toledo, a children’s science museum in Toledo, Ohio, during
the weekend of February 25-27 as part of the museum’s “Zoom Into
Engineering!” week. The exhibit was visited by hundreds of museum attendees.
Children, as well as adults, enjoyed assembling truss, arch, and other types
of bridges by connecting LEGO® bricks in the right combinations. Mr.
Collicott provided instructions for four different types of bridges, but some
visitors took to designing their own bridges using the many pieces provided.
Once completed, visitors were allowed to put their creations to the test by
hanging weights from them. These were high-stress moments, in more ways than
one, as they watched their bridges creak and bend, wondering as each weight
was added if it would be “the last straw.” Many were amazed at the amount of
weight they would hold, and gained a true understanding of why these designs
work.
Friday’s visitors were mostly middle school classes on field trips. Some of
the kids from these trips enjoyed it enough to persuade their parents to
bring them back again on Saturday or Sunday. One group of visitors on
Saturday, a collection Boy Scouts working toward their Engineering Merit
Badge, stayed at the exhibit for more than two hours. They were treated to
an impromptu computer-based presentation by Mr. Collicott (an Eagle Scout
himself), which included an interactive bridge simulation program that showed
successful and unsuccessful bridge designs, and what forces were involved in
each.
COSI Toledo was very pleased with the exhibit and has asked Mr. Collicott to
return again. A return visit is tentatively scheduled for Autumn, 2005, when
museum visitors will help build a scale model of the Maumee River Crossing
bridge, a cable-stayed bridge currently under construction in Toledo, Ohio.
The model will be made from 260 individual segments and will be more than
thirteen feet long and four feet tall when completed.
Pictures from this weekend’s event can be seen at the Bricks for Brains Web
site, http://www.BricksForBrains.org.
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Duane,
Going through the
pictures,
looks like everyone had a LOT of fun. I’m bummed that I couldn’t make it out.
Also a very cool reminder that LEGO bridges can hold quite a bit of weight. So
most of our trains are probably pretty safe.
Thanks for sharing.
Jason Spears | House of Bricks | BrickCentral | MichLUG | CLB
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Bricks for Brains takes "The Science of Bridges" to COSI Toledo
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| March 1, 2005. Toledo, Ohio, USA. Duane Collicott of Bricks for Brains presented his "The Science of Bridges" exhibit at COSI Toledo, a children's science museum in Toledo, Ohio, during the weekend of February 25-27 as part of the museum's "Zoom (...) (20 years ago, 28-Mar-05, to lugnet.announce, lugnet.org.us.michlug, FTX)
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