Using the true story of 21 Elephants and Still Standing, by April Prince, (the story of P.T.Barnum parading his 21 circus elephants across the newly (14 years to build,) constructed Brooklyn Bridge to show that it would be safe to cross,) ,the students participated in a STEM activity.
Using the same materials- 2 cups, 2 feet of masking tape and 20 popsicle sticks, each child tried to create a bridge that would hold at least 21 counting cubes ( our stand in for elephants.) The attached pictures will show you their efforts in building, trying it out and redesigning the bridge to hold much more than 21 cubes.
Congratulations first and second graders.
