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Testing Tension and Compression in The Fifth Grade
Using a scale and hydraulic jack to measure pounds of pressure exerted on wooden cubes
Charlie Boswell's fifth graders at The Grammar School in Putney started the year in science class with a study of tension and compression in physical structures, where they built wooden cubes of their own design. One student described the process as “trying to develop a strategy that makes them stronger so we’ll be prepared when we build bridges and cars” later in the year. Methods employed in construction included using triangles, grids, and cross pieces “like a barn door”. Students then tested the cubes for the amount of pressure they could withstand. As one fifth grader noted “all the pressure goes to the sides, so supporting horizontal or diagonal columns are necessary to keep the cube from leaning and crumbling.” Though there were many different solutions for the ideal cube size and design, there was a consensus in the students’ reaction to the unit: It was “F -U- N!”