Bridge UP! curriculum
The Bridge UP! curriculum provides free classroom resources for teachers using bridge design and construction principles as the foundation for learning.
Parents, substitute teachers, after school program administrators, students, or anyone else interested in science and math can use and modify these resources from anywhere! Most materials needed for the lesson plan activities are common classroom/household items.
Classroom activities are designed to help bring students closer to the everyday work of engineers and construction workers. MnDOT hopes the Bridge UP! curriculum will get students excited about real-work transportation planning, design and construction, and to inspire them to pursue engineering or science as a career.
MnDOT partnered with other organizations to create an interactive program to integrate bridge architecture, design, and engineering into a school curriculum. See project partners and background. The curriculum is designed to meet current Minnesota education curriculum standards and benchmarks.
Here is a video with an overview of the Bridge UP! curriculum.
iBooks
- Bridge Design - Bridge UP! iBook for iPad or Mac products (Grades K-3)
- Environmental Stewardship - Bridge UP! iBook for iPad or Mac products (Grades K-3)
Web modules
Bridge UP! web modules (Grades 4-8)
Lesson plans
Bridge UP! curriculum - compilation of all the lessons below (PDF) (Grades K-12 )
- Lesson 1 (PDF) - Engineering Bridges (Grades K-2)
- Lesson 2 (PDF) - Engineering (Grade 3)
- Lesson 3 (PDF) - Materials (Grade 4)
- Lesson 4 (PDF) - Geometry in Bridge Design (Grade 4)
- Lesson 5 (PDF) - Runoff Management (Grade 5)
- Lesson 6 (PDF) - Tension and Compression Forces (Grade 6)
- Lesson 7 (PDF) - Bridge Building (Grade 7)
- Lesson 8 (PDF) - Making Concrete (Grade 8)
- Lesson 9 (PDF) - Geometry in Engineering (Grades 9-12)
- Lesson 10 (PDF) - Fundamental Forces (Grades 9-12)
- Lesson 11 (PDF) - Mastering Materials (Grades 9-12)
Additional activities and resources
- Books, videos, websites and more (PDF)
- External resources for many additional activities and educational information
Brochures
- Bridge UP! curriculum brochure (PDF) (English)
- Bridge UP! curriculum brochure (PDF) (Spanish)
- Bridge UP! curriculum brochure (PDF) (Hmong)
- Bridge UP! curriculum brochure (PDF) (Somali)