Bridging the Gap...

A stranger walking into James Wilson's geometry class last month might wonder if he had become Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians, stepping over crouching students and pint-sized bridges. Strange as it may seem, four classes of Frostproof Middle Senior High School geometry students literally built bridges between classroom learning and real life - out of Popsicle sticks.

The idea was fueled by Wilson's desire to make his students understand "how geometry is able to relate and apply to everyday life."

To do this, students collected more than 10,000 Popsicle sticks and then small groups competed to see who could design and build the bridge that could hold the most weight. Wilson's rules were simple: each bridge had to be 12 inches across and materials were limited to only Popsicle sticks and glue.

Students spent three Fridays and all their spare moments in class, planning and constructing their bridges. To judge the entries, Wilson held a "weigh-in" where students stacked one textbook on top of another, adding more and more weight until the bridge broke. Each book weighed about 2.5 pounds. Extra weight was added using other classroom objects and even the students themselves.

In first period, top builders were juniors Marniqua Cole, Justin Mauldin, Chelsea Crumbly and sophomore Brandi White. Six geometry books weren't enough to even shake this construction; in fact it held those 15 pounds plus 200 pound John Mitchell.

First place winners in the fourth period honors class were sophomore Laura Stuck and freshmen Kevin Wilson, Jessica Fritz and Sarah Lock with their bridge nicknamed "Tubby." This construction held 145 pounds without breaking.

The wining group in fifth period consisted of sophomores Jesse Mullally, Dylan Denny, Hayden Everett, and Titus Terrebone. This bridge was able to hold a microwave with Terrebone standing on top of it!

The grand finale came in seventh period where the winning bridge, built by sophomores Katie Stanley, Trent Miller, Nic Lambeth and sophmores Bryana Wilson and Desiree Viera, was able to simultaneously hold two male students weighing approximately 140 pounds each!

Stuck said it was quite an "interesting" learning experience. "Of course the essentials such as hard work and teamwork were emphasized within this project, but the most interesting aspect was finding out how important each placement of a Popsicle stick was and how a strong support-system was fundamental to the worth of our construction," she said.

Freshman Kala Anderson, whose bridge took second place in fourth period, said she was surprised at how strong their bridge turned out to be. "My bridge scored a lot better than I thought it would," said Anderson. "I figured it would only hold three - maybe four - books, but it ended up almost holding a 135-pound girl!"

"Every one of you is a winner," said Wilson at the end of the weigh-ins. "Overall, everyone did exceptionally well, with a few surprises and a couple of tragic accidents. I think the students have started to grasp that geometry does apply to everyday life."