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Bridges Unit For the 2011-2012 school year our class will be studying famous bridges throughout history and present day. This study will help our class to understand the important role that architecture has on our world and also the impact world culture has on architecture.

Bridges have been used throughout history as a link from one place to another. To get a better understanding of leaders, world powers, and geographical challenges that have plagued cities and countries throughout the world we are going use bridges to create a link. In this unit students will be working collaboratively with groups to study a famous bridge and the history, engineering, and usage behind it. Along with the research of the bridge students will be using skills recently covered in math on ratio and proportion to create a 2-D scale model of their selected bridge.

Day 1: Getting to know the unit activity Students will be split into groups to start to discover the many uses, types, and importance of bridges throughout the world. Stations: In groups of 3, 4, and 5 students will study a bridge in depth. As a whole group, students will create a bulletin board containing the following information.
 * 1) Types of Bridges:
 * Read and discuss the provided article on the different types of bridges.
 * The different bridges we will be looking at are:
 * Beam Bridges
 * Truss Bridges
 * Arch Bridges
 * Suspension Bridges
 * Cantilever Bridges
 * When you have finished looking at the diagram and reading about the different types of bridges please look at the discussion questions at your station and talk with your group about your findings.
 * 1) Language Arts Standards:
 * 2) Social Studies Standards:
 * 3) Rubric Creation:
 * 4) Bridges Around the World:
 * After reading about the bridges please make a list of the top three bridges you would be interested in researching.

At the conclusion of the Unit students will independently create a timeline that accurately indicates changes over time and key events throughout the world during the bridge's lifetime.

Bridges that our classes will study:

//**Mrs. Langjahr's homeroom will study:**// //** 1. Tower Bridge (London, England) **//

//**Tower Bridge is one of the most famous landmarks in London and one of the world’s most recognisable bridges!**// //**2. Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, US)**//



//**Completed in 1937 as the then longest suspension bridge in the world at a total length of 8,921ft, the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the world. Situated in San Francisco, the bridge was an enormous construction achievement at the time.**//  //**3. Akashi- Kaikyo Bridge (Japan) **// Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge flickr/[|Shenghung Lin] The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, also known as the Pearl Bridge, is the longest suspension bridge at 1,991 meters (6,532 feet) in the world. It spans the Akashi Strait in Japan connecting Kobe on the mainland and Iwaya on Awayi Island. The bridge took almost 12 years to build and was opened for traffic in 1998. The central span was originally only 1,990 meter but the Kobe earthquake on January 17, 1995, moved the two towers so that it had to be increased by 1 meter.

//**4. Ponte Vecchio (Florence, Italy) **// Ponte Vecchio flickr/[|maha-online] The [|Ponte Vecchio] (literally “old bridge”) is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River in [|Florence]; the only Florentine bridge to survive WW2. The bridge is famous for still having shops built along it, as was common in the days of the Medici. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. It is said that the economic concept of bankruptcy originated here: when a merchant could not pay his debts, the table on which he sold his wares (the “banco”) was physically broken (“rotto”) by soldiers, and this practice was called “bancorotto” (broken table). //**5. Madgeburg Water Bridge (Magdeburg, Germany) **//

Magdeburg Water Bridge (Magdeburg, Germany) //**The Magdeburg Water Bridge is exactly what its name suggests; a bridge made over water!**// //**6. Si-o-se Pol (Isfahan, Iran)**//



//**Mr. Mey's homeroom will study:**// //**1. Sydney Harbour Bridge (Sydney, Australia)**//

//**Sydney Harbour Bridge is the widest long-span bridge in the world at a total length of 3,770ft!**//

//**2. Millau Bridge (Tarn Valley, France)**//

//**Millau Bridge is the largest cable-stayed vehicular bridge in the world!**//

//**3. Brooklyn Bridge (New York City, US)**//



**//Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. At the time it opened, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world fifty percent longer than any previously built and has become a treasured landmark.//** //**4. Nanpu Bridge (Shanghai, China)**//

//**The spiral bridge approach in puxi is considered to be a wonder in world bridge construction. It is made to minimize the amount of land used by the bridge approach.**// //** 5 . Helix Bridge (Singapore)**//

//**6.The Qingdao Haiwan Road Bridge (Qingdao City, China)**//

Social Studies Standards: Language Arts Standards: Math standards:
 * //__State standards covered in this unit:__//**
 * Describe how buildings and their decoration reflect cultural values and ideas, providing examples such as cave paintings, pyramids, sacred cities, castles, and cathedrals.
 * Analyze information generated from a computer about a place, including statistical sources, aerial and satellite images, and three-dimensional models.
 * Identify and examine various sources of information that are used for constructing an understanding of the past, such as artifacts, documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, paintings, architecture, oral presentations, graphs, and charts.
 * Use a timeline to select, organize, and sequence information describing eras in history. Give examples of important contributions made by Wisconsin citizens, United States citizens, and world citizens.
 * Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
 * Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. Establish and maintain a formal style. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented.Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.
 * Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
 * Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.
 * Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities.
 * Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b ≠ 0, and use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship.
 * Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.
 * Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with whole number measurements, find missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on the coordinate plane. Use tables to compare ratios.
 * Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed.
 * Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent.
 * Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units; manipulate and transform units appropriately when multiplying or dividing quantities.