Another program with children including our new foster children is to make a paper bridge and to find a relationship between its shape and strength. We refer to a book “Weak Paper, Strong Shape” written by Mr. Satoshi Kako, a Japanese picture book writer.
For example, comparing a simple plain piece of paper which is just cut in half of a post card and the same piece of paper but with the both edges are folded like girders or parapets, the strength of those papers is totally different. This kind of finding should be very interesting.
The aims of this program are:
① To measure length accurately.
Children in Cambodia often use rulers when they draw pictures. I’ve seen some drawings in which freedom is somehow limited in that way. When they write sentences on a blank paper, some children draw lines so that their sentences can be straight. But those lines are slanting. So we shall ask children how to divide a postcard equally in half. Not only measuring the length of the upper edge and find the middle point, the bottom edge should be also measured. This is the first work for children.
② To find that the strength of a paper bridge varies depending on its shape.
We will go through 5 kinds of models: [A] a flat piece of paper, [B] a bridge with 1cm girders, [C] a bridge with 1cm parapets, [D] a bridge combined with B & C back to back, and [E] a bridge of mountain fold along the center line. Each paper bridge is a half size of a postcard.
③ To calculate an average
In order to conclude how many weights are loaded, we shall suggest they need to repeat the same experiment at least 3 times for each bridge model. And after 3-time trials, they should calculate an average. It’s a practice of division. We want to show them that Math is used practically like this although many children don’t like this subject.
When all groups finish their experiments until the last [E] bridge, we compare each group’s results all together. Each group presents which bridge was strongest or weakest.
④ To create by themselves
If we still have time left, we let children think of other shapes of a bridge and see how strong their own unique bridge is. They can also try to find out a stronger shape than the strongest one among the previous 5 models.
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