LEARNING ABOUT HOW MATH IS NEEDED IN

THE CIVIL ENGINEERING FIELD

My students highlighted that this is a bridge that has collapsed. In contrast, my students shared that this bridge has a much
This resulted in many accidents and, possibly, deaths  more stable structure. Cars are able to safely cross it, in
order to drive from one place to another.
When I presented the two above images to my students, the majority of them displayed perplexed
faces. Several of them questioned, “What IS all of that?” My response, “It’s MATH,” intrigued them.
I informed them that while the math needed to plan for and design such real-world bridges is above
their current capacity as first graders, they need to successfully grasp and master the first grade
math standards, in order to understand how such sophisticated math works.
 Having knowledge of the
attributes of different 3-D
shapes is important, in order to
determine which ones will help
build a stable bridge.

We need to know how to

incorporate right
triangles

In order for the bridge to

Counting the have balance, each half of
number of wooden the bridge needs to contain
blocks carefully is the same types of triangles
important, in order (that are also the same
for each half of the size).
bridge to be a
reflection of one
another.