So my AP Physics teacher assigned a project over winter break: a popsicle bridge with all of these regulations. He gave us NO background knpwledge, no reason why we were doing it, and it had nothing to do with anything we were learning.
I have spent 22+ hours trying to get this bridge done and, even though I went simple and I am just trying to get my particpation points, my bridge is absolutely horrible and not structually sound AT ALL.
I want to just turn in my messed up bridge and tell my teacher that I honestly tried my best and did the most I could even though my project itself is going to fail the regulations. I am just worried at how much this will impacf my grade as I have a B+ in the class and finals are just around the corner.
Any advice/memories about failing a pronect for a class?
First things first, BREATHE. I took AP Physics last year, did great, and believe me, this class does not get any easier if you’re panicking. From the sound of it, this is just one project that won’t be a huge part of your grade, and you should be fine as long as you work hard. If this project really tanks your grade, ask your teacher if there’s anything you could do to get your grade up, or there are any non-finals big grades coming up.
As for the bridge itself, have you tried looking any common tips for making sound bridges? It’s a fairly common school project in my experience, and the Internet should give you some help. Myself, I always went with triangles in situations like this. They’re pretty sound shape for construction, can bear a fair bit of weight depending on the scenario, and are easy enough to make. What are the materials allowed?
Also, not to be cruel, but for a project like this one, I feel I should point out that at this point in the school year (And in this class), your teacher shouldn’t have to explain things for a project like this. My physics teacher did a similar thing, where she had us make boats and race them after submitting math proving our boats were sound. Popsicle bridges are not terribly hard to make, and for an AP class, especially this one, you’re expected to be able to look back at your notes and draw your own conclusions. They relate quite a bit to Newtonian physics and are great for applying the math we work on for so long.
Best of luck, and I hope this helps!
One thing that you find rather quickly when you start building things or doing a lab that is anything other than “follow these directions”: The real world (even on a popsicle bridge scale) is a lot tougher than it seems like it should be. Things go wrong. Then you do it again.
Relax. Take a few deep breaths. Eat an actual popsicle. Then think about why your current structure is not sound.
When it comes to structures, triangles are your friend. Rectangles like to turn into parallelograms, and then into collapsed messes.
I think that you will want to spend much of this weekend building another popsicle bridge. Then you can write up what you learned in the effort. This should help your grade quite a bit. To me it also sounds like a fun way to spend a weekend (I am now wondering if my wife would mind if I spend this weekend building popsicle bridges).