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Subtopic: Construction Technologies

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Resource	Grade Level	Media Type
Arch Bridge This video segment adapted from Building Big illustrates the strength of the arch in bridge design and construction.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Ask an Engineer Explore some of the wonders of modern engineering in this video from the Sciencenter in Ithaca, New York. Hear a diverse selection of engineers explain how things work.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Astronauts in Hard Hats This media-rich series of interviews from the NOVA Web site explores the unique challenges faced by astronauts doing construction work in outer space.	6-12	HTML Document
The Bridge Challenge In this interactive activity from the Building Big Web site, use your knowledge of bridge design to match the right bridge to the right location in a fictitious city.	3-12	HTML Interactive
Build a Bridge Survey potential bridge sites, research bridge design, and select the right bridge for the right location in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Building the Channel Tunnel How do you build a tunnel 32 miles long -- under water? This video segment adapted from Building Big, follows the construction of the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed "Chunnel"), the engineering wonder that connects England to France.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Chernobyl: What Really Happened? This text excerpted from Richard Rhodes' book, Nuclear Renewal and reprinted on the FRONTLINE Web site examines the causes of the Chernobyl accident.	6-12	HTML Document
Citigroup Skyscraper Design Problem This video segment adapted from Building Big looks at the challenges faced by structural engineer William LeMessurier in designing a new skyscraper and how he very closely averted disaster.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Clifton Suspension Bridge This video segment from Building Big illustrates the basic design principles of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Columns: Experimenting with Paper Cups In this video segment from ZOOM, the cast experiments to see if a bunch of paper cups covered by a piece of cardboard can support the weight of a cast member.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Columns: Hillary's Neighborhood In this video segment from ZOOM, Hillary, from Randolph, MA, takes us on a tour of the columns in her neighborhood.	K-8	QuickTime Video
Construct an Aqueduct Think like an engineer and build an aqueduct in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.	3-12	Shockwave Interactive
The Dam Challenge In this interactive activity from the Building Big Web site, investigate dams in distress and decide if they should be repaired, removed, or left alone.	3-12	HTML Interactive
Demolition Woman Find out how controlled explosions are used to demolish multi-story buildings in this interview from the NOVA Web site.	6-12	HTML Document
Design and Construct a Road Sign Support Students use simple materials to design, build, and test a model of a free-standing structure used to support overhead road signs.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Design: Building a House This collection of images follows the process of building a house from cutting the trees and making the bricks to finishing construction.	K-8	Flash Image
Designing a Paper Bridge In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members make a bridge from a single piece of paper. Will it be strong enough to hold a hundred pennies?	3-8	QuickTime Video
Designing the Citigroup Skyscraper This video segment adapted from Thinking Big, Building Small shows how a structural engineer overcame the challenge of building New York's Citigroup skyscraper over a church.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Design: The Right Tool for the Job Which tool is the right tool for the job? This collection of images features a series of cutting tools performing the tasks for which they were designed.	3-8	Flash Image
The Dome Challenge In this interactive activity from the Building Big Web site, think like an engineer and use your knowledge of dome design to match the right type of dome to the right location in a fictitious city.	3-12	HTML Interactive
Engineering Career Options It's a profession that can take you from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space, from within the microscopic structures of the human cell to the top of the tallest skyscrapers. In this stills collage adapted from The American Society for Engineering Education, learn about some of the most popular engineering fields.	3-12	Flash Image
Fire Safety in High Rises This video segment adapted from NOVA explains how the sprinkler revolutionized fire safety and also features developments in fire-safety design for high-rise buildings.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Firth of Forth Cantilever Bridge This video segment from Building Big: "Bridges" demonstrates the basic design of a cantilever bridge by looking at Scotland's Firth of Forth Railway Bridge.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Forces Lab In this interactive activity from the Building Big Web site, select one of the actions of squeezing, stretching, bending, sliding, or twisting to explore the forces of compression, tension, shear, and torsion.	3-8	Flash Interactive
Geodesic Dome This video segment adapted from Building Big highlights the evolution of the geodesic dome, designed by legendary architect and inventor, Buckminster Fuller.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Grass Bridge In this video segment adapted from NOVA, watch residents of the Peruvian Andes build a suspension bridge made entirely of grass.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Hoover Dam This video segment from Building Big: "Dams," demonstrates the basic principals at work in the Hoover Dam, a concrete gravity dam that also makes use of the properties of the arch.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Investigating a Suspension Bridge In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast builds a suspension bridge from a couple of chairs, some cardboard, and rope.	3-8	QuickTime Video
It's Cool to Be a Civil Engineer Who decides how massive structures like skyscrapers are made? This video segment adapted from Thinking Big, Building Small showcases the job of a civil engineer.	3-8	QuickTime Video
The Leaning Tower: Where It Stands Today Will the Leaning Tower of Pisa give way to gravity? In this interview from the NOVA Web site, engineer John Burland relates the difficult job of saving the tower.	6-12	HTML Document
Lever an Obelisk Investigate the mechanical advantage of the lever in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Loads Lab This interactive activity from the Building Big Web site examines different types of loads and how structures might be reinforced to withstand them.	3-8	Flash Interactive
Materials Lab This interactive activity from the Building Big Web site explores the properties of different types of building materials.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Nuclear Reaction: Meltdown What happens when a nuclear reactor overheats? This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE looks at the nuclear reactor meltdown at Chernobyl, the worst accident of its kind.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Nuclear Reaction: Three Mile Island This video segment adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE examines the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Nuclear Waste: Yucca Mountain What happens to nuclear waste? This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE explores the controversy surrounding the United States' first nuclear repository site.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Pantheon Dome This video segment adapted from Building Big: "Domes" illustrates how the design of the Pantheon Dome emerged out of another form, the arch.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Rate Tornado Damage In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, use the Fujita tornado intensity scale to assess the level of destruction left in the wake of actual tornadoes.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Road Signs Gallery This collection of still images depicts various types of road signs and represents one form of research an engineer might conduct to design a road sign effectively.	6-12	Flash Image
Shapes Lab This interactive activity from the Building Big Web site compares the strengths of the rectangle, triangle, and arch.	3-8	Flash Interactive
Shapes That Make Structures Strong Students explore the various shapes engineers choose to make structures strong -- in particular, triangles, arches, and domes.	6-8	Lesson Plan
The Skyscraper Challenge In this interactive activity from the Building Big Web site, investigate hypothetical structural emergencies and figure out how to repair them.	3-12	HTML Interactive
Tension and Compression Students experience the forces of tension and compression by manipulating objects that are strong in each but not in both and then take what they have learned and apply it to the construction of various structures.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Three Mile Island: What Happened This interactive activity from the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Web site looks at the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Train Truss Animation This animated video segment from Building Big: "Bridges" demonstrates how a truss bridge is designed to balance the weight of a train as it travels over it.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Triangles and Arches in Architecture This collection of still images features two of the most important shapes in architecture: the triangle and the arch.	K-8	Flash Image
Triangles: Designing a Newspaper Chair Watch the ZOOM cast build a chair out of newspaper by making good use of the strength of triangles.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Triangles: Designing a Straw Bridge In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast tries to design and build a bridge made out of drinking straws that will support the weight of 200 pennies.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Triangles: Testing the Strength of a Gumdrop Dome Can a dome made of gumdrops and toothpicks support the weight of a stack of books? To find out, watch this video segment adapted from ZOOM.	3-8	QuickTime Video
The Tunnel Challenge This interactive activity, from the Building Big Web site, explores tunneling and the tools and methods used to do the job.	3-12	HTML Interactive