Measuring (PDF file, 7.31 MB) - Oklahoma Department of Career ...

IMC 

Technology Learning Activity: 

Structural 

Engineering 

Student Edition 

www.okcimc.com 

800-654-4502 

CIMC 

TE8102

Structural 

Engineering 

Student Edition 

Developed by the 

Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center 

Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education 

TE8102

Copyright © 2010 

Project Manager: 

Design: 

Ann Wolfe 

Melinda Hawk 


Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center 

All rights reserved. 

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Stillwater, OK 74074-4364 

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Structural Engineering 

Table of Contents 

Lesson 1 Measuring...................................................................................................... 3 

Activity 1: Practice Measuring.................................................................................... 5 

Activity 2: More Measuring........................................................................................ 7 

Activity 3: Metric Prefixes........................................................................................... 9 

Activity 4: Measurement............................................................................................11 

Review/Quiz ..............................................................................................................13 

Lesson 2 Engineering and Disasters........................................................................ 15 

Activity 5: Disasters and Causes..............................................................................17 

Review/Quiz ..............................................................................................................19 

Lesson 3 Bridges and Other Structures .................................................................. 21 

Activity 6: Terms to Know......................................................................................... 27 

Activity 7: Sketch Bridges........................................................................................ 29 

Activity 8: Research bridges.................................................................................... 31 

Review/Quiz ............................................................................................................. 35 

Activity 9: Sketch Types of Trusses.......................................................................... 37 

Activity 10: Planning a Bridge Part 1....................................................................... 39 

Activity 11: Planning a Bridge Part 2........................................................................ 41 

Activity 12: Building/Testing a Bridge....................................................................... 43 

Activity 13: Strongest Structures.............................................................................. 45 

Activity 14: Build a Tall Tower................................................................................... 47 

Activity 15: Build Goo Structures............................................................................. 49 

Activity 16: Build Roller Coasters............................................................................. 51 

Activity 17: Solve Building Challenge....................................................................... 53 

Activity 18: Structural Marvels.................................................................................. 55 

Activity 19: Power Tool Racing/Engineering Careers............................................... 57


Structural engineering is both a science and an art. It is a science 

because whatever is designed and built must withstand all the 

pressures and stresses it will be subjected to. Some of these stresses 

come from wind and weather. Other stresses are from gravity and 

earth movements that can cause minor shifting, or, in the worst case, 

earthquakes. 

Structural engineering is an art because, working with architects and 

possibly designers, the engineers plan the structures to be visually 

attractive and often elegant. It would be easy to build square or 

rectangular buildings, but if every building looked alike, imagine how 

boring it would look. These engineers design structures—everything 

from houses, theaters, stadiums, hospitals, and office buildings to 

bridges, oil rigs, and space satellites. Everything that is built must be 

structurally sound. 

Structural engineers usually design buildings and structures like dams, 

bridges, and towers. However they can also be involved in the design 

of machinery and medical equipment when the structural design is 

critical. 

What You Will Learn About: 

• Measuring 

• Structural engineering disasters and prevention 

• Types of bridges and other structures 

• Modern structural marvels 

• Careers related to structural engineering 



CIMC — Copyright © 2010 

1


What You Will Do: 

• Measure items around the classroom and your home. 

• Research one or two modern disasters and complete an 

information sheet about it. 

• Research types of bridges and, if approved by your instructor, other 

types of structures and write a short 

description of each. 

• Design, build, and test a bridge—your 

instructor will tell you whether it will be 

designed and built on the computer or 

from real materials. 

• Write an essay about the bridge-building 

process. 

• Design and build the tallest possible 

structure that will support a tennis ball 

for 30 seconds using drinking straws and 

masking tape or other materials approved 

by your instructor. 

• Complete assigned activities using The 

World of Goo software. As you complete levels in the software, you 

will list the physics principles that helped solve the level. 

• Using software such as Roller Coaster Tycoon, Ultimate Ride 

Coaster, or other structure building software, design, build, and test 

a coaster. Write a paragraph describing the success or failure of 

your design. 

• Watch a DVD or TV show about modern marvels or big 

construction and complete an information sheet about it. 

• Solve a dam-building challenge. 

• Design and prepare a fi nal sketch of a power tool racer. 



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Lesson 1: 

Measuring 

People have been measuring items for a long time. The early systems 

of measurement were usually based on things like the length of a 

person’s arm, thumb, fi nger, or foot. This worked well if 

the person doing the measuring was personally using 

everything measured. Wood cut based on 

one person’s foot will fit together. But what 

might happen if more than one person was 

measuring pieces of wood, using his or 

her foot, that had to fit together? Would the 

wood be cut to the same size if two people 

were told to cut wood into 4-foot pieces, but one used the red foot and 

the other the purple foot? Does this sound like an accurate way to 

measure? Because of these problems and inaccuracies, people began 

to devise ways to make the units of measurement standard so that 

everyone would think the same thing when told something was four feet 

long. Today, units of measure are standardized throughout the world. 

Did You Know? 

Many of us use or have heard terms like “in a jiffy,” “just a tad,” 

and “a smidgeon.” According to Useless Measurement and 

Trivia (www.rob.neff.net/rob/trivia.html#offtrack), the following 

are definitions of some of these measurements. 

skosh = 4 smidgeons 

smidgeon = couple tads 

1 tad = just a mite 

quite a little bit = 100 skosh 

bookoodles = 1000 quite a little bits 

jiffy = 3.3357x10-11 seconds 

Usually it is important to measure accurately, but sometimes 

measurements don’t have to be exact. For example, you may be given 

instructions to measure something “to the nearest inch.” This means 

that your answer should be in whole inches. When you are given this 

kind of specifi cation, your measurement may not be exact. It could 

be as far off as one-half of the unit of measure. In this example, if 

the object you measured was 3¼", and you were asked to give the 

answer to the nearest inch, your answer would be 3". If you had said 

4", you would be more wrong than one-half the unit of measurement 

(in this case, ½"). This is known as a margin of error. If you are asked 




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to measure an object to the nearest ½", your margin of error would be 

¼." This means you could be ¼" off the exact measurement and still be 

correct. The margin of error is always one-half of the unit of measure. 

Structural engineers need to know how to measure accurately. 

Measuring accurately is important 

whenever you have to measure things, 

but it is especially important when 

designing and building structures that 

must withstand many different stresses 

and pressures. Think about times you have 

had to measure an item. What might have 

happened if you’d been inaccurate with 

your measurements? 

Looking at the picture on the left, you 

can see that the smaller the increment of 

measurement, the smaller the line. Notice 

how the lines move up from ⅓ 2” to 1”. 

WEB ACTIVITY 

What‛s a Smoot? 

Browse several of the following 

websites to find out about “smoot.” 

http://web.mit.edu/spotlight/smoot-salute/ 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ 

article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702328.html 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot 

http://lambda-chi.mit.edu/History.aspx#smoots 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/10/ 

post_23.html 

http://tech.mit.edu/V129/N27/smoot.html 

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/ 

smoot-tt0924.html 

http://www.crossandcrescent. 

com/2006/02/measuring-smoot/ 

How tall are you in smoots? _______________________ 

How long is a football field (100 yards) in smoots? ______ 

How many smoots are in a mile? ____________________ 



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Activity 1 

Practice Measuring 

In this activity, you will practice measuring. You will measure lines and 

shapes on paper. In Activity 2 you will measure objects in the classroom 

or in your home. You may also practice measuring on the internet. 

What You Will Need: 

• ruler, yardstick, and/or tape measure 

• paper and pencil or pen 

What to Do: 

1. How long are the following items? 




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2. Pretend you lived before measurements were standardized. In 

your village, a foot is the length of a man’s foot. Measure the 

two feet below. If you were selling items by the foot, which of the 

“feet” would you rather use? Why? _______________________ 

__________________________________________________ 

If you were buying materials to build a house, which “foot” would 

you rather use? Why? _________________________________ 

__________________________________________________ 

3. If you bought 10 feet of “red foot,” how many inches would you 

get? ______________________________________________ 

If you bought 10 feet of “purple foot?” _____________________ 



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Activity 2 

More Measuring 

Use a ruler to measure parts of the lines below. 

1. To the nearest ½", how long is the line below? _______________ 


3. To the nearest ¼", how long is the line below? _______________ 


5. To the nearest ¼", how long is the line below? _______________ 


7. To the nearest 1", how long is the line below? _______________ 




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8. Work with a partner, and with your instructor’s permission, measure 

three or more things around your school. Measure as accurately as 

your ruler, yardstick, or tape measure allows. On the lines below, 

list the item you are measuring and its dimensions. With your 

instructor’s permission, you may measure items at home. 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

WEB ACTIVITY 

Practice your measuring skills at: 

www.rsinnovative.com/rulergame 

www.funbrain.com/measure 

How did your skills measure up? ___________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 



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Activity 3 

Metric Prefixes 

In this activity, you will learn about the metric system and metric prefixes. 


• internet access or other source of metric prefi xes 


What to Do: 

Look at the ruler above. We all know what the inch marks mean, but 

what about the measurements on the bottom? You probably know that 

cm (centimeter) and mm (millimeter) are metric measurements. 

The metric system started in France late in the 18th century. It is 

a decimal system. It was started to replace, with standard units of 

measure, the many different measuring units being used. The standard 

unit for measuring length is the meter. Its actual defi nition has changed 

over the years to make it more precise because our ability to measure 

has become more and more accurate. The key thing is that when we 

say a meter we all mean the same thing. 

Since the 1960s the International System of Units (Système 

International d’Unités in French, or SI) has been the internationally 

recognized standard metric system. Metric units are widely used 

around the world. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, only 

three countries—Burma, Liberia, and the US—have not 

adopted the SI, or metric system as their official 

system of weights and measures. The US is the 

only industrialized nation that does not mainly 

use the metric system in its commercial and 

standards activities. It is slowly becoming 

more accepted in science, medicine, 

government, and many sectors of 

industry. 




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A standard set of prefi xes in powers of ten may be used to derive larger 

and smaller units from the base units. Different units of measure are 

made by adding a prefi x to the main unit. For example, a centimeter is 

one-hundredth of a meter—there are 100 centimeters in a meter. 

Visit the following website to learn about metric measurement. Fill in 

the prefi xes. 

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/prefixes.html 

1. 1 trillion bytes is a _____________________________________ 

2. 1 billionth of a second is a _______________________________ 

3. 1 thousand liters is a ___________________________________ 

4. 1 hundred meters is a __________________________________ 

5. 1 millionth of a liter is a _________________________________ 

6. 1 tenth of a liter is a ____________________________________ 

7. 1 million watts is a _____________________________________ 

8. 10 grams is a _________________________________________ 

9. 1 hundredth of a meter is a ______________________________ 

10. 1 thousandth of a gram is a ______________________________ 

11. 1 billion bytes is a _____________________________________ 

12. 1 trillionth of a gram is a _________________________________ 

One kilometer is about .6 (or ⅗) of a mile so 150 kilometers 

per hour equals 90 miles per hour (mph). Look at the picture 

of a metric odometer above. If the speed limit is 60 mph, is the 

car speeding? If it isn’t, how much faster could the car go? If it 

is, how much does it need to slow down? 

________________________________________________ 

________________________________________________ 



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Activity 4 

Measurement 

In this activity, you will practice measuring. You will measure lines and 

shapes using metric measures. You may also practice measuring on the 

internet. 


• metric measuring tools 


What to Do: 

1. How long are the following items? 

2. Use a metric ruler to measure the following lines. 




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3. Work with a partner, and with your instructor’s permission, measure 

the same things you measured in Activity 2. On the lines below, 

list the items and the metric measures. Think about how the 

measurements compare. Write some of your thoughts. 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________ 

WEB ACTIVITY 

Practice your measuring skills at: 

www.funbrain.com/measure 

How did your skills measure up? ___________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 



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Review/Quiz 

Measuring 

Instructions: Answer the questions by filling in the circle beside the 

best possible answer. 

1. An early problem with measuring was caused by 

❍ a. different feet measuring different sizes 

❍ b. a lack of standard measurement 

❍ c. none of the above 

❍ d. all the above 

2. True or false? From the beginning of time, people measured 

things using yardsticks. 

❍ a. true 

❍ b. false 

3. If you are measuring to the nearest ½", your margin of error is 

❍ a. ¼" 

❍ b. ⅛" 

❍ c. 1" 

❍ d. ½" 

4. True or false? The most important thing about the meter is that it 

means the same thing to everyone. 

❍ a. true 

❍ b. false 

5. The standard unit of measure in the metric system is 

❍ a. liter 

❍ b. meter 

❍ c. yard 

❍ d. gram 

6. The metric system started in 

❍ a. Italy 

❍ b. Germany 

❍ c. France 

❍ d. England 




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7. True or false? The official system of weights and measures in the 

United States is the SI. 

❍ a. true 

❍ b. false 

8. How many centimeters are in a meter? 

❍ a. 100 

❍ b. 1,000 

❍ c. 10 

❍ d. 1 

9. How many bytes of memory does a computer have if it says one 

gigabyte? 

❍ a. one trillion 

❍ b. one thousand 

❍ c. one billion 

❍ d. one hundred 

10. How many grams are in a kilogram? 

❍ a. 100 

❍ b. 1,000 

❍ c. 10 

❍ d. 1 



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