Introduction
Hello fellow scientists! The Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington broke apart and crashed to the river below. Search the internet to discover how and why this happened. How did this change the standards for bridge design and lead to better construction guidelines.
Task
The purpose of this webquest is to familiarize yourself with searching for credible and reliable sources to answer your questions. You will be given a series questions to answer about the cause of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse and fall. You will be typing your answers in Google Docs and recording where you found the information. You will title your Document "Tacoma Narrows Bridge Investigation" and will share the document with me at my school email address.
Process
Watch this video clip, and answer the following questions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XggxeuFDaDU
1. How hard was the wind blowing when the bridge collapsed?
2. Were there any casualties?
3. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge at that time was the world's __________ largest suspension bridge.
4. What caused the bridge to collapse?
Search the Internet to find a government website that gives information on the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
1. What is a more informal name for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge?
2. What was the "Blind Spot" that engineers did not consider in the designing of the bridge?
3. In 1941, this was named as the principal cause of the bridge's failure
4. Who conducted tests in a wind tunnel?
5. Who is J.K. Finch?
6. What was his contribution to the investigation of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge?
7. Why is it important to know the exact cause of the 1940 bridge's collapse?
8. What was the name of the engineer that designed the bridge?
9. Whose design was disregarded in favor of the design that ended up collapsing?
10. Why is it important to conduct tests on a model before construction?
11. How often must bridges be inspected?
12. What two bridges were built after the collapse of the Tacoma Narrow Bridge that directly benefitted from the legacies of the failed 1940's bridge and the successful 1950's bridge?
Evaluation
| Assessment | Points Possible | Your Score |
| All Questions answered | 10 | |
| Questions answered correctly | 60 | |
| Cited Sources for each answer | 20 | |
| Answers typed in Google docs (C.S) | 10 |
Conclusion
Awesome job, investigators! You are some of the finest knowledge thirsty scientists that can research any scientific problem out there. Great Job!