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Building Bridges

By Platform Administrator · Submitted Sep 30, 2026

Content Area
Mathematics
Grade
10

Students take on the role of an engineer who is charged with replacing either the Sagamore or Bourne Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal. The bridges over the Cape Cod Canal were built in the mid 1930's and have required more and more maintenance and repairs every year and have been identified as having been replaced for safety reasons. The engineer's goal is to come up with equations to model the chosen bridge replacement design for and write a report to the Army Corps of Engineering that includes the proposed structure of the bridge, the equations used to design the structure, and a sketch of the bridge.

MA Standards

AI.A-CED.A.1
Create equations and inequalities in one variable and use them to solve problems. (Include equations arising from linear, quadratic, and exponential functions with integer exponents.)*
AI.A-REI.B.4.b
Solve quadratic equations by inspection (e.g., for x2 = 49), taking square roots, completing the square, the quadratic formula, and factoring, as appropriate to the initial form of the equation. Recognize when the solutions of a quadratic equation results in non-real solutions and write them as a ± bi for real numbers a and b.
AI.A-SSE.B.3.c
Use the properties of exponents to transform expressions for exponential functions. For example, the expression 1.15t can be rewritten as (1.151/12)12t ≈ 1.01212t to reveal the approximate equivalent monthly interest rate if the annual rate is 15%.

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