FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

The Old Schoolhouse® Product & Curriculum Reviews

With so many products available we often need a little help in making our curriculum choices. The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine family understands because we are in the same boat! Do you need more information on a product before you buy? With over 5,500 products listed in 52 easy-to-use categories, much of the information you need to know is only a click away! Let our reviewer-families help yours.
Do you want to get the word out about your product or service to the homeschool community? Email Jenny Higgins and share a little about what you´d like showcased, and we can help with that!

Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering Review by Marisa Corless

Donna Latham
Nomad Press
www.amazingmathprojects.com
2456 Christian St.
White River Junction, VT 05001
http://nomadpress.net/

Did you know that workers today use temporary wooden framework called falsework to support building and railway construction, just like the Romans did? This is just one fascinating fact that can be uncovered in the book Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering by Donna Latham. Building Bridges and Tunnels is part of the Nomad Press “Build it Yourself” series. With 122 pages of information on bridges, engineering, geography, history, and 25 hands-on projects, it is sure to spark the interest of any child who enjoys science, buildings, bridges, or engineering. The recommended age range is 9-12, but older students and adults will also enjoy this book.

Bridges and Tunnels starts with an introduction to the engineering process, physics of bridges, and obstacles engineers must face. It then continues with “Amazing Bridges” through history. Each bridge highlighted is not just a list of facts, but several pages of information on how the bridge was built, the purpose of the bridge, and problems workers faced. After discussing various bridges, there is a chapter on disasters. Then there are a couple of chapters on tunnel engineering, amazing tunnels, and tunnel disasters in a similar format to the chapters on bridges. Throughout the book, activities and illustrations help the reader understand the process and challenges of bridge and tunnel building, as well as more complex concepts like shear vs. torsion. The vocabulary words are highlighted and defined throughout the book with a complete glossary at the end.  Other fun features are the “Did you Know?” trivia boxes and the “Notable Quotes” scattered throughout the book. These little extras gather in even more interesting information in a fun way.

Both my son, age 10, and my husband, a mechanical engineer, really enjoyed this book. They were fascinated by all the details included. I appreciate that most of the activities can be done with normal household materials, and the way the hands-on activities are so well integrated with the reading. This book would be a wonderful addition to a physics curriculum, for unit studies, or delight-directed learning. It would also be a fun enrichment book for a co-op or small homeschool group. If you want to explore famous bridges and tunnels, engineering, science, physics, and history, Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering is a great resource.

Product Review by Marisa Corless, MH, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August, 2012

TOP