Garfield students build bridge

Garfield middle school students explored the intersection of art and science last quarter with a bridge-building project.

The elective engineering class, taught by Phil Weagraff, began with students studying the various arenas of engineering, from electrical and mechanical to structural, biological and marine.

Then they learned about forms of bridges and set out to design their own, using balsa wood or spaghetti noodles.

“I encouraged them to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible, while needing to be structurally sound,” said Weagraff.

Some of the bridges were tested using several book...