Lucerne Valley Students Break Toothpick Bridge School Record

 

One little toothpick weighs a mere 0.2 grams, but when you put a number of them together with glue and use basic engineering principles a bridge constructed entirely of toothpicks can hold as much as a small person weighs. That’s what students in Mr. Brian Lollock’s 5th-grade class at Lucerne Valley Elementary School learned when their truss bridge broke a previous school record by holding 75.75 pounds in weight.

 

The school’s annual Toothpick Bridge competition always brings drama, but the event on Tuesday, May 28th had more than usual. As the teams watched tensely, one by one of the competitors saw their works collapse with a loud snap after teacher Mrs. Leah Paddack, who has organized the event for more than a decade, added another weight into a bucket attached to the bridge. A few were disqualified on technicalities.

 

“We cover many different basic engineering skills, including the effects of tension and compression, and the use of triangles as the strongest weight bearing shapes,” said Mrs. Paddack. “Each student has a specific job. In each group is a project director, architect, accountant, transportation chief, and carpenter.”

 

Each team has a theoretical budget of $1,550,000 with which to build their bridge. Each bridge has specific height and width requirements, as well.  If a group goes over budget or the bridge does not meet the height or width requirements, they can have their bridge weigh, but are disqualified from winning.

 

On Tuesday, the Little Rascals team comprised of Grayson Moreno, Jaden Ceja Gonzalez, Johnny Garcia, and Jacob Torres had history in their grasp. “We did have one group who did not meet the width requirement, unfortunately, but their bridge still held 73 pounds,” Mrs. Paddack said. “They would have been second place if they weren't disqualified.” 

 

After the Little Rascals’ entry broke, Mr. Lollock’s group went on to re-write the record books when their bridge held 75.75 pounds, breaking the previous school record set in 2021.  The winning team members are Koah Beard Westall, Emma Beede, Benjamin Ledezma, Emmett Garrison, Rafael Magana, and Dom'Enik Mooyman.

 

The students learned principles that made the difference.

 

"The support portion of the bridge was built like Jenga squares, and we glued them in that design,” Koah said. Emma added, "Our bridge was so strong because of the road. We used a lot of wood glue." Benjamin said, "I learned that the support is the most important part of the bridge." Rafael said, "I learned that using a triangle shape on the top part of the bridge is important because a triangle shape spreads the weight out, instead of a square shape."

 

Each group worked on their truss bridge for 3 weeks, using only toothpicks and wood glue. Mrs. Paddack, Mr. Lollock, Mrs. Immel, and Mrs. Cortes's class participated in the 5th grade bridge competition. 4th grade sat in attendance, as a preview for them next year. Parents and other staff were also in attendance. 

 

Mrs. Paddack has overseen the contest for 13 years. Before that teacher Matt Roehl did it for a number of years.