Published February 24, 2021

Fifth grade students became civil engineers during a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) challenge February 24.

Using only cups, toothpicks, marshmallows and fruit snacks, students were asked to build a bridge at least 14 centimeters long. In the middle of the challenge, TES teacher Tom Morosin asked his class to make their bridges sturdy enough to hold a small rubber duck.

“STEM challenges are great because we can use our creativity and still follow academic guidelines,” said TES fifth grade students Audrey Adair and Maggie Sage. “Our plan was to build a bridge longer than 14 centimeters because it felt like we had the supplies to do that. It held up, but it was a little weaker than we expected.”