That's exactly what area high school students will have as tools when they set out to design and build bridges for the ninth annual High School Design Competition and Scholastic Tournament, held Tuesday, Nov. 7, on the University of Kansas campus. About 400 students from 26 high schools in Kansas and Missouri are expected for the event. Schools will be divided into two classes based on whether enrollment in the top three grades is fewer or more than 700 students.
Students build the bridges at their high schools before the competition.
They are allowed to use only Elmer's glue and balsa wood, and the bridges must conform to certain criteria. Weights will be applied until the bridge begins to yield. The scholastic tournament tests students in introductory and advanced mathematics, chemistry and physics. The mathematics tests are administered at the high schools because of space constraints. The chemistry and physics tests will be administered at the Big Eight, Jayhawk and Kansas rooms and Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.