How to build character, by Miss D

Miss D, my son's grade 7 homeroom and science teacher, has a recipe for building character: build a bridge using only pasta and glue. Said bridge must be able to support 10x its weight.

Step 1: Buy Pasta. Lots of it. 2.2 kg of spaghetti.


Step 2: Buy Glue. Lots of it.


Step 3: Look for ideas on the internet. Seems like every engineering student at every university in Canada gets this assignment. And we all know about engineering students, right? If they can do it, why can't we?


Step 4: Try various designs. Find out that they don't work. Remember the old adage: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."


Step 5: Look on your works (or lack thereof) and despair. Wonder how those engineering students do it. Wonder how other students in the class do it. Wonder if you will ever succeed. Decide that perhaps engineering students are smarter than their immature feckless and carefree behaviour would lead you to believe.


Step 6: In desperation, and at the 11th hour, try a new design. Fall over in surprise when you find out it works. Take a picture, just in case it falls down overnight and you have to prove that you actually built a bridge. Go to bed.


Step 7: Be thankful it survived the night. Spray paint the bridge. Take it to school.

The morning after! Look at all the empties!