#RomanTechnology STEM Challenge - Bridge Building

How many bridges did Julius Caesar build over the Rhine River in his campaign in ancient Gaul? As I read his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, it seemed like a lot, but it was only two. The first one was described in great detail in Book IV. It took his 40,000 legionaries 10 days to build with pilings drilled into the riverbed by giant stone piling drivers. The Germani people carefully observed the building process (can you imagine listening to the pounding pile drivers - here's a picture of a reconstruction in a German city along the Rhine?! I think I would have died of fright!) After crossing the bridge with his soldiers, Caesar explored the lands of the Germani for a few days before he crossed back over the bridge, deconstructing it along the way. Check out this helpful video on it here. And you can read the Latin passage here (DBG IV.16).

Last summer, I took a graduate-level class on creative thinking, a field I knew little about but came to love. One of the projects had us developing a lesson plan that we would use in our actual classes. I always wanted to write a bridge lesson based on Caesar's bridges for my Roman Technology classes so guess what?! I did it!

You can read the lesson here. It mentions (and defines) creative thinking methods to get students working deeply on the engineering design process. It also mentions a fantastic FREE bridge-designer software program that kids can use to learn about the civil engineering of bridges. I learned about this program from its creator, Dr. Stephen Ressler, a civil engineer and professor at the United States Military Academy. He has a wonderful course called Understanding Greek and Roman Technology through the Great Courses. I highly recommend this course (which you can access for free if you have a library membership with Kanopy).

Dr. Ressler's free bridge-building program is called the Bridge Builder Software. Spoiler alert: as a robust download, it's not available for Chromebooks, but Dr. Ressler has offered the complete code for the program if someone wants to create a version for Chromebooks.

My students very much wanted to try this program because of the way it explains all aspects of bridge building in a helpful tutorial and then allows them to build their model digitally and TEST it multiple times after changing different variables. Even though we could not use the software in class (we use Chromebooks), my students left our first bridge lesson with great ideas for their future bridge build after just watching the tutorial.

After doing a little research on ancient Roman bridges, my students sketched their designs and then built on the next day. I limited the build time significantly because Caesar's build was quick - they had 50 minutes. I also limited supplies since Caesar would have had to do the same - they only had 25 wooden tongue depressors, 5 boba straws, 1 plastic bin (to simulate the river bed), and all the rubber bands they needed. The results were impressive! Some designs did not work at all, some were predictable, but these two were inventive and unique...and oddly close to what Caesar actually built.

These pilings were clever and made this bridge incredibly sturdy.

This one utilized straws in a unique way, similar to Caesar's pilings that were driven into the riverbed at an angle.

Last, if you're reading this post as a Latin teacher, don't be afraid to try this STEM lesson. STEM pedagogy is truly about CREATIVE THINKING. Kids have this innately, and most, when given just a bit of knowledge (Caesar's bridge as a spark), can rise to the challenge of completing a STEM challenge!

The Roman Road Project - Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Since our Roman road was completed at the end of February, we've been working on some details to finish it up. At the request of our principal, we planted wildflower seeds along the sides of the road and then placed stepping stones nearby to protect them. The students decorated the stones with inspiring quotes about journeys and roads. My favorite: "Every journey of a thousand miles starts with one step." What a great description of our project! I decorated one with that famous line from Book I of the Aeneid: "forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit." And perhaps, one day, it WILL be pleasing to have remembered these things: foot-deep mud, heavy buckets of limestone, smelly rubber boots, and dirt-covered classroom floors.

Sometime during a lecture on milestones, one of my students asked if we could have a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Roman road. Dr. Tyson Rupnow, our DOTD expert, was sitting in the back of the classroom at the moment, and he later told me enthusiastically that we should do that. He wanted to invite the state secretary of the DOTD, Dr. Shawn Wilson. Interestingly, Dr. Wilson just resigned his position as secretary and announced his run for governor of our state! Tyson thought that Dr. Wilson would really enjoy seeing our little road. Stay tuned -  we may be meeting a gubernatorial candidate!

Needless to say, since the day I agreed to have the ceremony, we've been busily planning - a road-themed cake, large scissors, and tiny gold laurel crowns. We made these out of gold-leaf ribbon, cheap metal headbands, and gold twist ties. We also have some special ones for Tyson and our principal, Erin Howard. 

We've also been thinking about speeches. The students want me to speak, and I think I've almost agreed to it. I'm not someone who likes the spotlight - I prefer to shine it on my students, and we've planned for them to serve as master/mistress of ceremonies, guest director, ribbon cutter, etc. But if I do speak, I would like to tell everyone how wonderful my students are and how hard they worked to make this project happen. They DESERVE victory crowns of real gold!

Here's our invitation - they will be going out soon!

#RomanTechnology STEM Challenge - Ancient Roman Dice Towers

The first time I saw a picture of this artifact, I was immediately struck by how modern it looked.

I mean, I can tell it's ancient (4th Century CE, in fact), but its function made me think of DND gamers I've seen in action. They like the practicality and efficiency of dropping dice into the device and not losing them in a wild roll on the table. The dice go in the top and come out the bottom in a nice little contained tray. But let's be honest - they also like the flair. Dice towers give that air of professionalism and experience every dungeon master wants. They're just cool.

After I started reading up on this particular one, I was hooked on turning it into a Roman Technology lesson for my students. The Romans called these towers FRITILLI, PYRGI, or TURRICULI, and soldiers loved them because they prevented cheating that happened more easily with manual rolling. Archaeologists found this particular one near a Roman fort in Germany, and it's named after the nearby villages of Vettweiss and Froitzheim. The artifact sits in the LVR-Landes Museum in Bonn, Germany, and I don't think it's been published. It is a STUNNING object. The Latin on it says "PICTOS VICTOS HOSTIS DELETA LUDETE SECURI" (on the front) and "UTERE FELIX VIVAS" (around the top sides and back). These lines may hint at where the tower was used originally and who owned it. "The Picts (an ancient British tribe) have been conquered. The enemy has been destroyed. Play in safety. Use (me) and live lucky." Could a Roman soldier stationed in ancient Britain have brought his treasured dice tower with him to his new station on the German frontier? Possibly. It's so endearing that the dice tower talks to the player/owner - I could not have left behind my friendly dice tower that told me to use him either!

I'm not the only one that thinks this thing is clever. You can 3D print replicas and buy cheap ones made of wood, even though the original is made of copper alloy. And I'm not gonna pretend I didn't buy one cuz I did! The one I purchased came in slender wooden pieces that had to be assembled. I spray-painted the parts first and then used wood glue to keep them together. When I tried it for the first time, I was struck by the sound it made! The dice clatter their way down the shute and come out with a bang. So dramatic! You can hear my model here.

My students absolutely rocked this STEM challenge. After learning about numerous ancient Roman dice towers, they were tasked with designing and sketching their own. After collecting their tools (cardboard, masking tape, and scissors), they got to work bringing their sketches to life. They kept requesting more and more time to perfect their models. After creating some Roman dice replicas, they tested their dice towers for randomness by using some simple probability reporting. The results proved that dice towers work well at preventing cheating. They also played dice games with them - after all, that's what they're meant to do!

One student went above and beyond with her model painting little dice-themed hares and foxes chasing each other. I was so impressed with this model, that I asked if I could keep it. I still display it in my home office.

All information about this #RomanTechnology STEM challenge is available here and on my Website (as always). I hope your students enjoy this lesson as much as mine did!

It truly is amazing what you can create with cardboard and tape and learn about the ancient Romans along the way!