New York City Bridges
Pre-visit Activity
Goal: To develop an initial understanding of the different types of bridges in New York City.
Content Objectives: Students will:
• Use images to compare different types of bridges
• Be able to discuss and reflect on the pros and cons of each bridge
Time: 1 hour
Materials:
• The Brooklyn Bridge by Elizabeth Mann
• Paper • Pencil • Computer
Activity:
1. Use the MCNY Collections Portal, an online resource that offers nearly 95,000 images of New York City to explore bridges. Using the classroom smart board or computers, focus on a few images to explore in depth. Go to www.mcny.org. Click on “Collections” located on the top of the screen. This will bring you directly to the MCNY Collection Portal. In the “Search” box type in “Bridges”. Scroll through the images to find:
a. The Great East River Suspension Bridge. 1881. Museum of the City of New York. b. Hell Gate Bridge I (Variant). Berenice Abbott. May 25, 1937. Museum of the City of New York.
c. Central Park, N.Y. The Bridge. Ca. 1865. Museum of the City of New York.
2. Each image shows a different bridge. Have students look at each image silently, paying close attention to details. After a few minutes ask students to raise their hands when they are ready to share their reactions. Use a worksheet to help students organize and develop the differences between each image.
3. Are the bridges the same or different? How and why are they structured differently? 4. Move into a discussion about the Brooklyn Bridge. Read The Brooklyn Bridge by Elizabeth Mann. As you read, write a timeline of the progression of building the bridge on the board.
5. After discussing and reflecting on the reading, show the class Bird’s- Eye View of the Great New York and Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Display of Fireworks on the Opening Night. 1883. Museum of the City of New York.
6. Encourage students to observe the image, keeping in mind what they learned from the book they just read.
7. Ask the students to discuss and write about how they would feel if they were at the opening ceremony of the Brooklyn Bridge. Create postcards using the template worksheet provided.
New York City Bridges
Post Visit Activity
Goal: Students will apply what they have learned in the Museum about bridges in New York to
develop a play based on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Content Objectives: Students will:
• Apply previous knowledge gained about bridges from the MCNY visit • Develop a deeper understanding for the history of the Brooklyn Bridge
• Use primary resources to develop characters for a play about the creation of the Brooklyn Bridge
Time: Depending on classroom flexibility, teachers can dedicate as little or as much time to
create lines for each character, rehearse the play, and perform the play.
Materials:
• The Brooklyn Bridge by Elizabeth Mann
• MCNY Archives • Computer • Paper • Pencils
• Costumes (Optional depending on time and focus of play)
Activity 1:
1. After learning about bridges, create a play about the history of the Brooklyn Bridge. Divide the play into scenes and give each student in the class a character.
2. Use The Brooklyn Bridge book and the Bird’s- Eye View of the Great New York and Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Display of Fireworks on the Opening Night, 1883 from the pre-lesson, and additional images from the MCNY Collections Portal to develop lines for each student. 3. Use a worksheet to help students organize and develop each character.
4. Encourage the students’ to help create the characters, thinking about who was involved in the building of the bridge. Once a list is developed, create short scenes of the events leading up to the opening day ceremony.
5. Depending on time, create costumes for each student to reflect the time period and characters.
6. Perform the play for other classes and parents.
Activity 2:
Goal: Students will apply what they have learned in the Museum about bridges in New York,
their purposes and history, to expand the bridge models created at MCNY.
Content Objectives: Students will:
• Apply previous knowledge learned about bridges from the MCNY visit • Use images to explore the area surrounding bridges
• Use materials to create people, transportation, landscape, and buildings to surround the bridge.
Time: Depending on classroom flexibility, teachers can dedicate as little or as much time to
working on the bridge models.
Materials:
• Bridge model • Cardboard • Paint
• Thin piece of wood or flat piece of cardboard • Newspaper • Paper Mache • Modeling clay • Paper • Markers • Colored pencils • Tape • Glue • Scissors
1. Following the Museum visit, review the bridge model that was created at MCNY. What could be added to the model to make it more complete?
2. Students will create a land mass to surround one or all bridge models made at MCNY. Explore images from the MCNY Collections Portal to create a list of transportation, people, landscape, and buildings students may want to include.
3. As a class, glue down the model bridge on a piece of wood or cardboard and map out the initial design for the area surrounding the bridge.
4. Divide the class into bridge committees, assigning each to a specific area to focus on. It will be up to the students in each group to determine what elements they want to include.
Suggested committees: 1) People
2) Transportation 3) Landscape 4) Buildings
5. Students in the landscape committee should place any bodies of water, grass, or roads before the other groups add in other elements to the model.
6. Depending on time, give students 30-40 minutes to work with materials provided on each table.
7. As students complete the elements, they can begin to place them on the model.
Note: This can be an ongoing project that you work on every day, once a week, once a month, or even during a free choice time. It can be displayed in the classroom until it is finished or when the curriculum unit is complete.
Vocabulary:
Bridges (Moveable/Non Moveable) Beam Truss Steal Arch Suspension Draw Bridge Vertical Lift Swing
Resources for Teachers:
1. Burrows, Edwin, G. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (The History of New York City). (Oxford University Press, 2000)
2. Homberger, Eric. The Historical Atlas of New York City: A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York City’s History. (Owl Books, 2005)
3. Jackson, Kenneth T. The Encyclopedia of New York City. (Yale University Press, 1995) 4. Jackson, Donald C. Great American Bridges and Dams. (John Wiley & Sons, 1988) 5. Reier, Sharon. The Bridges of New York. (Dover Publications, 2000).
Resources for Students:
1. Bildner, Phil. Twenty-One Elephants. (Simon & Schuster, 2004)
2. Curlee, Lynn. Brooklyn Bridge. (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001)
3. Prince, April Jones. Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005)
