Riverside CSD's Inca Empire

Over the last couple of months the 6th grade students at Riverside CSD have been studying the Inca Empire. Throughout the unit, students were asked to think about two things: What allowed the Inca Empire to become the largest empire to ever exist in the Americas and what advanced engineering techniques did the Incas use to help build their massive empire? When students considered the tools the Incas had available, as well as the rugged terrain of the Andes Mountains they had to overcome, they were quite amazed.
Some of the engineering feats that students studied were: the ancient Inca road, suspension bridges, colcas (storage units), tampus (hotels along the road), water canals, and terracing.
While exploring these engineering feats, students were given chances to practice their engineering skills. The first challenge consisted of designing a bridge completely out of newspaper, similar to how the Incas made their bridges only out of grass. The goal for students was to make a bridge that could hold as much weight as possible. Their bridges spanned 24 inches and were made using the Inca techniques of twisting, braiding, and tying. Students were amazed at how much their bridges, made only of paper, could hold. Next, they were challenged with designing a colcas, a tampus, or a water canal using the 3D programing website Tinkercad. After designing one of the Inca engineering feats of their choice on Tinkercad, students were able to print their item using a 3D printer from GHAEA. Students greatly enjoyed the learning from this unit as well as the hands-on application!