Students need to construct various bridges so that the workmen can transport different loads of cargo (even an elephant!) over it successfully - which means it can't break! The bridges get steeper, longer, and basically more challenging, so students need to think about their placement of beams and how to maximize their dollars (the game "bank" issues players a certain amount of "money." As they build it uses up that "money", if they build a successful bridge they gain more "money" to continue on in the game). The game has multiple challenge levels that the students need to go through to move on to more difficult levels and now they've come out with a Cargo Bridge 2 which seems to offer even more challenges.
Students of all learning styles LOVE the game. As a teacher I like how they learn about the importance of bridges in our lives; they stick with it; it challenges them; they enjoy it and it's humorous when their bridges break and laughter erupts....I wish, however, that the game incorporated some of the terms that would help impress upon students what exactly the forces of compression, tension and torsion were and how they relate to their choices in building a successful bridge. (and these are always terms we see on the state tests!) Maybe the Cargo Bridge game developers will see this post and incorporate that into their next version?!
None the less, introduce your students to Cargo Bridge and see how much they enjoy it!
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