History & Social Studies
DISCOVERING WESTERN OREGON’S BRIDGES
Course No. SS412R, SS512R
In this diversified driving tour, you will make your way to Portland, the Columbia Gorge, the Willamette Valley and along the Oregon Coast. You will discover more than 50 magnificent bridges. You will learn the history behind each bridge, and you will have the opportunity to travel over many bridges on foot.
Along the way, you’ll examine highway bridges, footbridges, sky-bridges, and covered bridges. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to bring this information to students, through hands-on classroom lessons, and innovative field trips.
The Co-Instructor for this course is Jake Gordon, M.S. Ed.
| We advise you to review and download the course syllabus before registering. | Syllabus |
- The history of Oregon’s highway and foot bridges, through bridge visits and through readings.
- How to identify a variety of bridge styles including arch, suspension, vertical lift, bascule and fixed span bridges, and covered bridges.
- How to identify a variety of bridge building materials, with visits to wooden, concrete, and steel bridges.
- How to access bridges that are appropriate for field trips and field study.
- How to develop classroom lessons that focus on bridge study and bridge design.
- How to tie bridge study into the overall human and architectural history of Oregon.
- How to integrate bridge study with math, literature, writing, art, social studies and other curriculum areas.
