The present article analyzes the outcome of an assignment regarding the study of wooden roof trusses within the Building Construction course seminar, after changing to a flexible material for model building instead of a more rigid one, in order to try to directly understand the behavior and functioning of a truss-type structure.

Using a flexible material allowed students to learn by direct experience the behavior of the entire structure. Thus, they could more easily visualize the deformations of the structural elements and the deformations of the whole assembly.

This exercise can serve as a study base to create structural models, on which tests can also be carried out, for complex spatial structures. These can be intuitively understood and can help students make better decisions in relation to the construction and possible modification of wooden trusses.