Week 2 / Day 1: Preparing for Transport

Today was the first day of Summer Camp Week 2 at Tinkering School, and like many, many first days, today was about practice and preparation.

We did the usual: drill practice, chop saw safety, clamp tinkering, and a little bit of painting practice. We also made some agreements about how we should interact with one another to ensure that we meet all the goals of Tinkering School: make something bigger than us, try harder than usual, fail (if we must -- and we must), and work as a team to achieve all these things. With that foundation, we got to spend the afternoon preparing for transport. 

During lunch, a cube structure curiously appeared on stage of the cardboard floor. "What is this?" you may ask (and we all did.) Well, of course, this is a shipping container -- a miniature version of those giant metal boxes that are loaded off of ships and on to 16-wheelers at the Port. The containers hold all sorts of things: food, clothing, plastic toys, and the vehicles that transport them help to stock store shelves and markets all over the city. 

And that stage on the cardboard floor? It's now a ship. At the Port of Oakland. 

Here's this proposition:

1. Lift the container from the ship in Oakland.
2. Load the container on to a vehicle.
3. The vehicle will drive to the bridge, and across it. (Oh, but first, we need a bridge).
4. The vehicle will then deliver the container to San Francisco. (San Francisco is on the other side of the shop, over by the deck.)

Right now, all we have is that shell of a shipping container. In order to make the delivery by Friday, we have to make all these things as a team.

Ready? Go!

Brody helps the crane team work on a design for the container lifting mechanism. 

Nyla makes some quick preliminary cuts on the bandsaw. 

Caden and Rachel work with the vehicle team to make a plan for day two. Devon patiently watches. 

The bridge design team sprawls out on the floor as they document their impressions of a suspension bridge.