Week 3: Some Big Squirrel Elephant Peanut Progress

Today, we made some big progress on the Build-an-Elephant-that-Feeds-a-Peanut-to-a-Squirrel project! This group of Tinkerers naturally gravitates into team that collaborate very well, understand how to communicate to one another, and constantly set goals and achieve them as we move through the session, and today was an awesome example of this well-oiled Tinkering machine!

David and the Elephant Team focus and work together to build a platform for the elephant body.

Ria, Sophia, and Esther all got to learn how to use the bandsaw to down plywood and also make some intricate curves in their projects. 

By the end of today's session, the teams gave recaps of their progress and also made some plans for next week. The team members all illustrated their progress as they told their stories to the group, and we gave each other snaps and props and high fives at the end. 

The Squirrel Team was able to complete a squirrel body cube and begin on the head and neck. They have grand plans of making moving arms, a fuzzy tail, and a basket to catch the peanut.

The Peanut Team made their peanut more curvy with the bandsaw today. They also glued more chunky pieces on the side of the nut to make it more peanut-like. They decided to wait on gluing chunks to the back, just in case they have to custom design that side to accommodate for the elephant's trunk.

Last, the Elephant Team has completed the frame for the platform. Next week, they will sheath it with plywood. They are also in the process of making the elephant legs and a ladder to get to the platform. The sub-team that was working on the ladder today did some serious research about ladders. How much distance is between the rungs? What angle is comfortable to climb? How wide should it be? They made a solid plan and are ready to continue next week!

Awesome job today, everyone! Check out more photos on Flickr.