The kids came up with a plan to take short welding turns, be ready with the pieces you want to weld, how to connect them and to also know how you were going to set up the pieces to weld all BEFORE you got to the welding station! We also made a plan to have the rotation of safety gear go more smoothly and ...safely!
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In preparation to complete our crane project we took a week to step back and focus on safety and structural integrity. Half of the tinkering crew worked with pulleys, while the other half worked with scrap wood to try to build tables that are sturdy and level. Tinkerers were quizzed on using proper length screws and measuring accurately.
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Today was a really interesting day! The kids have gotten a handle on the positions that make them comfortable, how to use tools with giant leather gloves on, what patterns they need to move the welder in for certain types of welds. Today everyone was doing complicated set-ups and a lot of creative problem solving!
Read MoreToday the Container team's goal was to add sides to the container. They all had different ideas of the best way to add walls and support at the same time. So they decided to do each side a different way!
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Around about the 3rd week of welding after school, things really hit a nice groove. And, the kids start to realize that welding is about 95% setup.
Read MoreTo start week 3 of our project we looked at some images of cranes from the Port of Oakland to gain an understanding of how they work and we discussed how we could engineer our design to be sturdy enough to pick up and move a 5 gallon bucket of water. Dividing into two teams (Crane and Container), Tinkerers started by reflecting on the steps completed last week and making sketches for todays ideas.
Read MoreToday we began working on ideas to move a large container of water from one place to another. The idea originated from the concept of ships and containers at the port and possibly inspired by the large amounts of rain.
We spit into two groups. One worked on the carrier for the container and the other worked on the mechanisms to lift and move the container onto the carrier. Scarlett, Chloe, Ayush, and Louis each took turns measuring and cutting pieces of wood for the container
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