Pizza Coaster! - Mark Day School
Pizza + roller coasters! Why have these two favorite things never been combined before!?
To remedy this travesty, our awesome group of new tinkerers has taken on the challenge of designing, building, and operating the worlds 1st (I'm pretty sure) pizza roller coaster / zipline / obstacle course. The goal? Transport a pizza from the oven to the plate through a series of obstacles without touching it. Btw, the pizza's made of wood...
Before we jumped into designing and building, we all got to know one another and we created some group agreements. We discussed how we wanted to collaborate and treat each other, and how we would use the tools and move around the space safely. We all signed the document and next up, it was time for tool training!
We learned how to drill holes, drive screws into the wood, and attach different kinds of joints. A lesson quickly learned was how important it is to work together and lend a helping hand.
We learned that clamps are also a great way to hold pieces of wood together - especially in tricky configurations.
A sawhorse and clamp bed - super comfy...and durable! It even had an elevated headrest. We have a super creative and imaginative group this week!
And lastly, but definitely not leastly, we all learned how to safely use the CHOP SAW. Dun dun dun! With double eye protection if needed :)
After lunch we split into groups to design parts of the pizza coaster. One team began thinking up ideas for the track, cart, and zipline...its amazing how many options there are for moving a pizza through the air!
And the second group began designing the starting point for the coaster. We were confronted with the question of "how can we create enough momentum to keep a wooden pizza rolling across a long track and through a variety of obstacles?" We settled on gravity as the best bet. Once that was figured out, the idea of a tower quickly followed.
Both teams began measuring, cutting pieces of wood, and building the first parts of our epic coaster. We're ready for tomorrow - our first full day of building! Stay tuned to check out how our elaborate designs begin to take shape!
