Wacky Fairgrounds - Day 3 - Week 2 - Mark Day School
Happy 4th of July! Today was a day of engineering workshops to get us thinking about building moving parts and leveraging our strength. Everyone learned about levers, pulleys, and how to reinforce wooden joints using triangles and gussets. Then, after lunch, we put our new knowledge into practice.
Beth explains how a cross-brace will create two triangles and strengthen an otherwise weak rectangle.
We wrestled with questions of how best to build a hot dog, one of several AFFs (Animal/Furniture/Food), to be installed on the carousel platform. Rectangular 2x3 wood doesn't lend itself to circular shapes but we discovered that an octagon is a close approximation.
Hot dog in the making... we label our cut pieces with inch measurements.
One of our AFFs, the wacky giraffe, is taking on even more of a personality now that it has a moveable head and pull strings.
The carousel platform folks have been trying harder than usual and discussing a complex design that rivals a tangram puzzle.
The bowl dozer / bowler coaster folks have been hard at work teaming up to build a ladder and a railing for the top of the launch platform.
Today was also a day of collaborating and making friends. At closing circle, several tinkerers shared how they had made a new friend today.
Click through the slideshow below for more photos.
