Catching Up: Last week and this week

OK...So we've started on the rocket launcher last week and most students have finished. We'll get time to blog about it later (gulp). Since we missed a few days earlier this month (jan 6 and Jan 11 and Jan 18) we're behind schedule in what all I would like for the students to accomplish. We may not get the chance to do all the activities I had set out for the remaining agenda but we shall see.

This week is the first time this month we were able to meet up for twice a week.

On Jan 14, we built the compressed air rocket launcher. (see image) Although I provided very specific details and instructions, several of the students chose to build it "their way." We shall see if they work. There was one major accident - one student toppled over a can of PVC primer. Even though we placed a covering over the table, the primer seeped through and permanently scarred the table's surface. Several of the students did not apply PVC primer and glue correctly, and as a result, there devices are doomed to come apart (as I found out yesterday when testing a few). We'll solve this riddle on Wednesday, Jan 27.

On jan 20, the students built the switch that goes with the rocket launchers.


Again, even though i provided pictures and instructions, most chose to build it their way and ended up shorting out their batteries. To top it off, around 5:30 pm, Shreveport was placed under a Tornado warning so we (Cathy, Ashleigh, and I) had to move the youth downstairs into the Jones Room. thankfully no tornado came and coincidentally, several of the students were putting the final touches on their switches. It was an interesting moment for us. something to note: whenever the switches weren't wired correctly, or whenever there was a failure to wrap the wires in electrical tape, the whole box would grow incredibly hot.

On Monday, Jan 25 (which also happens to be the Mars Rover "Opportunity's" birthday), we worked on building their bases. The image below shows one of the students and her finished base.
Most of the students finished (a few need to do a bit of touch-up). At any rate, there was LOTS of grunting and old-fashioned elbow grease being put to use. I opted against using electric drills but I messed up because I didn't purchase enough screwdrivers. As a result, there was a bit of a waiting period from time to time, but also, the students worked together to complete the task. One drawback - one of the tables got scratched up. We may have to use different tables.

Today (jan 27) we'll focus on troubleshooting their launchers and switches. then, we'll take turns between going outside and doing a practice shoot and blogging. Depending on how much we get done, we'll have a contest today or Monday. We shall see.

Cheers,
Greg

Test Days/Snow Days

Last week, the youth were unable to come on Wednesday due to school testing. No problem, right? That's just one day. We'll have to fast track a few of the steps within our upcoming projects. Then, today, Jan 11, I received a message from Cathy saying the students weren't coming today. It turns out last week was extremely cold and harsh weather was predicted on Thursday, so the schools were closed for the safety of the students. As it turns out, the testing took place on Wed, Thurs, and Friday, so today was used to make up for Thursday's closure. Bummer...lol! Now we're short two days, PLUS we there will be no meeting on the 18th due to the holiday (MLK Day!!!! Yay!). This is going to be a very interesting process over these last upcoming weeks.

ciao,
greg

Water Works Museum

We went to the Shreveport Water Works Museum on Jan 4. A very cool (and cold) place. We highlighted different exhibits to show their relation to some of the projects they had worked on beforehand.

Sadly, I found out the students are not able to come in on Wednesday due to school testing. wonder how we'll make up this day.

Cheers,
Greg

Cheery Louisiana!

Computer out again!

Went to turn on my computer and it showed the blue-screen-of-death (bsod). It's being fixed now, but hopefully it won't take two weeks like last time.

Cheers (or not...lol)
Greg

Cardboard Automata Instructions

As posted before, here is the link to the activity we are completing. Many thanks to the folks at the Exploratorium for their assistance!

There are a few modifications we made when compared to the document at the link.

Objective
Create a cardboard "machine" from evveryday objects.

Project Materials
Cardboard box(es) (size doesn't matter)
Masking tape
Nail
Flexible drinking straws
Thick foam board
Corrugated plastic
Skewers (3 - 5)
Hot glue guns and appropriate glue sticks
Nuts of various sizes (diameter of hole is 1/4 inch)
Washers of various sizes (diameter of hole is 1/4 inch)
Template for circle
Heavy Duty Scissors
Sandpaper

Decorative Materials
Pipe cleaners
Crepe paper
Construction Paper
Pom poms
Glitter Glue
Popsicle Sticks (aka craft sticks)
Feathers
Colored Markers/Crayons/Pencils/Pens
Styrofoam cups/balls
Etc

Procedure
1. Cut the flaps off the box
2. Cut the box in half so that you have two frames
3. Cut triangles out of the flaps and tape them into each corner of the frame for support
a. Triangles made out of corrugated plastic provided better support than the cardboard
4. The document hyperlinked above contains a set of motions that one can choose from. The first time we did this, the students choose either the "Round and Round" or "Up and Down" motions. The next time around, the students chose two motions to reproduce. However, they could NOT choose either "Round and Round" or "Up and Down." Most of the listed motions consists of two cams (similar to a gear) with horizontal cam (aka the cam follower) positioned atop a vertical cam (aka the main cam)
5. After examining the different motions, construct the necessary cams. The cams were made out of corrugated plastic rather than foam board.
6. Make main axle
a. Push the skewer through one side of the box, into the main cam, and out of the other side of the box. Tip: Use a nail or a pen tip to help create the necessary holes in the box and cam.
b. Optional: Cut off the pointed end of the skewer
7. Attach a handle
a. Cut a small rectangle from the cardboard flap and glue it edgewise to either end of the skewer you just inserted into the box.
b. Glue a second piece of a skewer stick to the opposite edge of the rectangle to complete the handle.
8. Add the cam follower
a. Use a nail to poke a hole in the top of the frame. Ideally, you want the hole to be over the area above your main cam.
b. Insert a segment of the drinking star and glue the drinking straw into place.
c. Insert your second skewer through the drinking straw.
d. Insert the cam follower on the end of the skewer "hanging" over the main cam.
9. Test out your motion. Adjust the cams until you get the motion you want.
Tip: Adding a washer/nut to the cam follower for extra weight may help.
10. Once you are satisfied with the motion, glue the cam follower unto its skewer
11. If your main cam and main axle move out of place, cut out a small piece of the Foam board and glue it to the end of the AXLE!
12. Decorate your automata!

Adjustments

• As mentioned before, it's better to use the corrugated plastic to make support triangles. Also, I found it helpful to place the triangles in the corners situated diagonally across and on the opposite side of the frame as opposed to putting triangles all on the same side of the frame
• In some cases, the box would be larger than what I needed. In such a situation, I wound up making my own box by cutting out a section and taping the box together. The box would become a bit skewed, but it got the job done. In cases where the box was longer than the skewer, students
  
• During the prototyping phase, I actually created my own box with the flaps. I cut slits into the flaps and pieced them together. It worked out quite nicely for me and the "box" looked cool in my opinion. Others weren't so quick to agree...lol. I'll see if I can post pictures.
  
• Corrugated plastic served best for making the material to make the cams out of. The thick foam board (nor cardboard) don't have the necessary friction. When prototyping, I used sand paper on the edges/face of my cams to help create the friction. Sometimes it works
• The side-to-side motion is troublesome!!! I eventually was able to create such a motion, but it required pivotal thinking (get it, pivot...ha...OK bad pun, but still, give me some credit). In the end, I wound up using the flexible piece of the flex-straws to create a pivot point. Then I tried gluing the straw into place (it didn't work). What did work is I used the pipe cleaner and threaded it through the straw piece and wrapped it around the skewer, then glued it. Oh...and you CAN'T have a straw going through the hole for the axle for your cam follower!

Ways in which to improve/insight
Despite trying out several materials, it was challenging to find the right combination to creating the cams. It wasn't so much as making them, as trying to get the cams to work correctly. The hyperlinked document suggests making the cams out of thick foam board, but for me, the foam board had too much slippage when I turned the handle, even when I sanded the edges of the main cam and the contact face of the cam follower. I'll have to find something that works.

Personal Thoughts
A very fun and creative project. A concern I have is cutting out the pieces on the corrugated plastic. It is not easy, even with heavy duty scissors or an X-acto knife. I also tried using a box cutter.
I really enjoyed this. As at the Exploratorium, I'd like to incorporate this project as part of a workshop or have it be used as part of our repertoire of hands-on activities.

Up next: Sound Automata!

Greg