Have Glue Gun, Will Travel (AKA Spaghetti bridge, part 2)

After our rather demoralizing defeat at the hands of the kittens, it took us a week or so so get back to bridge building. When we did, we used the same template (hence the same picture above. It's not your imagination.) The bridge had to be totally rebuilt. There was no salvaging the pieces of the prior bridge.



Here is the finished bridge. We had some fun with it before we tested its strength. After all, we test to the breaking point. So once the bridge is "tested" it's no longer any good for playing around with. The floor of the bridge is linguine noodles. We removed the linguine for the testing. In the meantime, it took a bit of time for this traffic jam to clear up.

Finally the test. We hung a bag on the bottom of the bridge, supported by an unbent paperclip and a craft stick. We weighed these. They would be part of our final test weight after all. Then we began to fill the bag with quarters. I figured that it would be easy to measure quarters. You can just weigh one and then multiply by the number of quarters in the bag, right? Just for comparison, we broke one strand of spaghetti prior to building the bridge. It took 32 pennies to break one piece of spaghetti. We moved up to quarters because I didn't think I had enough pennies to break the bridge.

 



the wood brace you see is the table brace. It has nothing to do with the bridge. The angle is just weird.

empty bag.

quarters

more quarters...

It turns out, we didn't have enough quarters. We added other change. Nickles. Pennies. Dimes. We had to add a second bag.

We ended up with this bag and a different hook. We unbent the large s-hook I'd created with the paperclip and used an industrial strength hook finally. The bridge broke eventually, but it took a long time, all the change in the house, and finally the matchbox cars.

The test-broken bridge.

This is what it took to break Caleb's spaghetti bridge. The hook on the outisde of the bowl is what we hung everything from. It was just over 8 pounds of stuff.

 

Now, I know that physics classes do this kind of thing all the time, and that there are contests out there for high school classes. I've seen balsa bridges that support 200+lbs of weight. And damn, I'm impressed by those things.

 

But I'm impressed with Caleb's spaghetti bridge and its 8 lb. test weight. The bridge weighed just over an ounce. He designed it. He built it. He tested it. I helped with the weighing and the breaking of the spaghetti and the control of the hot-glue, but I didn't alter his plans. I didn't push my agenda. We talked about architecture. We talked about geometry. We talked about physics. He read some books, and then he designed his bridge. This is Caleb's project. Even when he complained about everything involved, he still took responsibiltiy for it. And now he wants to design more. He wants to build more. He wants to try arches next time. He wants to get over a 10 lb. test on an ounce bridge. 

 

As his teacher, I'm thrilled.

As his mother, I'm proud.

As a driver, I hope that we can find more durable material than spaghetti when he makes his first real bridge.

Spaghetti Bridges (without sauce)

Why a spaghetti bridge? Why not?
Okay, actually it's a real thing. It's like the balsa wood bridges, but since everyone has spaghetti in their cupboard* it's easier to get started.

I've got a bit of a confession to make: I always thought I was bad at math. I always hated not being able to figure out math. I was okay with adding and subtracting. Multiplication and division came after awhile. Fractions sort of made sense. But algebra? Geometry? What was the point. "You'll use it someday," I was told. For what? I never got a decent answer.

 I failed many, many math tests. I never failed a class, but it wasn't for lack of trying. My senior year in high school, I took a class called Transitions to College Math. I took it Pass/No Credit. I got no credit.

But something interesting happened when I got older. I became interested in electricity and electronics. Just for fun (prior to grad school) I took  "Science of Acoustics" and a "Science of Electronics" classes at Columbia College here in Chicago. Algebra made sense when I looked at it as I=V/R or V=IR.

I asked Mom why math wasn't taught this way in high school. She told me it was because I wasn't learning math, I was learning physics.  It turns out I wasn't bad at math, I'm just much better at learning (and now teaching) when I'm not told that I'll use it "someday," but shown how I can use it now.

So that's the kind of teacher I am. Caleb has been asking about why we study geometry? He loves physics. So now, at the intersection of geometry and physics, we build spaghetti bridges and test how much force it takes to break them. We use geometric shapes and a lot of hot glue. We measure and weigh, and we try to be all science-y about it. It's a lot of fun...and I never tell him that we're just studying so that he can use some esoteric skill "someday."

As stage 1, he designed his bridge. You can kind of see his template in the photo below. That is Caleb wielding the hot glue gun. We only incurred minor injuries

Stage 2: begin construction

Trusses for bridge complete!

Stage 3: Bridge top and bottom complete



The proud bridge-builder

When this is all complete, do not--I REPEAT DO NOT LEAVE THE BRIDGE WHERE THE CATS CAN GET IT. YOU WILL REGRET IT. Cats apparently love to destroy spaghetti bridges. We learned this the hard way.

After the cats...

Part II of our bridge saga, coming soon.


**note: this will NOT work with linguine, fettuccini, manicotti, gnocchi, penne, or any kind of pasta other than spaghetti.

New Toys and More Hobbies!

I purchased a new toy for myself. This is my 10"Cricket Loom. It's a rigid heddle loom (I move the heddle by hand to create the upper and lower sheds--weaving lingo!) I thought that it would be a good way to get rid of some of my extra stash of yarn. Make scarves! Make placemats! Make belts! Make 10" widths of fabric that I can later sew together for...wider fabric!


My first piece was this lovely scarf. I like this picture because you can't see all the mistakes.

Then I made one for Hannah. She helped.

Then I found this interesting yarn hidden in my stash. It's not the sort of thing that I could knit with, and there wasn't enough to make a big project, but Hannah loves this scarf too.

I just can't seem to stop. Once I learned how to warp the loom (See? More weaving lingo!!) things began going to go sooooooo smoothly that I've gotten a little crazy. I want to get more creative, and I think I've found yet another outlet.

George says he knows it's only a matter of time until I buy a spinning wheel. How far from spinning to raising my own flock of sheep? Or goats? Or alpaca?

I told him not to worry. It's not a true obsession until I know how to do at least five different things with fiber. Right now, I just have a lot of hobbies. After all I only crochet, knit, felt, weave, sew...

Ah, crap. Too late.

In 2013

Just a few notes as we begin the new year. I've made a few resolutions...

...to appreciate my family...





...even when they're goofy...





...especially when they're goofy...

...to keep on crafting...

...to find beauty in places I go...



...and in people around me...



...to take an adventure...

...wtih friends...

...and to not lose touch with friends and their families...

...to be thrifty...

...to appreciate what I have...

...to appreciate who I am...



...to encourage the talents of those around me...



...even if they still need to clean their rooms.

Happy New Year everyone. Thanks for reading this blog. I'm also resolving to write more in 2013 in addition to all of the resolutions above. Cross your fingers that I'll keep that one!

 

(By the way, I've also resolved to lose 20 pounds, but who hasn't?)