Monday, May 9, 2011

Preparing for Spring Arts

As Spring Arts fast approaches, the Geometry class is scrambling to finish the final design project of the year. This project offered each student a chance to design, draft, build, and decorate a dream house of their own. The images below were taken throughout the process, and show students working at various stages of their houses. We all look forward to showing the houses, (complete with customized real estate fliers) in three weeks' time.


Giselle sketches a plan for a beach house on computer paper. Students were asked to sketch their ideas out before committing to a design. Designs were then scaled to 2 feet/cm and drafted onto cross-section paper.






Below, Matteo goes from sketch to final draft on his luxury condo.


--Hazaiah's final draft for his turtle- shaped house incorporates intricately constructed octagons, rectangles, and triangles. Each student chose a remarkably unique design, some more ambitious and some more practical. All were creative!













Below, a row of students consult their plans while making first cuts into their foamcore stock.











Another view of the architects at work in the biology lab. The space provides our class with just enough elbow room.









As time passes, the pieces start to add up, and care must be taken to keep track of what goes where.












Daisy consults her plans as she lays down the first floor of her cabin.





















Epyana's Brownstone gets some interior walls glued down.













A design challenge: how to create a custom glass dome for Adam's eco-mansion without a glass-blowing forge? Solution: lots of packing tape and a balloon.



Here's the dome in place... Not too shabby!














Angelica's sneaker-house had some design challenges of it's own. How do you calculate the surface area of a shoe?? Just ask Angelica.



The final touches go on Giselle's beach-house railings. Labor costs for all those railings must have been astronomical!



Adam's greenhouse gets the real deal in home decor- some sphagnum moss "houseplants" to bring some green into the mix.


The students continue to work tirelessly on their projects. Next come the calculations- interior and exterior wall surface area, interior volume, cost/square foot of floor space (I've been keeping track of their materials and "charging" them for expenses,) and more- a real chance to flex their Geometry muscles. Once they've completed the specs on their houses, it'll be time to decorate the houses for Spring Arts!

Below is a grainy video showing the designers in action. I hope it works!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Teaching by design


In the winter of 2010-2011, Geometry embarked on several design projects in an attempt to gain experience in applying concepts of Geometry to tangible, real world circumstances. The three projects included a paper airplane design contest, a model bridge building contest, and a planned model dream house design project. At this point in time, two of the three projects have been completed, and this blog will attempt to publicize some of the events that happened along the way. We will begin with the bridge project.

The aim of this project was to draft and build model bridges from limited materials. Students were asked to first produce drawings of the bridges they hoped to build in several views, including a side view, a roadbed view, and an end view. I also participated in the project, aiming to beat out my students in the efficiency category. (Two prizes were awarded- for Efficiency (Load held/Weight of bridge) and for Overall Load Held.)

Students first researched images of real bridges for inspiration, then began the process of drafting plans.

After three periods of drafting, and given approval of their design, students were ready to commence building bridges. Materials for the bridges included standard craft sticks, nylon string, wood glue, and hot glue. Bridge designs were limited to these materials, and the designs had to include a roadbed at least 5cm wide to allow for cars to pass through the bridge.

For my own design, I incorporated a double diamond frame with sparse cross-bridge supports in order to minimize the weight of the bridge. I was counting on the strength of the triangular shapes in the diamonds to form a sort of crystalline rigidity in the finished product. I used string supports on the bottom of the bridge in order to minimize weight and prevent downward bowing of the frame. Here are some images of my bridge, taken during the building process:

You can see the double diamond , composed of four triangles, taking shape in this image:




I used hot glue to assemble the bridge only in the very last steps. (Hot glue is weaker and heavier than wood glue) I hoped that the use of wood glue to bond the vertically oriented structures would pay off in the end.















My finalized bridge is bare bones, but feels very strong when given a quick test by hand.











The class was divided into three groups, so that students could work in a collaborative fashion. Each bridge design was remarkably unique, as you can see in these images taken during the building phase.

Hazaiah and Daisy's bridge included right-triangle trusses below and a decagonal arch above the roadbed.
















Another view of Daisy and Hazaiah's bridge taking shape. Note the string suspension supports hung from the arch.











Adam and Matteo envisioned a complex bridge that included towers on the ends of the wide roadbed, arches on either side, and triangle-reinforced trusses below. Needless to say, hot glue was liberally applied.











Matteo thinks over the placement of the roadbed.













Giselle, Epyana, and Angelica modeled theirs after a Brooklyn- style suspension bridge. Note the rectangular tower supports and the suspension "cables" being strung here.












After two weeks of building, the bridges were ready to go!














A '69 Chevy Camaro was our mascot for the testing phase of the project.
















In most cases, bridges very closely matched the designs drafted by the students.


Following their bridge's collapse, Giselle, Angelica, and Epyana contemplate possible design amendments.














Matteo and Adam's design was so elaborate, they required additional time to finish up. As you'll see in the videos shown below, being behind schedule didn't stop them from taking the prize for Overall Load Held!











The behemoth of all bridges is ready to test!















Please enjoy the youtube videos below that document the testing phase of the project. Don't forget your safety goggles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSEAAf1r6rU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8R-wYwmTC8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av3ybz535Ww