Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Building Big




We've been doing some really cool activities based on the PBS series Building Big with our homeschool group. The images above are of a skyscraper made of only two pieces of newspaper (the straws were added later and aren't necessary to keep it standing up) made by M and me, and a suspension bridge made by A which really and truly is a suspension bridge. The blue construction paper towers are the top aren't the support towers, the backs of the chairs are the support towers. Unfortunately the road part is made of construction paper, so it isn't very stiff or heavy and won't pull the cables all that tight. But I'm excited that she really got how the cables are anchored, and go up and over a tall strong tower, and then other cables go down to the part that people go across. Everyone around here is jazzed up about building things now, and I think we're going to have to build the geodesic dome from newspaper for science club sometime soon--it looks like an extremely cool project.

Darn, I wish I could figure out how to intersperse text and pictures. All the pictures wound up at the top and I couldn't move them.

Tonight at gymnastics M discovered that he and his favorite buddy there have the same favorite movie: Singing in the Rain! What were the chances of that?? Two 1st-grade Donald O'Connor wannabes. We've got to set up a playdate with this kid! Or at least a matinee musical and popcorn...

3 comments:

Magpie Ima said...

That's the very dome I was hoping to do with the kids. It was a hoot to have all the kids over here and watching them build together. My pleasure entirely!

Elizabeth said...

Cool! That was a fun series, wasn't it? I know I had fun.

I get around not being able to move pics by just waiting until after they're loaded and then writing in between where I want the text. You could also cut and paste the html to where you want it. If you look at it for a minute, the separation of the pictures becomes pretty clear. You could always mess around with it and try again if it gets messed up. Also, use the "Preview" button to see how it's turning out before you post.

ElizO said...

Thanks a lot for the blogging tips, Elizabeth, very helpful!

And I'm glad the Building Big was fun for you, too, Magpie Ima--thanks again for putting it together. I wondered if that dome activity was the one you were talking about. I found it a couple of years ago and have been meaning to try it ever since.