Gever and a truck full of tools and materials headed up to Santa Rosa to answer some questions "Can Tinkering School be run out of a truck?", "Can you create a meaningful hands-on experience in only one day?", "Does it work if you are at one of the Tinkerer’s house, surrounded by their stuff?"
It looks like the answer to all of these questions is "Yes." It undeniably worked, but it raised new questions about the short program, media capture, focus management, and revenue model.
We unload the back of the truck and arrange the famous Tinkering School boxes in a neat row to provide easy access and promote perusal of the contents.
The Bottom of the Boat
While Rowan and Trent take a play-break, Joshua measures the side-rails for the next stage of the boat. Our taping technique is still evolving at this point, but the ‘T’ joints are strong enough – we hope.
Tricky bit at the Bow
Four long pieces of PVC come together at the bow of the little boat. Most of the joints so far have been variations on nice ninety-degree intersections. Joshua and Rowan take their time to figure out a proper solution.
Back at the Bow
With the skeleton done and the skin almost complete, the last detail is once again the tricky bit at the bow. We almost cut the tarp too short, so there is barely enough to cover the nose of the boat.
Test Pilot
There is a long-standing tradition at Tinkering School of putting the youngest person in the most peril. Trent is ready, willing, eager, and giddy. “It makes sense that I should go first,” he says, “I’m the lightest, and I’m brave.”
Boat at Repose
Everyone steps back for a moment to marvel at the sheer boaty-ness of the completed boat. Joshua convinced us to abandon the pure PVC approach and found a most excellent floorboard.
First Flight of the Boat
No one can think of anything else the boat needs, it seems like it should float, and it might support the weight of a person… Time to put down the tools, and pick up the boat.
We have a momentary discussion regarding the possibility of pin-holes in the tarp, but decide that the best way to check for those is to put it in the pool.
A Moment of Trepidation
Are we really going to put it in the pool? What if it leaks and the tape comes off? What if all our hard work has been for naught? What if…?
It Floats!
Unbelievable. Not only does it float, it looks surprisingly lovely on the water. But will it support the weight of our test pilot?
Whee!
It’s official, we made a boat – out of PVC pipe, duct tape, and blue plastic tarp. It’s tippy, but surprisingly rigid. Trent doesn’t trust it enough to take it down to the deep end of the pool, but he’s completely enthralled by the simple act of floating around on a boat that he helped build.
A Man with a Paddle
Recently returned from an all-day canoe adventure, Rowan had the forethought to make a paddle before his turn in the boat. It’s kind of a micro-paddle(tm). Needless to say, it works, and Rowan takes the boat out for a spin around the pool.
A Sense of Purpose
Rowan takes time to refine his paddling technique, and discovers that the boat is quick and maneuverable – but very tippy. Still, he manages a few laps with no capsize.
Don’t Make Waves
Trent gets the mischievous idea that Joshua and his fancy paddle need more excitement in their first ride in the boat – so he adds “giant waves!”
A Tinkering School Tradition
As is usually the case with everything built at Tinkering School, Gever can’t resist trying out each project. The boat proves worthy to the challenge and he paddles around like a happy frog in a beautiful pond.
On to the Next Project
This is Tinkering School, we don’t laze around the pool basking in the satisfaction of having built a fantastic boat (we could, but we don’t) – no, we forge ahead and keep building while there is still day light!
What do you build after you’ve built a big boat? Little boats.
Dissecting a Toothbrush
Gever is still mining the project potential of the cheap battery-powered toothbrush (two for $6.50 at the drugstore). Joshua sets to deconstructing the handle to get at the water-resistant motor inside.
A PVC Pipe Theme
Trent, with a little help from Gever, builds long pontoon boat. He resists nautical doctrine and goes with a radical new “flailing wire” propulsion system.
Cork Boat Maker
Rowan decides that the PVC pipe is overkill and works up a barge design that uses only corks and duct tape – and four propellers on the motor shaft.
A Thing of Beauty?
Ok, it may not win any beauty pageants, but Rowan’s boat has a certain brutish charm and enough propellers to chew up any other boat in the pool.
Paddle to the Sea
Trent puts his (adopted) boat to sea as Rowan stands ready to pummel it with ping-pong balls. With some tuning and tweaking it proves capable of traversing the length and breadth of the pool.
Daring Sea Rescue
Actually, Trent just wanted to be in the big boat so he could play with the little boat – and by play, he means “poke with Joshua’s paddle.”
A Seasoned Hand
Without really noticing how it happened, Trent has become comfortable in the boat – in the deep end of the pool. Notice how he has developed a new sitting posture that distributes his weight to the edges of the boat.
Minimal Floatation
Joshua’s design blurs the line between boat and submarine. A broken part on his motor took time away from hull development, but he has whipped up an interesting variation (his motor pulls instead of pushes) on the pontoon boats that Trent and Gever have been working on.
Two Men in a Boat
Joshua abandons his paddle (which sinks to the bottom of the pool) and takes Trent for a ride. There’s not much boat above the waterline, which makes for some exciting near-capsize moments, but persistence pays off and they figure out how to make it work.
Going for Speed
Joshua and Trent, now sitting cross-legged, coordinate to get the boat moving faster.
Boat in a Boat
Trent’s adopted boat got caught in the pool-robot’s umbilical cord so he and Joshua paddle out and rescue it. It’s interesting to see the scale of the two projects and the different uses of the materials.
Paddle Upgrade
Rowan shows off his mad paddling skillz with Joshua’s paddle – despite it’s increasing floppiness.
Learning to Paddle Backwards
Trent gets some expert advice from Joshua on how to back up a boat.
Your Moment of Zen
Joshua’s low-riding pontoon-boat/submarine makes the happiest boat noise we’ve ever heard.
Our Tinkering School friend Steve Davee, from the Opal Charter School in Portland, Oregon first mentioned the idea of a “provocation” as a way of describing something that instigates an area of inquiry. He collects provocations for use in his classroom to engage kids in mathematics, geography, science, and so on. I liked the notion so much I thought I would start recording them as they occurred to me – then it completely slipped my mind until I was listening to Episode #136 of This American Life, wherein David Sedaris describes a game. So this is not my idea, but I like the way that it could be used to get kids to think about what really defines a sense of place.
Where Are You?
Pick a random moment in the day, some time when you least expect it, and stop. Notice where your feet are, and remember that exact spot – you cannot move more than 10 feet from there, until you can solve one riddle: Using only what you can see, the conversations and noises you can hear, the odors that you smell, and the breezes and sunshine that you feel, can you determine what country, and city you are in? No fair asking people leading questions, you must use the clues that are around you at this exact spot.
For example, sitting here at my kitchen table, I note than almost all of the pictures and papers on my refrigerator have English words on them, so I am probably in one of the English-speaking countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the US. Closer examination of the papers reveals a water delivery schedule from Arrowhead Water Company in South San Francisco – aha! I’m in the US, probably in California, somewhere near or in the city of South San Francisco. And so it goes.
To get you started, set the alarm on your watch or cell phone for 97 minutes from now. When the alarm goes off – the game begins. Let me know when you figure out where you are and how you did it.
