November hours - 10
Total hours - 28
***NOTE*** - December post contains final semester hours
***NOTE*** - December post contains final semester hours
Out of our several trips to KIPP this
month, my personal favorite was the Friday right before Thanksgiving break. We
were to be split into two groups for two separate tasks. Fortunately for me, I
arrived early and was given the chance to select which task I preferred. I has to choose between being a “Tree-Maker” or a “Refrigerator-Emptier.” Though,
I never acquired an aptitude for arts and crafts, being a Tree-Maker still seemed
better than helping rid one of the communal refrigerators of expired
food.
THE TASK - The teachers needed trees composed of construction
paper. The plan was for students to make paper ornaments with their names on
them, to then decorate the trees. I admit that initially I was fearful
that our trees would be subpar, especially considering the importance that
children place on Christmas in general.
We were provided green and brown construction
paper and various tools: scissors, glue-sticks, etc.
PRODUCT INSTRUCTIONS - trees about 7 feet
long with a “small trunk.”
I would argue that this description of the final
product was vague and insufficient. Thus, I did not feel too guilty, when our
prototype-design was declined. We made a typical tree with a cloud-like green
portion, about 4ft in height, with a 3ft, brown trunk.
Interestingly, all the Tree-Makers (including myself) failed to
acknowledge that “holiday trees” are pine trees. Thus, they should have triangular
top portions with a very small trunk. We altered our design accordingly, and
used Figure 1 (below) to guide us.
https://www.google.com/search?q=holiday+tree&espv=2&biw=1417&bih=816&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5x5jzztHQAhVB6IMKHVp2Cq0Q_AUIBigB#imgrc=I54e5pcImE0zPM%3A
The tricky part about the updated design was
how to go about creating the “zig-zags” for the "layers." Unsurprisingly, I
had a stroke of innovative brilliance, and created what I later came to refer to as the
“Right-Triangle Method.”
RIGHT -TRIANGLE METHOD - Starting from the bottom of the green paper, we
made right triangles along the sides, and topped the tree off with a large
isosceles cut. My RT method was moderately effective at creating that layered
look we desired.
I was very proud of the 5 trees we produced. The
teachers seemed very pleased with our final product, and more importantly, I
think the trees will pass the inspection performed by the harshest critics—the kids.
Figure 2 - Me throwing
away some of the green paper scraps
Figure 3 - My engineer team implementing the "Right-Triangle" Method
