Christine Bonin boninchris213@yahoo.com Basic of Balsa Christine Bonin boninchris213@yahoo.com

Balsa Not BASS Properties of Balsa OM Requirements Porous, Bendy Grades pre-crushing OM Requirements 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch 36” sticks – RECEIPT Stray marks Strengthening Where to buy? Packs: Kids pick out individual sticks Pull out bass and balsa sticks (write bass all over the bass stick)

Glue Should say “glue” “adhesive” on label Strengthening – can not be painted on! Safety! Epoxy fumes Mortician super glue story Be careful of outside assistance, though always safety first

OM Requirements OM Requirements 8” or taller 15 grams or less 2” hole 10” wide or less Pull out crusher Pull out tinker toys Pull out straw tower Pull out

Designing – the Hard Part! Difficult for kids to go from 2-d design to 3-d Cad-cams on line Design Aids Tinker Toys, Popsicle sticks and hot glue Kinex, Toothpicks and gum drops, straws Pull out crusher Pull out tinker toys Pull out straw tower Pull out

Designing – the Hard Part! Discuss cell towers, towers, skyscrapers, airplane wings Pull out crusher Pull out tinker toys Pull out straw tower Pull out

Building Several day affair Measuring Cutting All about the joint! The less space the better! Right angle vs. diagonal Sanding No glue strands Pull out kit

Building Level Jig Pins, Legos, Magnets, Wood KIDS HAVE TO BUILD THE JIG Pull out kit

Building Good teams build at least a structure a week – share the wealth! Pull out kit

Science Olympiad Examples

The Crusher! OM Requirements Putting on weights Have a structure to crush OM Requirements Putting on weights

TESTING Don’t want to build a crusher? Textbooks Anything heavy! Try to use the same thing (that’s why classroom textbooks are great!) and just weigh one, then multiply by how many it took to crush the structure Have a structure to crush

TESTING Weighing your structure Take Pictures before you crush! conversion from ounces to grams: 1 ounce = 28.34 grams Take Pictures before you crush! Have the future engineers evaluate the weak spots! Have a structure to crush

Slideshow – First, create a Jig

Another jig

Measure the peices

Cut the pieces

Sand to get the perfect fit

Fit all the pieces into the jig

Glue them

When dry, pop them out of the jig

You have one side

Make all the sides you want

Connect the sides together

Glue them together

Add stuff – be creative!

Questions for you to consider… NO! Do structures have to have four sides? Do structures have to be perfectly rectangular? Do structures have to be built by the sides first? NO! NO!

Coach’s Tool kit Rulers, pens, cutting tools, adhesives, items to create jigs: Balsa sticks for the kids to select from: Coach’s tool kit:

Getting the structure to competition: Be careful!! It will break if crushed from the sides!

At Competition, weigh-in checks: Thickness of sticks:

At Competition, weigh-in checks: Weight:

At Competition, weigh-in checks: Will it fit on the crusher?

Odyssey of the Mind Crusher

Odyssey of the Mind Crusher