Reflections up to the Cutting

We started the project at the end of January. We knew what to expect and in some aspects how to expect it, yet when that little white sheet was handed out and our brains finally registered the mess of words on the paper, we all couldn't help but be just a little shocked. Budgets! Scale Models! Construction! Blue Prints! Labor! Work and toil! Teamwork! Leadership! The daunting tasks were laid before us.

It wasn't at all bad in any way. Time consuming of course. Stress inducting; very much so. Throw a due date in there and you have yourself a perfect recipe for a breakdown!

We all quickly learned how loud it could really get in that room. Tempers flared and voices were raised. Ideas were either consiered, or quickly tossed out. In the beginning it had seemed that all order had been thrown out, we had actually gone backward in the evolutionary time scale.

Final decisions were made, and agreements were hand shaked. Scale models were either a constructed piece of bring pink and orange, or a sagging mess. Budgets were made and supplies were ordered. Sheets of cardboard, box cutters, rulers by the mete, cutting boards, Sharpies, and those carpenter pencils that are so hard to work with, were all ordered. All was brought on Monday. We all quietly filed down the hall with sheets of ten very large, awkward rectangles; three students a piece. Measures were slowly drawn out, and templates were etched. The cutting process finally began. The construction of the colossal dome seemed to be nearing.

This project has brought out the carpenter, and mathmetician in all of us. It has shown us all the responsibilities that come with a big group project such as this. Thirty minds with thirty different ideas. voices are raised and hands are frantically waved about. All in all, this has been a more than perfect opportunity to apply our learned math skills.

It lets us grow outside the classroo. Kids have stepped up and taken charge, directing the flow. New problems are presented that need quick solutions. We've been shown that solution and now we just need to find the problem. All this, and we're not even finished yet.

Cooper