GMVS Design/Build

Jan 14 - Feb 21, 2020

Year two of our Design/Build program at Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, VT. This 8 week program integrated GMVS’s 7th grade math curriculum with hands-on building and community-oriented design.

Session 1: Building Sawhorses

January 14, 2020

Our first day involved learning about the scale factor of similar triangles and integrating that lesson into our jigsaw safety training. We also practiced working with drills to build sawhorses for our workspace.

Beginning of class 45 minute math lesson on scale factor.

To integrate the scale factor lesson with power tool training, students were tasked with drawing and measuring triangles on plywood to specific dimensions. Each student received a notecard with a triangle and dimensions written on it, along with a scale factor. Their assignment was to mark and cut a triangle out of plywood at the specified scale factor.

Once everyone had their triangles drawn out on the plywood we gathered to talk and demo jigsaw safety.

After the triangle exercise with transitioned to learning about drills. Students lined up and practiced drilling pilot holes, screwing boards together, and unscrewing. The demo emphasized the importance of proper body positioning, hand placement, identifying the sound of a stripping screw head, and when to use different screw lengths.

Drill training covers safety, changing bits, drill features, screw length, and and some practicing screwing together a couple of 2x3’s

The group of 8 students started working on building sawhorses. The first step was putting together the “A” shaped legs. Building sawhorses gave students practice with drills and exposure to collaborating safely and efficiently in a construction environment.

Finished sawhorses! These will come in handy throughout the next 8 weeks of our program. Day 1 completed!

Session 2: Building Picnic Tables

January 15, 2020

We started day 2 by hauling lumber from the truck into our workspace. Everyone in the group was eager to help out and lift. We paused to discuss safe carrying methods - one in the front, one in the back, and staying 6 feet behind other groups to avoid collisions.

Todays project was a slightly more complex instructional build - assembling picnic tables. They started with some pre-cut pieces for the legs and were given instructions for how to cut other parts of the table using the miter saw.

Students went through a safety training for the miter saw (also called the chop saw). They learned about the importance of placing the board firmly against the fence, not reaching in to grab the wood after the cut, and using eye and ear protection when making a cut. They took turns marking measurements and cutting scrap boards. They also learned about kerf (the amount of wood taken off by the blade) and how to account for this when marking a board for cutting.

Annaliese and Emma screwing in the middle support their picnic table.

Students were focused for the next 2 hours cutting lumber and assembling their tables. We used 2x4’s and 2x6’s and started introducing more information about different lumber dimensions.