Judy

Instant Challenger registration opens TODAY

 team support, workshops  Comments Off
Dec 062011
 

As all experienced Destination ImagiNation® teams know, a key component to doing well at any Tournament is being able to solve Instant Challenges effectively. On-the-spot problem-solving is not, however, an instantly-learned skill. Your teams can learn how to approach performance and task-based Instant Challenges at cre8iowa’s annual Instant Challenger team workshop on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at Ames Middle School for $20 a team.

At this popular workshop, each team is given individualized attention for a period of 2 hours, beginning at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., or 1:30 p.m. Once your team arrives, it will split its time between 2 rooms, one in which performance-based Instant Challenges are practiced and feedback is provided by experienced DI volunteers, and another room in which task-based Instant Challenges are practiced.

You can request a reservation for your team at either 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., or 1:30 p.m., listing a 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice. Once your reservation request is received, you will receive an email from cre8iowa, letting you know whether the time you requested is available. Then you will be asked to mail in your check or purchase order for $20 a team, which must arrive within 10 days. Your reservation is not CONFIRMED until payment arrives. If payment does not arrive within 10 days, you may lose your team’s spot to the next team on the waiting list.

This registration form needs to be completed for each team you register. Registrations are non-refundable, unless bad weather conditions prevent your team’s attendance, and you notify cre8iowa@gmail.com no later than 24 hours following the Instant Challenger.

Please note that teams MUST be accompanied by an adult. If you have multiple teams, they will be in different rooms, so you will need to arrange for adult accompaniment.

Click HERE to reserve a spot for your team.

Questions? Contact Judy Nolan at judynolan@aol.com.

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 Posted by Judy at 1:22 pm  Tagged with:

Basic Training Podcast now available; register for Advanced Workshop

 team support  Comments Off
Oct 302011
 

New this year is an online training podcast that allows all Team Managers and Coordinators to get up-to-speed quickly about the essentials of the program. There is information in this podcast that benefits both new and returning facilitators. This training is now included as part of your Iowa membership package, so please take advantage of it. You can get to the podcast HERE. You can also visit the 2011-2012 Season tab on the navigation bar, and select Team Manager & Coordinator Training.

This new online format was prompted by a desire to encourage ALL of our facilitators to take advantage of annual Team Manager & Coordinator Training. Without this training, misunderstandings often take place, and this becomes evident at the Tournament level. In an effort to make sure everyone is on the same page, Students for a Creative Iowa has decided to offer Basic Training to Team Managers and Coordinators online so that you can get the information you need at a time that is convenient for you, without having to drive for hours to a training location.

Please note that there will still be a face-to-face training workshop in Ames on Saturday, December 3rd, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This workshop does NOT duplicate the information in the podcast, but will instead cover more advanced topics, as follows:

  • Brainstorming Tools Your Team Can Use
  • Decision-Making Tools Your Team Can Use
  • Help Your Team Understand How to Make Materials Work
  • Developing Skill Sets for Your Team Challenge
  • Q & A with the Challenge Masters

We ask you to register in advance so that we will know how many people to expect and so that we’ll have working materials on hand for everyone. If you are interested, please register HERE no later than Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. There is no additional charge for this face-to-face workshop, as it is included in your Iowa membership fee.

We welcome your feedback about this new training format.

Judy Nolan
Affiliate Training Director for Team-Related Concerns
E-mail: judynolan@aol.com or cre8iowa@gmail.com

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 Posted by Judy at 7:45 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Sewing notions: a variety of connectors

 season kickoff, team support  Comments Off
Oct 242011
 

The first year that I managed a team, it was apparent that while the boys were bright, inquisitive and imaginative, they were handicapped by their lack of knowledge about the materials with which they worked. All Destination ImagiNation teams are tasked with discovering the ways in which materials work—the ways that they behave as connectors, extenders and controllers—and the properties of these same materials. The need to manipulate materials effectively is important in both the Team Challenge and Instant Challenge.

To help remedy my team’s lack of exposure to different types of materials, I sent the boys off on various scavenger hunts to different types of stores, where they were asked to generate lists of connectors, extenders and controllers. They were told that connectors, extenders and controllers can be used alone or in combination with other materials, that connectors are used to fasten or hold things together, that extenders are used to make materials longer, and controllers are used to guide or contain materials. The lists my team generated became important resources as the season progressed and the team sought unique solutions to challenges. For example, the team used sewing machine bobbins as pulleys, a type of controller. The boys discovered that PVC pipe is available in both tube and joint forms, and that this material can be used as a connector, an extender and a controller, often at the same time.

One of my team’s biggest surprises was that a fabric store contains a broad range of connectors, not just fabrics and sewing notions for costumes. They also learned that a fabric store is an important source for adhesive products. Did you know, for example, that Jo-Ann Fabrics has a free glue guide that describes 8 brands of adhesives (58 total products), how they are used, and what types of materials for which they are best suited? These materials include fabric and trims, leather, beads, jewelry findings, paper, cardboard, plaster, felt, Styrofoam®, glass, crystal, plastic, vinyl, metal, wire, wood and more. If your local store does not have one of these guides, you can contact the corporate headquarters and ask where you can get a copy: Jo-Ann Fabrics Corporate Office | Headquarters, 5555 Darrow Road Hudson, OH 44236, Tel. (330)656-2600.

One way to help your team members discover as many different types of connectors as possible is to have them visit a fabric store, and generate a list of connectors using ABC brainstorming. ABC brainstorming is a thinking tool that enables teams to quickly discover options they might not otherwise consider. The team is provided with a 2-column grid listing the letters of the alphabet in the first column, and a blank 2nd column, in this case for anything students discover which might be used as a connector. As your team conducts its search, encourage them to discard none of their ideas, to jot down anything that strikes them as being a connector (even if it seems to be a crazy idea!), to write down as many possibilities as possible, and to partner with a team member who might challenge them to look at products in ways they have not thought about. These are the basic principles of creative idea generation, which you’ll find on page 9 of Road Map, one of your official program materials. You’ll find a complete description of the ABC brainstorming tool on page 62 of Road Map.

Consider using this same activity at different types of stores, such as a home improvement center, a craft store, or an office supply store. If you can’t visit the store in person, visit shopping Web sites. Ask students to look for extenders and controllers, too. Generate another list including tools and specialized equipment that are necessary to work with these materials. For example, it is often helpful to use pliers with wire.

Below is an example of how the ABC brainstorming tool can be used to discover connector possibilities at a fabric store. Note that you don’t have to use all letters of the alphabet, but instead as many as you can. Many of these products are also extenders or controllers, depending on how they are used.

A – adhesive tape

B – brads, buckles, beading cord, barrel clasps, bobby pins, bar pins, buttons, bra extenders, binding clips

C – craft glue, chain, chenille stems, cotton belting, cord, clothesline, clip rings, cable cord

D – double-sided tape, duct tape, doll joints, D-rings, decorator nails

E – eyelets, E-6000 adhesive, embroidery floss, elastic

F – floral tape, foam mounting tape, felt glue, fabric glue, foam glue, fusible bond tape

G – glue sticks, gem glue, grommets, gum

H – hemp cord, hooks & eyes, heat set fabric glue

I – interfacing (fusible)

J – jewelry findings, jump rings, jute

K –

L – laminating pouches, lobster clasps, leather cord, lanyard hooks

M – Mod Podge, magnets, mending tape

N –

O –

P – paddle wire, poster putty, pins

Q – quilter’s tape

R – ribbon, raffia

S – stem wire, screw posts, super glue, spring rings, safety pins, split rings, stretchy cord, snap fasteners, swivel clasps

T – twine, transparent tape, tacky glue, toggle clasps, thread, thumb tacks

U –

V – Velcro®

W – wire

X – Xyron adhesives

Y – yarn

Z – Zots (adhesive dots), zippers

 

Post written by Judy Nolan, Co-Affiliate Training Director

Note: Image provided by Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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 Posted by Judy at 7:13 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Choosing paint products that work

 season kickoff, team support  Comments Off
Oct 172011
 

It has been years since I managed a team, but I still recall the intense discussions my team of middle school boys held about what paint products to use for their Team Challenge. Their discussions revolved about budget concerns, setting priorities, research and development, and safety issues. Sounds a lot like the issues facing adults daily, doesn’t it?

Let’s take a look at the above areas, and see how that affects a team’s selection of paint or, basically, liquid color products that work for their solution.

Budget. Every Team Challenge, with the exception of the improv Challenge (News to Me), has a stated Team Budget that the team cannot exceed for the materials it uses in the team’s solution. This Team Budget reflects the dollars it would take for another team to duplicate your team’s solution and use it for the Presentation, not the number of dollars your team actually spends to create the solution. Paint products can represent a sizeable portion of the team’s budget, depending on the type of paint products used, where they are bought, and the amount of paint that is used. For example, teams typically use tempera paint (water-based paint often found in a school setting), house paint (latex-based paint) and craft paint (acrylic paint), in addition to felt-tipped markers, spray paint and dyes. While teams can certainly use donated products, they still have to research the cost of these items to include in their Expense Report.

A useful activity that will help your team take charge of its budget is to:

  1. Have your team generate a list of different kinds of paint products.
  2. Make a list of places where paint products can be purchased. Are any of these online?
  3. Create a table with columns for Product, Source and Price, and compare them.

Setting priorities. Every Team Challenge contains pie charts on its pages that describe how points are awarded for the Central Challenge and Team Choice Elements (previously known as Side Trips). These pie charts may be very helpful in helping your team to set its priorities in terms of manpower (how many people should be dedicated to a particular scoring area), budget (how many dollars to spend or assign a value for materials used), and time (how much time should be allocated for tasks, and in what order).

In Challenge A, Assembly Required, for example, the Central Challenge (which accounts for 60% of the team’s score), scoring areas break down as follows:

  • Product design & usage, 12%
  • Order completion, 42%
  • Equipment, 33%
  • Story, 13%

The Team Choice Elements account for another 15% of the team’s score. Paint products could be used for props, stage set or costuming in any of these areas. Some useful questions for your team to ask itself are the following:

  1. What parts of our solution require paint products?
  2. Is there a relationship between our Team Challenge’s scoring and paint products?
  3. What are some good reasons for spending more dollars on paint products?
  4. What are some good reasons for spending fewer dollars on paint products?

Research and development.  One of the core areas that Destination ImagiNation develops is creativity. Creativity comes about when teams take the time and energy to test many, different and unique possibilities, and to combine possibilities. In terms of paint, this means that students need to research different types of paint, and experiment with them to learn what types of paints work best for various settings and materials. For example, because my team was not allowed to store its props and scenery elements at school, they needed paint products that dried quickly so that painted products could be taken home immediately after a meeting. For many of their meetings, props and scenery had to be dragged to and from a vehicle while it was snowing or raining, so painted items also had to be able to withstand moisture. Through experimentation, the students discovered that for them house paint was a great solution. For a team that wants to apply paint to metal, plastic, fabric or glass surfaces—or to skin—their needs and solutions may be completely different. The point is that students need to do the research and testing, not be spoon-fed with a suggested solution by adults.

Some questions for a team to consider might be:

  1. What  conditions will affect painted surfaces? (For example: moisture, drying time, sticking to unusual surfaces, work site rules, cracking, etc.)
  2. How do we overcome these conditions or work around them?
  3. How can we produce many colors from just a few, in order to save dollars?
  4. What can we develop with paint products that would be unique?
  5. How can we learn about different types of paint products?

A note about Question #5—although a Team Manager  can certainly bring in an “expert” such as an art teacher to discuss different types types of paints, there is no substitute for hands-on experiences, and for students to do the research themselves. Most home improvement centers have videos or tip sheets that explain how to use paint effectively and/or creatively, and the manufacturers of most craft or art paint products have Web sites that explain the same. The juvenile section of every library, as well as the art and crafts section, have books and magazines that discuss many types of paint products.

Safety.  While it is the Team Manager’s responsibility to facilitate a safe environment for teams, it is also the team’s responsibility to seek safe solutions. For example, if a team wants to spray paint props, is appropriate ventilation available? Are some paint products toxic when they come into contact with skin? Are eye goggles, gloves and/or paint shirts or aprons available in order to work with these paint products? How do you clean up spills? A Team Manager or a parent providing personal space for teams, or a school or business providing work space, do have the right to set some rules where personal and property safety are concerned. Some questions for teams to consider are:

  1. How can we use this paint product without damaging property?
  2. How can we use this paint product without hurting people?

If your team is NOT having discussions about its budget, research and development, setting priorities, and safety, ask yourself who is making the team’s decisions. To avoid Interference, one of Destination ImagiNation’s key principles, a team should be making its own decisions. It is perfectly okay, however, for an adult facilitator to ask the team to consider specific issues or working conditions, and to allow the students the time and space to discuss them. Just think: it all began with the paint!

Post written by Judy Nolan, Co-Affiliate Training Director

Note: Paintbrush image provided by Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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 Posted by Judy at 6:24 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

The possibilities of hook-and-loop tape

 season kickoff, team support  Comments Off
Oct 102011
 

In the same fashion that folks  Xerox® (photocopy) a document, people Velcro their shoes closed. In both cases, the manufactured product has become so well known that the trade name is used in casual conversation as a verb. In the case of Velcro, its generic name is hook-and-loop fastener, or hook-and-loop tape,  burr fastener, or touch fastener. Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral  invented Velcro in 1948 and patented it in 1955. Although the patent expired in 1978, many countries still recognize the product as a registered trademark.  The Velcro Corporation refers to its line of Velcro products, which can be either sewn, stapled or adhered to other surfaces, as “Velcro® brand hook and loop fasteners.”

The story behind how Velcro came into being is an interesting one. One day George de Mestral came home from a hunting trip in the Alps with his dog, and observed the burrs that kept sticking to his dog’s coat. He examined these burrs, actually the seeds of the burdock plant (commonly known as cockleburs), under a microscope, and noticed that they contain hundreds of tiny hooks, and that they stick to anything with loops, such as his dog’s coat or his socks. De Mestral imagined the possibilities of a fastener product that used this hook-and-loop structure. He began experimenting first with strips of cotton, and then with nylon, which was fairly new at the time. He discovered that when you sew nylon under a hot ultraviolet light, it forms hooks that he thought would be perfect for the hook side of a potential fastener. Then he discovered that when nylon thread is woven in loops and treated with heat, it not only retains its shape, but is resilient. But putting these two textures together was not enough to make them stick; de Mestral found out that the loops had to be cut at just the right height before they would  actually be able to fasten to a hooked surface, but also be removable. In a last ditch effort to make the two textures work together, de Mestral took a pair of scissors to the loops and cut off the tops. Perfect! The two surfaces stuck together securely, but could also be taken apart quickly and easily with a ripping motion.

Thus Velcro was born. The word Velcro comes from the French words for “velours,” or velvet, and “crochet.”

Today’s hook-and-loop fasteners  consist of 2 strips of synthetic materials,  each treated so that when you press the strips together, they hook into each other and form a strong, but removable bond. Unlike the early days, when nylon or a blend of nylon and polyester were used, today’s materials can include such materials as Teflon, glass or plastic resins. There is even a version of Velcro that is clear, water-resistant and can adhere to glass. In the aerospace industry, Velcro consists of Teflon loops, polyester hooks and glass, and is used to keep things from floating away in space. It was the aerospace industry, in fact, that gave Velcro its initial boost when it was used in astronauts’ space suits to help them get into and out of them easily, and then by skiers who had similar challenges. The scuba and marine industry followed suit, and eventually Velcro found its way into the children’s clothing industry.

There are now other manufacturers of hook-and-loop tape, with several variations in its construction. A 66-year-old architect named Leonard Duffy, for example, developed the Slidingly Engaging Fastener over a period of 8 years in a wooden shed in Vermont. His version of hook-and-loop tape is 8 times stronger than the original Velcro, and is soundless when opened or closed. A prosthetics company named Material ConneXion is using his fastener to attach artificial limbs. In addition, 3M makes a fastener called Dual Lock that has mushroom-shaped stems on each side of the tape.

Hook-and-loop tape’s special properties make it perfect for creative problem-solving teams to use in their solutions. It is so strong that a two-inch square can support a 175-pound person. If it is used to bond together two rigid surfaces, the bond is especially strong, and vibration of those surfaces increases the strength of the bond because force is applied evenly to all of the hooks at the same time, causing them to catch the loops on the other side. When at least one of the surfaces is flexible and you try to take the surfaces apart with a peeling action, it’s pretty easy to do so because only a few hooks and loops are involved in the action. Try pulling parallel to the plane surface of the Velcro, and you’ll encounter more resistance because the force you apply is similar to the force you encounter when pressing together two rigid surfaces. What do you think would happen if you used Velcro as a hinge between two rectangles of foam core? What about if you use Velcro between two pieces of fabric? Can you imagine where this would be useful in scenery, or in costumes?

Today Velcro and its variations are used to fasten boxes, packs of materials and collapsible containers; to fasten tools and signs to walls; to fasten fabrics together in clothing and home décor; to close binders, notebooks and scrapbooks. The first artificial heart was held together with Velcro, and astronauts wear a small square of it on their helmets and use it as a nose scratcher during space walks. The product has given rise to the development of a sport known as Velcro jumping, where participants take a running jump and hurl themselves at a Velcro-covered wall. Can you think of other uses? I suspect Iowa’s Destination ImagiNation students can probably generate some innovative uses of hook-and-loop tape.

Post written by Judy Nolan, Co-Affiliate Training Director

Resources:

Mone, Greg. “INVENTION AWARDS The New Velcro.” Popular Science. 14 May 2007. http://www.popsci.com/node/9642

Schwarcz, Dr. Joe. Dr. Joe & What You Didn’t Know: 99 Fascinating Questions About the Chemistry of Everyday Life. Ontario: ECW Press, 2004.

Stephens, Thomas. “How a Swiss invention hooked the world.” swissinfo, a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. 4 January 2007.  http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Home/Archive/How_a_Swiss_invention_hooked_the_world.html?cid=5653568.

“Velcro.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 5 October 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro

“Velcro® brand Hook and Loop Fasteners.” Velcro USA, Inc. 2011. http://www.velcro.com

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 Posted by Judy at 11:00 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Manipulating that sheet of paper

 season kickoff, team support  Comments Off
Oct 012011
 

Creative problem solvers continually seek inexpensive materials they can use in creative ways. Among those materials is paper, although of course paper can also be quite expensive, depending on the variety. Paper comes in many types, among them cardboard, whose properties were described in an earlier post (A Lesson from Cardboard). In Destination ImagiNation®, students use cardboard boxes and cardboard tubes, paper plates and paper cups, milk cartons and egg cartons, newspapers, freezer paper, wax paper, filter paper, toilet paper, tissue paper, paper napkins and paper towels, construction paper, wrapping paper, paper bags, card stock and plain sheets of copy paper. You can even make a paste from paper called papier mâché. The list is endless. How students are able to use paper products in their creative efforts is greatly determined by the properties of paper itself, so let’s take a look at those properties, and learn a little bit about how paper is manufactured.

A sheet of paper generally begins in nature, where the raw materials are harvested. The trees of the forest, including  soft woods such as pine and spruce, or hard woods such as eucalyptus, acacia, albizzia and wattle, are chopped down and “chipped” into smaller, more manageable pieces.  Farm fields that produce rice, wheat and straw are sources of paper pulp. Cotton fields supply seed hair for cotton linter used in paper making, and flax fields contribute to the making of linen paper from the bast tissue of the flax stem. Did you know that the spinning of rope, twine and cord produces a hemp waste product that is also used in paper making? Manila fibers used for manila file folders and envelopes come from plantain grown in the Philippine Islands. Recycling of waste paper products plays a role in paper making, too; about 80 percent of waste paper is used to manufacture paper boards (such as chipboard found in books or notebooks).

After raw materials are harvested, they go through the pulp making process. A cooking process removes lignin (used to bind wood fibers together) and other impurities, and then a special liquor is added to the chip batch under pressure. The chips are washed and cooked, and waste products are removed. Then the pulp undergoes bleaching, which produces the white appearance of many papers we use. Additives such as talcum and calcium carbonate  make the paper brighter, while dyes add color and starch is a binding agent. Other additives include titanium dioxide, barium sulphate and zinc sulphide. Once the additive process is finished, the paper pulp is run through a wire mesh called a fourdriner, which removes most of the water. A roller applies pressure to the pulp to smooth it out. The paper product is transferred to a felt blanket that moves it through steam-heated dryers, removing any remaining moisture. A glaze-like coating is added, and then the paper passes through calendar stacks, a type of polished iron rolling system in which the rollers are stacked one on top of the other. This process does the final smoothing of the paper before it is wound on metal or fiber cores. The paper is then cut into sheets, packed and tested.

During the manufacturing process, various properties are built into paper that affect its appearance and use. These include basis weight; brightness, whiteness and color; bulk; dimensional stability; folding endurance; formation; gloss; machine and cross direction; moisture; opacity; porosity; sizing; smoothness; stiffness; stretch; tearing resistance; temperature and humidity (conditioning); thickness; surface strength, and the wire side and felt side. Obviously, this post is not designed to make you a technical expert about all of these factors, but an awareness of some of these terms will serve Destination ImagiNation® teams well when choosing the types of paper they wish to manipulate.

Basis weight. All sheets of paper have a basis weight, or weight per unit area. The higher the basis weight, the heavier the paper. Moisture content affects paper weight. What happens to paper when it becomes wet? What are the advantages of using 20-lb paper (copy paper) to 80-lb paper (card stock)? What are the disadvantages?

Bulk. Bulk refers to how thick a piece of paper is in relationship to its weight. When you decrease the bulk of paper, you increase its density, or its weight per unit volume. An increase in density means the paper gets glossier, smoother, less opaque (more light shines through), darker, and lower in strength. What are some thicker paper products? What are some thinner ones?

Dimensional stability. Dimensional stability refers to how much or little the size of a sheet of paper changes when it is exposed to moisture. Did you know that all papers expand or contract, depending on the amount of moisture to which they are exposed? Did you know that the rate at which paper expands or contracts depends on the type of paper? Test this with different types of paper. What happens when you use cardboard or paper for your props and it rains? What happens if you use watercolors, acrylic paint, or latex paint on paper? What about glue?

Folding endurance. Folding endurance is the ability of paper to withstand being folded repeated times before it breaks down and tears. What are the advantages to folding thin paper versus thick paper? What are the disadvantages? How can you use paper folding in Destination ImagiNation®? What could you make? (Hint: Visit your local library’s juvenile section and check out books similar to The Usborne Book of Papercraft,  or The Michaels Book of Paper Crafts.) How do you think folding endurance is related to two other properties of paper, stiffness and stretch? What are the advantages (and disadvantages) of crumpling a piece of paper?

Machine and cross direction. The way that paper travels through the machine during the manufacturing process creates what is called a machine direction, or grain. The cross direction, or cross grain, is at right angles to the machine direction. When you fold paper or try to curve it in one direction, it is usually easier to fold parallel to the grain. Try this with different types of paper. You will encounter a little more resistance when you fold cross-grain. Is it easier to fold an index card the long way or the short way? What about a newspaper sheet? A sheet of copy paper?

Opacity. Opacity refers to how much light passes through a sheet of paper. The higher the opacity, the less light shines through. How could you use the opacity of paper in Destination ImagiNation®? What items could you make from paper that use this property?

Porosity. Porosity refers to how much moisture or air can pass through the individual fibers of the paper. This is extremely important to how the paper is used. The more porous paper is, the more moisture or air can pass through it. Try blowing air or pouring water through various types of papers, such as a paper towel, a glossy magazine page, a coffee filter and an ordinary sheet of copy paper. What happens? How can you make paper less porous? How can you use this paper property in Destination ImagiNation®?

Stiffness. Stiffness is the amount of force required to bend paper at a specific angle. It is affected by the thickness of paper, but also by how paper is shaped. Try this experiment with equal-sized sheets of copy paper and card stock. Build a vertical structure in the highest direction possible in these shapes: a tube, a triangle, and a square. (You can use a single piece of tape to secure the edges.) Then, balance a book on top of each structure. What happens? Try this experiment again, but this time fold a sheet of copy paper like an accordion, and do the same with a sheet of card stock. What happens this time? Does the height of the accordion folds make a difference?

Stretch. Stretch is the amount of distortion that paper goes through when it is affected by stress. Usually, that means that paper tears or ruptures when it is affected by too much stress (such as weight or pressure). Stretch is higher in the cross direction than the machine direction, but it is also affected by the type of paper used. What uses of paper in industry can you imagine where stretch would be important to think about?

Tearing resistance. Tearing resistance refers to how paper behaves when it encounters resistance, whether it tears or not. Earlier, we discussed how folding a piece of paper is easier when you fold with the grain instead of against it. What happens when you try to tear paper with the grain? Against the grain? What happens if the paper is damp and you try to tear it? Can you control it? Does the shape of a piece of paper affect its tearing resistance? (Cut different shapes, such as a rectangle or circle, and try to tear them.) What has greater tearing resistance—a paper towel, newspaper or index card?

As you explore creative ways to use paper for your Team Challenges, consider these questions in addition to the ones already asked:

  1. How many types of paper can you list?
  2. What are some recycled paper products you can use?
  3. Where can you buy paper products?
  4. How many ways can you think of changing the appearance of paper?
  5. How many ways can you think of reshaping paper?
  6. What new skills can you learn to manipulate paper?
  7. Learn how to make your own paper by using a resource book or a video. How would you use homemade paper in your Team Challenge?
  8. What are some paper crafting tools and adhesives that you would find handy? (Go to a craft or hobby store and explore the aisles.)

 Post written by Judy Nolan, Co-Affiliate Training Director

Resources:

“A to Z of Paper.” Ballapur Industries Limited.  2003, http://www.biltpaper.com.

Cusick, Dawn and Megan Kirby, eds. The Michaels Book of Paper Crafts. New York: Lark Books, 2005.

Fix, Alexandra. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Paper. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2008.

Perrins, Lesley. How Paper Is Made. New York: Facts on File-Threshold Books Limited, 1985.

Salvadori, Mario. The Art of Construction: Projects and Principles for Beginning Engineers & Architects. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1990.

Smith, Alastair, ed. The Usborne Book of Papercraft. Tulsa: EDC Publishing, 2001.

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 Posted by Judy at 7:30 am  Tagged with: , ,

The Possibilities of Duct Tape

 season kickoff, team support  Comments Off
Sep 052011
 

Robert Rauschenberg, an American Abstract-Expressionist artist, said that “You begin with the possibilities of the material.” In his art, Rauschenberg combined many different types of media and materials to create unique and imaginative images (Go HERE to see some of his art). In creative problem-solving, especially Destination ImagiNation®, we can appreciate and learn from Rauschenberg’s statement and should start examining the possibilities in the materials we use.

I would be hard pressed to think of another material more beloved and used in Destination ImagiNation than duct tape. It is used in costumes, scenery, props, emergency kits (just to name a few areas)—there is even a duct tape costume ball every year at Global Finals. Yet, what do you know about every DI-er’s best friend?  By examining the properties of duct tape, we can start to see the potential outside the obvious uses we know and love.

The possibilities and versatility of duct tape are due to three different materials that make up duct tape’s three distinct layers. The outer layer is a soft plastic compound, called polyethylene, which provides the tape’s protective, water-proof cover and its often colorful appearance. Manufacturers can make multiple colors and designs of duct tape, because the polyethylene will keep that design or color. Another reason manufacturers use polyethylene is because of its resistance to getting damaged. Try taking a piece of sandpaper to the top layer of duct tape and see what happens.

Next is a woven cloth layer that gives duct tape it durability, because the mesh distributes stress throughout that piece. The durability of the cotton web used in duct tape depends on the thread count in an area. The tighter the weave and the more threads per square inch a duct tape has, the greater its tensile strength will be. (Note: Tensile strength is a material’s resistance to breaking under tension—in other words, how much weight the material can hold without ripping.) Premium quality duct tape can have a thread count of 44 by 28 (72 total) threads in one square inch. Some cotton shirts only have a thread count of 60 threads per square inch. Due to the high thread count and tight weave, superior quality commercial duct tape has a tensile strength of 40 pounds, whereas lower quality duct tape’s strength is only 20 pounds. There are military and nuclear versions that are even stronger!

The last layer is the rubber-based adhesive which gives duct tape its power. Duct tape’s adhesive power is the strongest when it’s sticking to itself. It can reportedly pull up to one ton (2,000 pounds) when stuck to itself! That sticky power is weakest when it is being adhered to a wet surface. The adhesive used in duct tape is so sticky because 1) rubber compounds bond more strongly than other adhesive compounds and so hold longer and 2) the rubber adhesive is very thick. Duct tape is about .3 mm thick compared to masking tape, which is about .13 mm thick.

So, how can YOU use these layers, either individually or combined? Can you use one of duct tape’s layers for your own work to make it better? Or can you improve it? Can you find a way to make duct tape even stickier? Can you come up with a solution to make the cloth mesh even stronger? Can you find a way to make the top layer more eye-catching or more resistant to damage? I bet if you use your imagination, you can come up with endless ideas and potential uses and improvements for duct tape.

Post written by Alisha Heisterkamp, Co-Affiliate Director

Resources:
MacLennan, Sean. “The Tape.” Sean’s Duct Tape Page. <http://seanm.ca/duct-tape/tape.html>

Schuller, Randy. “How Products Are Made: Duct Tape.” Gale-Edit.com. <http://www.gale-edit.com/products/volumes/duct_tape.htm>

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 Posted by Judy at 8:37 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Destination ImagiNation kicks off 2011-12 program season

 contests, season kickoff, start a team, team support  Comments Off
Sep 022011
 

Start a Team

Did you know that program materials for the 2011-12 program season can now be downloaded? All you have to do is purchase a single or 5-Team Pak by credit card, signed purchase order or check by visiting ShopDI. Once your payment is verified, you can download your program materials from the Resource Area of IDODI. (Use the same email address and password you used at ShopDI). A single-Team Pak costs $135, a 5-Team Pak is $390, and a Rising Stars!® Team Pak costs $55. Do you need to upgrade one or more Team-Paks to a 5-Team Pak? No problem—there is an upgrade package available. Single teams or Rising Stars!® teams may be either school or community-based, while 5-Team Paks may be purchased either by a school or a recognized community group (such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H Club, PTA/PTO group (and so on). A preview of this year’s Challenges is available for download HERE. Do you need materials to hold an information meeting? Visit our Recruiting Kit page HERE and download the materials you need.

Vote NOW for Pin & T-Shirt DIsign

To kick off the new program season, Students for a Creative Iowa is asking all Iowa DI participants (both students and volunteers) to vote HERE for their favorite pin and T-shirt design. Manufacturing requirements demand that a design be submitted early in the program season, so over the summer 15 designs were submitted by Iowa students. Please review these designs and vote for your favorite single-pin or T-shirt design no later than Friday, September 9th. The final design will be selected by the Board, based on such factors as ballot results, cost, ease of reproduction and other criteria. To date, only a small number of participants have registered their votes. Please make your preference known!

Plan a Team Meeting

Not ready to purchase a Team Pak? Many schools or groups meet early in the program season, despite the fact that they have not yet purchased a Team Pak. The period before a team purchases a Team Pak and/or chooses its Team Challenge is a wonderful time to encourage teamwork through warm-ups and games, to practice creative problem-solving by exploring Instant Challenges, and to learn new skills—particularly with regard to making materials work. Team Managers and Coordinators can help their students learn new skills by exploring the materials in these upcoming posts written by Co-Affiliate Director (Co-AD) Alisha Heisterkamp and Co-Affiliate Training Director (Co-ATD) Judy Nolan:

  • The Possibilities of Duct Tape
  • A Lesson From Cardboard
  • From Sewage to Sets and Everything in Between
  • Don’t Eat That!
  • Manipulating That Sheet of Paper
  • The Possibilities of Hook-and-Loop Tape
  • Choosing Paint Products That Work
  • Sewing Notions: A Variety of Connectors

The first post will appear next week, following by a new post each subsequent week. Consider holding mini-workshops around each of the materials described in these posts.

Finally, welcome to all returning participants and to new ones. Questions about the program? Email Judy Nolan at: judynolan@aol.com

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 Posted by Judy at 1:36 am  Tagged with: , ,

Vote NOW for cre8iowa’s Pin & T-Shirt DIsign entries

 contests, get involved, season kickoff  Comments Off
Jul 262011
 

Iowa’s Destination ImagiNation® students and volunteers may vote NOW for cre8iowa’s Pin & T-Shirt DIsign entries. View the 15 design images that follow the ballot. (Click on individual images to enlarge them). Then submit your vote for your favorite choice. You may vote once only. Voting will remain open through Friday, September 9th. (Please note that the previous deadline of September 2nd was extended one week to allow more time for voting, since many schools are just now beginning their year.)

Please note that any required elements that are missing from these designs (such as the words Destination ImagiNation, cre8iowa or 2012) will be added during the manufacturing process. In addition, the Board reserves the right to make any final decision, based on cost or other factors.

Thank you to all of the participants for their design entries!

What is your favorite pin & T-shirt DIsign?

View Results

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 Posted by Judy at 3:24 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Globals-bound team comes home to tornado

 global finals, scholarships, team support, tournament  No Responses »
Apr 182011
 

At 7:20 p.m. following the State Tournament held in Ames on April 9th, 2011, a tornado three-quarters-of-a-mile wide with winds of at least 136 miles per hour swept through the town of Mapleton, located in northwest Iowa. Four high school students who had competed at the Destination ImagiNation® Tournament that day left early to participate in a play at their school, never realizing the true life drama that would ensue. Five minutes into their performance, tornado sirens began howling, sending everyone to shelter. Trees were ripped from the earth and flew through windows, one of the boys lost his family’s car, and sixty percent of the community was flattened. Fortunately, no lives were lost during this horrific event, but many homes and businesses in Mapleton were destroyed.

The four Mapleton students who performed at the Destination ImagiNation Tournament qualified to advance to Global Finals at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville on May 25-28, where they will compete against teams from all over the U.S. and 30 countries. To get to Global Finals, every team member must raise $610 for room and board, plus additional dollars for state T-shirts and trading pins, and transportation for participants, chaperones and props. Ordinarily a team is able to count on its community for fundraising support, but the assistance the team would normally receive from Mapleton is now focused on a massive clean-up and rebuilding effort.

In recognition of these extraordinary circumstances and the special challenges facing The Laser Tag Team from Mapleton, Students for a Creative Iowa is awarding a one-time special distribution of $500 to this team from the Kitch-Eilerts Memorial Scholarship Fund. This scholarship was established in part to honor the memory of a Destination ImagiNation participant named Aaron Eilerts who died when a tornado struck his Boy Scout camp on June 11, 2008.

If you would like to assist the Mapleton team or any of Iowa’s Destination ImagiNation Global Finals teams in their journey to Global Finals, please e-mail cre8iowa@gmail.com to request contact information for that team. Include in your e-mail the name of the team you would like to support, the list of which may be found HERE.

If you would like to support the Mapleton relief effort, you can mail your donation to:

Mapleton Tornado Relief Fund
c/o First State of Mapleton
P.O. Box 78
Mapleton, IA 51038

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 Posted by Judy at 9:26 pm  Tagged with: ,
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