10/12/2001
| Working with a partner is... OK. Sometimes you don’t always agree on the same thing, so you try both and use the best working idea.
Using crickets ( a little device that can hold a computer procedure) to operate the puppets really is something different. With a press of a little button the show runs. Having electricity run a puppet show is really something!
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maddie and kate working as partners |
10/24/2001
| Having puppets move by themselves is... odd because . You just press a button and they perform.[after the programing!]
The story really dictated the puppets instead of the puppets dictating the story because we (Maddie and I] thought of the story first then made the puppets. |
The puppet named 'Muffin Man' |
11/25/2001
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STUFF WE ADDED TO OUR SHOW-
The things we added over time were-
1. Backdrop
2. Switches, so when we pressed them the whole program went off.
3. Bricks to raise the lady bug
4. A curtain. |
12/05/2001
| The curtain we added because when the green bug,
(Emerald) reset himself automatically, it looked like his programing had screwed up. If the audience thought that the show was still going on they would be confused. Also, the curtain made it look like a real theater.
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This is a picture of the mechanics for our curtain. |
12/12/2001
maddie and kate, with the back drop |
We added the backdrop because it looked very boring with a plain wood back. Also, in our written story, it said things like: “ the sky was blue” and we could not have a blue sky if it was just plain wood. It just would not make sense. It also covered up most of the tape we used.
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01/10/2002
These are our switches that move the puppets. They stick out the side of the theater. |
The switches were added because if we had to stick our hands into the theater to start the cricket programs, the audience would miss half the show because we would be in the way.
The puppets act immediately after you press the switch. So we had to add switches so the audience could see the whole show.
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02/14/2002
| Building with the crickets was frustrating! Something would always go wrong! If it was the motor, it wouldn't run properly. Like the programing would be fine, but the connection between the motor and the cricket would be disconnected. Sometimes it would be that the beam would be disconnected from the racks and the motor would make a buzzing sound.
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02/23/2002
Our bug works like a dry cleaning process. We got this picture from www.progressequipment.com. |
All three of our puppets have the same main system.
A couple of beams with racks on top holding the beams together. A gear is placed on a axle and the axle is attached to a motor. Smooth -topped plates were set on a flat and walls were built up around them. We set the beams on the smooth pieces. The gear was set on the racks.
The teeth on the gear corresponded with the teeth on the racks. We taped the wire attached to the puppet on to one end of the beams. Using a connecting wire we attached the motor to the cricket. Press the white cricket button and the program would run.
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02/24/2002
| Our curtain's mechanics work like this window pulley. We got this picture from a book called The Way Things Work by David Macaulay. |
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02/25/2002
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Two of our puppets ( the cat and the lady bug), work like this rack and pinion. The gear is powered by the motor, and the teeth on the gear interlock with the ridges on the rack. The puppet is attached to the rack. The rack moves back and forth, making the puppets move. We got the picture from the book called How Things Work by Neil Ardley. |
03/15/2002
| The ladybug has a small motor attached to the wire that holds her up. That is how she can go up and down. The flying bug is attached to a piece of fishing line, which is attached to the beams. |
This is the small motor that makes the lady bug go up and down. |
03/27/2002
| Today we worked mainly on the curtain. We managed to make it, with the press of a button, go down quite smoothly, and come up with equal smoothness. The ends of the curtain are attached to weights, and those serve as counterbalances.
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These are the counterweights that help balance our curtain. |
04/08/2002
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A LADY IN DISTRESS
by Maddie and Kate
One day in Muffin Man land, the home to all muffin kinds and Muffin Man Cat, the king; Ruby the Lady Bug was walking along. She stopped at the edge of a puddle. “It is a lovely day today! If only this puddle were a bit shallower I would be able to freshen up a bit.” Just then Muffin Man ran into her, knocking her into the puddle.
Some time later, Emerald, a green flying bug saw Ruby in the water.
“ I better go help her,” he thought. So he flew gallantlys down and saved her from drowning.
“Thank You!” she said.
It was a happy ending!! |
05/14/2002
Here we are at the Sceince Museum. |
OUR SHOWS
We did two sets of shows. The first was at Museum Magnet School and the other one was at the Science Museum of Minnesota. We were at the Science Museum for 3 hours, from 1:00 -4:00.
At the museum there were lots of mess ups. None of them really occurred with any other puppets besides Ruby. She seemed to stop in the middle of her program! She would go forward and stop! She wouldn’t go down, up, or back! She was like a snotty stuck up movie star! We never did figure out why she didn’t work, but we think it might be a low battery.
Other than that, everything else worked. Lots of people came and watched. Mostly they would come in the middle of another show and we would do one show after the other, no breaks between. I think that the reason that people kept coming to our puppet theater was because it was engaging with movement and sound. Some people didn’t really ask many questions besides, “How did you do that?” Then they would walk away before we could answer! The kids that were too little to ask questions paid attention all the time. They looked amazed.
The other show that we did was in the Exhibit Hall of our own school, Museum Magnet. We were there from 1:15-3:30, 2 hours. Classes came in shifts. Each child got a card that said which group they were to go to. They had to write two things that interested them, surprised them, or that they liked. They also had to write a suggestion to us on the back. Most of the people asked about how our puppet show worked. Some of the people asked where they could get a cricket. Quite a few people told us to slow down, talk louder and make the story longer. We did all of these. Most people said it was very cool. That made us feel important.
My ( Maddie) opinion of the finished project is that it was worth the work! It made me feel very important and special when everyone said it was very cool. My opinion (Kate) is that I think we should have worked harder and made it longer. Other than that, it was perfect from the start! |
05/15/2002
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