Saturday, April 13, 2024

Did you know the world’s tallest buildings, strongest bridges, and even spacecrafts rely on welders? Welding is essential for creating everything from skyscrapers to sculptures! In this session, we will explore the fundamentals of welding as we construct sturdy cardboard beams and put their strength to the test!

Time

Ages 7-11: 8 am PT • 9 am MT • 10 am CT • 11 am ET • 12 pm AT
Ages 11-16: 10 am PT • 11 am MT • 12 pm CT • 1 pm ET • 2 pm AT

Materials and Preparation

Preparation required before the session:

Before the session begins, you will need to pre-cut segments of cardboard. Any kind of cardboard is fine (e.g., a cereal box will work but you can use stronger cardboard if you want). Please cut out 10 rectangular pieces of cardboard with the following lengths and widths:

• 4 pieces: 7 cm x 30 cm
• 2 pieces: 5 cm x 30 cm
• 4 pieces: 3.5 cm x 5 cm

Materials needed during the session: 

You will need the following materials to complete the activity:

• 10 pre-cut segments of cardboard, prepared according to the instructions above
• Scissors
• A hot glue gun and glue sticks (must be a hot glue gun — liquid glue or a glue stick will not work)
• 4 or more cans (e.g., cans of soup). 
  • If you don’t have cans, you can use 4+ other sturdy objects that are all similar in height and can support something being placed on top of them. We will be making two beams and then we will put one can under each end of those beams (= four cans total)
• Books or other objects to use as weights when we test our beams