Lessons in Mechanical Advantage

Today, students from Urban Promise learned the ins and outs of simple machines and mechanical advantage. Due to the recent hurricane we had brought our boats into the shop, and so our first demo was on boat moving techniques. We started with the simple lesson that 'many hands make light work' and moved on to using dolleys to show the power of using wheels. Moving into the museum we looked further into the canons on display and found that many simple machines are utilized to make the processes of aiming, stabilizing and moving the canons possible. There are wheels on each to allow them to roll, a wedge to aim up and down, a lever at the center point of the canon to help maintain stability while aiming, and hooks to attach a block and tackle for lifting.
Our next demonstration was in the use of a block and tackle to aid in lifting a 100 pound box. At first many of the students were apprehensive about their ability to lift the box, but by the end of the session everyone was lifting it with the help of a 4 to 1 block and tackle set up. This was certainly a lesson they won't forget.

Learning the Ropes -Urban Promise

Today I learned that you can tell the difference between trees easily. I also learned different types of tools. The last thing I learned is that the power tools are hard to control.

-Azim Hicks

Working with Bruce - Urban Promise

Today I had fun looking at boats and seeing the old artifacts from the 1800's. We met a man named Bruce who has been working with wood for 40 years! Me and the Urban Promise crew are very excited to come back next week and work on the boats! It's going to be a very fun adventure along the way.
-Kevin George

Making Cubes and Rowing - CHAD

This Wednesday marks the third time we've been to the Seaport Museum's boatbuilding workshop and already my team has learned a lot. So far, we have been introduced to all the power tools, and became familiarized with their names as we used them. We went rowing today, which was awesome! We really enjoyed ourselves. We split the team into two group; one went rowing and the other stayed in the shop to make cubes out of wood! Really wait to see what we'll be doing next week! Until then, bye!

-Dehjia Thompkins

Power Tool Practice - CHAD

Me, my chemistry teacher, and five other students from CHAD revisited the Seaport Meseum we were introduced to last week. We mainly worked on how to use the tools, which was fun but also scary at first, and eventually we will get to building sometime. So, today was fun, and no one got hurt. We are all looking forward to next week!

-Emmanuel Wisdom

Our First Day - CHAD

Today me and eight other juniors from CHAD (Charter High School for Architecture and Design) are a part of a boat building club. We will begin building at the Seaport Museum where we have just been introduced to our fellow instructors who will be showing us how to use all types of power tools starting next week. When we all master how to use the tools perfectly we will move onto beginning to build our magnificent boat. We are all excited to see whats going to happen.

-Dehjia Thompkins

First day in the Shop - Urban Promise

I think today was a great experience. I would also think my classmates think the same. Me and my peers learnesd a lot about boats that we never knew before. Also, the instructors were very cool. Me and Urban Promise are very excited to come back the week after next!

-Sierra P.