Pop Can Crusher & Electricity Projects

I am not sure if I want to write about these projects because they were HORRIBLE!  I am almost positive Mom and Dad did 98% percent of the work.

While Lesley and I were in 4th Grade and Ben was in 6th, we were assigned an electricity project.  Ben, Lesley and i got to work together because they said it wasn't fair for a family to make more than one.  Ha.  They knew then the parents were going to do all the work.

Well...in this project we had to make electrical circuits with batteries and lights.  We had to use light bulbs and a few different things to show that we understood electricity.  I remember having no clue how we were going to accomplish this task.

Finally we got around to working on it a few nights before the project was due.  I remember we cut out a huge piece of cardboard and had lego men as the ones running the electrical circuits.  I bet that was about all I contributed to the project.  I remember watching Dad in awe as he made an open and closed circuit, and a switch.  He was amazing and I remember feeling so relieved that he was around to help.

On a side note, it only took dad a few minutes to do that project for us.  After we finished (I thought it was going to take all night), we watched the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin playing the character with the VERY large nose.  Who remembers that sort of thing?

The pop can crusher was MUCH worse.  Lesley and I were in sixth grade.  We had Mrs. E for half the time and Mrs Bones for the other half.  Mrs Bones assigned this impossible project.  We were to construct a pop can crusher that was at least six feet high and have four steps to crush the can (At least this is what I remember).  Four steps meaning you cannot touch the crusher after you started it (example, you hit a tennis ball from a string that hits another button, that drops something, that hits another button, etc.).  We were all so mad.  There was no way a sixth grader could complete this task alone.  Lesley and I got to work together and even that was impossible.

I remember dad on our sidewalk unloading wood from the store and helping us build our popcan crusher.  We really tried.  I mean really tried.  But it was never very good, I'm sorry to say.  But we all decided we didn't care.

When we presented them at school, no one's was really good.  Maybe they just wanted to get the parents involved.  Who knows?  But I will probably never forget them.

Lauren