whats up

from calvin

sea man

The Sea Devil

At the end of the story, the main character vows to never fish again.
He accidentally caught a devil ray and the rope was stuck around his arm so then he was dragged around and almost killed if it weren't for a dolphin that came to the rescue. So he got pretty lucky. So pretty much he will never go fishing again because he was all ripped up by this thing and I know I probably wound not go in the water again either.
Mountain biking is the more risky thing I do because there a possibility I could fall or get attacked by a bear and that would be bad. So yeah, I would never go mountain biking again if that happened.

The Sea Devil

I think that the main character made the wrong decision because I fell off my bike a few months ago and I still ride my bike alot. Just because he was acting like a little boy over a fish doesn't mean that he should never fish again. I mean I would be scared, but not enough to make me not do it again. Just because it happend one time doesn't mean that it is going to happen again. He got scared because a big fish attacked him and he couldn't get away from him. I do a lot of risky things like BMX. I have also gone kayaking before and that is pretty risky because you could drown. BMX is risky because you can fall like I did and brake your face. I have done that too. But yeah I think that he is a wimp for being scared of a fish.

The Sea Devil

In the "Sea Devil" the main character goes fishing and accidentally catches a huge sea ray and almost dies. He chose to never fish again because of what happened to him. I think the main character made the right decision. An enormous sea devil attacked him and he almost didnt live. I would have done the same thing that he did. He risked his life and he barely lived and im not surprised he quit fishing. I think that he did it because not only did he almost die but he maybe had felt bad for the sea devil as well. He found out what it is like to be hunted all the time just like the sea devil. The other reason is obviously because he almost died. He saw his life flash before his eyes and it really mad him stop and think what he wants more, To live or to die. Things I do in my life that are risky is kayaking. I normaly dont kayak but we went with the bike shop. It was risky because I could have drowned.

Stave Deccabon Drum

For Newfound Challenge I decided to do my project on drums. I decided to make drums because I am a drummer and making drums is very fun and challenging as well. The teacher taught me how to make a certain type of drum called a “stave” drum. A Stave drum is a drum that has shaved down sides so they are at an angle. It has 16 boards(all shaved down) and they all connect and make a perfect circle for a drum. It is called a Stave Deccabon because a Deccabon is a drum that is about 24 inches deep and 8 inches around. Give or take a couple inches in depth or width, you can make it however you want I just decided to make my drum 24 inches deep by 8 inches wide.
To make the drum this is what you do. First, once you have shaved down the sides at an angle of the 16 boards you take any kind of strong tape and tape the boards. You take all the boards and lay them flat on the ground. Then you tape the boards together and lift up the boards and bend them and they will all be connected by the tape. Once you do that, You take wood glue and fill in the cracks (that will be there because the boards aren't connected). Once all of the cracks are filled in with wood glue you take a rope and tie it around the drum to create pressure. After you do that step you wait for the wood to dry. Once it is completely dry you take off the tape and the tie and shave down the sides with a plane to make the drum rounded. Once it is pretty close to a good circle you can take sandpaper and sand it down to make it a nice smooth circular drum.
Once all of those steps are finished you have yourself a nice drum for playing. Once you put the drum head on the top you have to make a stress hole about a quarter inch in diameter. That has to be on the drum somewhere in the middle so when you hit the drum the air has somewhere to go. If there was no hole then the drum would eventually crack because of all the pressure! Those are the simple steps you will need to make a stave drum. Hopefully after reading this you will have the knowledge to know how to make a drum and the ability to make a drum.
For me, this project was challenging because I have never made this type of drum before. It is a very big challenge to me, making this type of drum takes a lot of precision and hard work and patience. The one problem I had with it was when we made the drum we had to glue it very quickly before it dried and unfortunately we did not do it fast enough. We solved the problem by making a completely new drum and using the one we messed up on for practice. Ryan McMahon was a big help as well because he showed me the basics of making it so I could complete it properly. Him and I worked together really well on shaving the drum and shaping it into a perfect circle. Without Ryan, I could not have made the drum as well as I did.

Risk

Risk- Exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance

During our Kayak Trekking Unit we took many risks. By exposing you to risky situations we wanted you to learn more about yourself and how you deal with stress and difficult situations. By learning to deal well with difficulty and risk on the water you can improve how you deal with tough situations in regular life.
This is one of the main reasons why we went kayaking.

In a blog entry please answer the following:
1. Identify one risk that you took during the Kayak Trekking Unit.
2. How did you overcome this risk, what was the outcome? Did you "loose" anything or even get hurt?
3. Identify one risk that have taken in everyday life.
4. If you had to take this risk again, how might you approach this risk differently now that you have been through the Kayak Unit?

English Entry 3:

"The Sea Devil"

At the end of the story, the main character vows to never fish again. Given the circumstances, it is safe to assume that the fight with the Sea Devil scared him. One might assume that fear is the reason he wont fish. Another thought that was brought up in class is that the main character could now empathize with a trapped fish and thus would never hunt one again. What do you think?

Write an essay explaining the main character's reasons for vowing to never fish again. Appropriately cite evidence from the story that supports your argument. Also relate this story to your own life and the risks that you take. What would stop you from doing something you love? Was he right to give up fishing?

The Sea Devil Short Story

The Sea Devil is a short story we will be reading on our trip for Monday the 9th at Wellington State Park. I read it in high school as a part of a short story unit.

Hopefully by participating in this kayaking unit we will all connect with this story on a new level. Maybe we should have read Lord of the Flies...

I have a lesson in dutch oven camp cooking planned and it should be a nice hot day. Lots of water and sunscreen is a must.

Pictures will be coming soon...

English Entry 2: Fiction

This assignment asks you to use some creativity. Write a piece of fiction. Use your imagination. The only criteria I will require is that your writing involves kayaks. Check back for some ideas that we came up with in class...

Reflection Entry One

Reflection Project Entry One:

Describe our first trip on the water...
Who? What? When? Where? Why? Set the tone. Paint the scene. Spin the yarn!

Also, what were your feelings getting into the boat for the first time? Were you in the boat we made or were you in a boat that we borrowed from Mayhew? How do you think you would have felt if you were in the other type of boat?

Finally, write about the experience and your expectations. Were you excited about the trip or were you dreading it? Often times having really high or really low expectations can influence behavior and how you experience things. Look back on the adventure, reflect on your behavior, and talk about your expectations.

English Assignments for Trip Days

While we are doing the kayaking trips, we will have limited opportunities for in-class English lessons. Don't worry we thought of that. I will assign a series of writing assignments that ask you to describe our trips and reflect on the experiences. Each assignment will be posted on the blog and I will provide written instructions the days of our trips. It is your responsibility to post your work. I will provide feedback to your first posting and you are expected to resubmit your work with appropriate improvements for credit. Your collected work will be graded as a project for English.

Final Project Proposal "The Box"

My proposal
I was asked to come with a final project so I came up with building a sub box. The name of my project is “The Box”. For a description it's big and square and makes a lot of noise. At least it should or I will have to come up with something better.
Hopefully, I can get a 12 inch sub speaker to put in the box, if not I guess I will have to wait. But also this might be challenging because I've never made a sub box and it has to be better than Dan's.
How will I show problem solving skills? I will show them by working them out. I wont know the problem until I get to it. Some possible problems are if it rattles, whistles, or has distortion but I will fix it if it happens.
How will I show my people skills? I will talk things out and I will take information in and learn from past mistakes. I could talk to Dan's dad because he knows a lot about speakers.
The thing I know is that I know what sounds good. Dan doesn't, so that's my advantage. If there's any distortion, I wont be happy.

Final Project Proposal

Newfound Challenge Proposal

We were asked to make a final project for the year. The title of my project is the sub box. The description of my box is a square with a 2 ½ by 2 ½ with a 11 ½ inch hole for my 12 inch sub-woofer and it is going to have a 3 inch exhaust.
This project is going to be a challenge for me. I have built a lot of sub- boxes before so I am trying to make a better one that is better than Calvin's. My box is going to be better than Calvin's because I have built a lot of them before and Calvin hasn't.
This project is going to make me use problem solving skills. It is going to make me use problem solving skills because I need to make sure that the box is actually a square. I am also going to try different size exhausts to make it sound better.
I will be using people skills because I am going to ask RP Williams for some of the wood that I need. I will have to call them to see if they if they have the right material. I will also have to make the order. It is going to be hard because I have to work with Ryan. It is going to be hard to work with Ryan he has never done it so he is going to ask a lot of questions. That can get annoying. That is going to bother me but I am going to have to get over it.
I think that the box will come out good. I am looking forward to putting it in my car.

Building The Kayak

Today we went to the Bcc and played some basketball. For the boat, today we are making custom paint jobs. We are going to make a Pantera paint job. Also we are doing a Dimebag Darrell tribute on the boat. We will be doing one side of the boat with our paint job. The other students will be doing the other side. That is what we are going to be doing for our boat project today.

I have had several requests for up-to-date pictures of the boats. Next week we will be on the water learning basic kayaking skills.

















No students today- NRHS Career Day and Spring Fling are happening at the High School right now. I am in the down town classroom planning our trips and preparing to pick up a boat trailer, life jackets, and paddles at Camp Mayhew around 1:00pm.

The Next Step

Yesterday we did not get a chance to paint the bottom of the boat because it started to rain. So that is what we are going to do today.We made a hach (that is were you site). The hach is an opening in the middle of the boat.

Personal Project

Assignment: Choose a project to work on during Challenge class and at home. The project must be finished on or before it is due: the last day before finals week. This is for part of the final grade in Challenge Class.

Guidelines:

-You may work in groups

-You must fund it; on your own, or with “fund raising”

-You must be able to work on it during Challenge Class

-It must be legal (obviously)

-You are responsible to find the equipment needed

Requirements:

To get a passing grade, you must:

• Type a proposal for what you will do onto the Challenge Blog

• Choose a project that is challenging for you.

• Show effective problem solving skills

• Show effective group/people skills

• Present what you have done, and what you learned in some way to the instructor and the class

Some Suggestions:

- Put on a community breakfast with food from Shop n’ Save; challenge yourself to get more than 15 people to attend

- Build a bike

- Build something simple with wood

- Make your own blog

- Design a skate board logo, deck, or sticker

- Design a Alt Wheels sticker and get it made

- Make a Challenge Class ’08 yearbook

Cody & Ryan's Blog Update

Today in class we played football. Our most recent work on the boat is the combing. The combing is where you sit in the kayak. Yesterday we cut out the hole, today we have to shape it.

update

Today we started out with sanding all of the the rough and bumpy epoxy off the hull. Then we wiped the whole boat off with tack cloth which is like cheese cloth but sticky. Then we went over the boat again with epoxy to make it more water proof and look better.

The blog has grown. Now that we have an up-to-date blog with a good body of information, we can start telling people to look us up on the internet.

To stay current with what we do in class and on our kayak project, I would like to try an new posting style. Everyday someone will post an entry on what has happened since the last post. Only one person has to post on their assigned day.

This entry should be a personal reflection. It should be in your own voice and should contain your own personal experience and thoughts.

For Example:
5/10/08
Buying Paint
I had to find out what kind of paint we can use for the outside of the kayaks. It needs to be durable and not harmful to the environment. The paint also must protect the epoxy from the harmful effects of sunlight. So far I know that oil based paint will stick the best to the epoxy, but we don't know if it is still harmful to the environment after it is dry. Things are getting down to the wire; I hope we stay on schedule.
---Ryan

This "personal reflection" style of post is what many people use on their blog.

Installing the Bulkheads

The bulkheads are the three pieces in the center of the boat that give the boat shape. First thing we did was cut out 3 bulkheads with a stencil. Next you nail 3 1x1 pine sticks to each of the insides of the sides. One close to the front, one in the middle, and one near the back. This will give you some thing to nail the bulkheads to. Next you nail the bulkheads into the boat.oh yah the smallest bulkhead gos in the front and the mid size in the rear and the biggest in the middle.

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my favorite part was sanding because i made the wood smooth and it felt good

installing the bulk heads

The Boat

After the boat was sanded down and made nice and smooth.

The Latest Pictures Of The Kayak

Top is on and now we are sanding.

how to put it all together

First you put the sides together and match them up. Then you get the appropriate size drill bit and drill a hole through the bow and stern about an inch apart it is about 18-20 holes. We do this so the boat can stand up and it is also easier to work on. We used the stitch and glue process to attach the bow and the stern. We also use the stitch and glue process because it is easier to work with than nailing it or screwing it. After you put the bow and stern together you take car bondo and put it were the to sides come together at the bow and the stern this makes a fill.

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The part I enjoyed is when we did the fiberglass and the fill. I liked it the most because I have alot of experience with fiberglass because that is what I made my BMX ramps with.

Beveling Sheer Clamps Down

The next step is to bevel the sheer clamp and chine log so they fit when we put the bow (front) and stern (rear) together. If we didn't bevel the bow, the boat ends wouldn't go together correctly. The first thing we had to do in the process is trim the sheer clamp and chine log down with the saw until it was close to done. Then we took the plane and the Surform and shaved it down until it was able to fit perfectly. We had to do the same procedure at both ends of the boat. Although at the bow we did not have to bevel the wood, we just cut it right off. And that is the step of beveling the sheer clamp and chine log down.

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I had fun hanging out with Cody and Ryan. It's easier to work with just them two instead of everybody.

Blog Entry III: Putting it all Together

The description of our project leaves off at attaching the sheer clamps; by this time we have done a significant amount more. We will attach the bottom today. Please describe the next few steps up to attaching the bottom.

Ryan- Beveling sheer clamps down so they fit when bow and stern are attached
Dan- drilling and zip tying the panel ends
Calvin- bulkhead installation
Cody- cutting out the bulkheads

Follow the same format as the last post

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Please also answer this question below a Horizontal Rule-- aka make a line across the page like the one above. This can be used to separate two sections of an entry.

To make a Horizontal Rule Type: < then: hr then: /> to close the "tag." When you post that writing will show as a line like the one above.

Question:
What have you enjoyed the most (or might have enjoyed if you were enjoying it) about this project so far ? Why?

Tracing Kayak

First you have to trace the kayak out on wood and the you need to cut it out with a saw and then you need to do it again for the other side of the boat. Next, you need to put strips of wood, the chine log and the sheer clamp, and you glue those on top and bottom of the cut out. They are what you nail the top & bottom into.

You need a pencil, saw, plane, hammer,nails.

Adding The Chine Logs And Sheer Clamps

Today I am going to tell you about sheer clamps and chine logs. The sheer clamps are put between the walls of the boat to make it more sturdy.Chine logs are 1x1 strips of wood that are glued to the perimeter of the sides of the boat. They are used to keep the boat sturty and it makes it possible to nail the top and bottom to the sides. First you put glue on one of the chine logs and glue it to the panel. When you glue it, you glue it proud which means to leave extra showing on the edge so you can shave it down after.In the picture above you can see the chine logs glued to the panel.

Butt Blocking The Two Panels

The next step in building the kayak is butt blocking the two panels to make the 16' blanks. You put the two pieces of wood together and put a plank over them and nail the plank so that the two pieces are connected to each other. The tools needed are the wood glue nails and a hammer. That is all the steps and tools you need to do this step of the project.

Blog Entry II: Update; What Steps Have We Done

We must continue to document our project. Someone should be able to look at our blog and be able to build a kayak by following the steps we have written. For this entry each member of class will have a different step to explain.

Ryan- butt blocking the two panels to make the 16' blanks
Cody- tracing the pattern and roughing out the panels, fairing the boards
Calvin- scarfing the sheer clamps and chine logs
Dan- attaching and fitting the sheer clamps and chine logs


Each entry must :
- have an introduction
- what tools are used
- have step by step instructions
- be posted in order
- display at least one relevant picture

KAYAK PROGRESS

We are making a kayak this will teach us how to use these skills if we ever want to make a boat or kayak in the future. If you get good at it maybe you could do it for a living someday.

The Kayak

We are making kayaks for the students at Alternative Wheels to use on Newfound Lake. We are using one-quarter inch Luan plywood. We are making them at the bike shop. We built some sawhorses to make the kayaks. We are using them in May or June. Some one would enjoy this project because it is a good experience and it is something new.

THE GOODS

We are making a kayak (why) for the experience (how) luan ply wood and a little bit of brain (where) Bristol NH bike shop (when) this may-June
Some one would probably like this because when your done you can say you’ve made a kayak.

Kayaking

We are making a kayak for our project. We are making it to show that we are cool and we are good at building things. We are using hand saws and sawhorses, we are doing it ghetto style and its gonna be sweet dude. When we are finished we are going to take it onto Newfound lake. Someone might enjoy this project because it will be fun to take that baby out on Newfound.

Blog Entry Assignment 1: Intro To the Kayak Project

The purpose of this Blog is to inform other people of what we are doing in Newfound Challenge. It also will provide a documented history of the experience for the people that were involved to look back on.

Naturally the first entry is an introduction to what we are currently doing.

Please write: What are we doing?
Why?
How?
Any other details about what we are doing...
And...
What is one reason someone might enjoy this project?

Favorite Band

Metallica is my favorite band, because they rock my socks off. they have their own sound.

Shocker

My favorite type of music is rap. My favorite rapper is 2 pac. My favorite song by 2 pac is getto gospel. He is my favorite rapper because hes my man.

MY BOYS

My name is calvin and my favorite band is back street boy because they're playing games with my heart.

SLAYER!!!!!!!!!

I am Ryan and one of my favorite bands is Slayer. They are a very unique band in many different ways. They have a drummer who does alot of off beats. The two guitar players are usually always in sync unless one of them is doing a nasty solo. Then of course their lead singer plays the bass guitar and he has a very different voice and it makes them sound unique and they stick out from all of the other metal bands that are out there.