a framework for toolmaking
What you need:
Two boxes, one AT LEAST 3 times larger than the other. Tape, something heavy to fill the small box.
Exercise:
- Take a large/medium sized cardboard box tape it up empty.
- Take a small box (less than 1/3 the size of the large box) and fill it with sand, shot, a paperweight or other HEAVY material and likewise tape it up.
- Try to make the two look as similar as possible from the outside.
- Place both on a table (or the floor) next to each other and push first the large one about a foot, and then the smaller one.
- Wait a little while and do it the other way.
- Drop them both… which one is louder? What are the differences in the sound?
- Try to convince a couple of friends to play… separately have one push the big one first and the other the small one first. How did that impact how much effort they expected to expend moving the second one?
Questions:
What kind of clues do you think you could have given on the outside of the box to indicate their different weights?
Which one would be harder to carry over a long period of time? Small and heavy or big and light? What if the big one was foldable?
Which would you rather do… carry something heavy in on an escalator or something light up a flight of stairs?
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