Today, the younger Free-Ride offspring’s account of another workshop from Kids Day @ SLAC 2010.
Dr. Free-Ride: What did you do for the levers part of the day?
Younger offspring: Levers and pulleys? Well, they put us into three groups, after we went to another part — it was in the same building, but we had to walk, so we went to the levers and pulleys. They put us into groups of three.
Dr. Free-Ride: And?
Younger offspring: And I was in the group where first, we got to sit in the chair, put our legs up, wear gloves and safety goggles also, and pull ourselves up.
Dr. Free-Ride: How high?
Younger offspring: Up to the red tape on the rope.
Dr. Free-Ride: Uh huh. How high was that, would you estimate? Was it pretty far up?
Younger offspring: Two or three feet, I think.
Dr. Free-Ride: That’s significant. That’s enough that if you fell from that height you would feel it.
Younger offspring: No, but we were sitting on a chair.
Dr. Free-Ride: I understand.
Younger offspring: And we kept our legs up, so then we let go slowly and let our hands slip down.
Dr. Free-Ride: Mmm hmm.
Younger offspring: It made it feel warm but it didn’t make it have a burn.
Dr. Free-Ride: Uh huh. Friction, baby!
Younger offspring: Don’t say that! I’m not a baby!
Dr. Free-Ride: I didn’t mean it that way. OK, go on. What else did you guys do with the levers and the pulleys?
Younger offspring: Well, for the levers, there was, like, one person standing on one side — a grown-up standing on one side, and it was on the blue tape, which meant “one”. The blue tape was in the middle. So, I was on the other side, and I even walked to the edge and it wouldn’t work, so I was like, “Move it to two.”
Dr. Free-Ride: Hmm.
Younger offspring: The green tape. So, we moved it to two. He stood on the edge and I stood, like, not on the edge. I was like this (trying to push down), and he was like, “Nope.” And I moved back and moved back until I was on the edge, and he was like, “You did it!” Or something like that.
Dr. Free-Ride: OK, so basically you moved further and further back on the lever and then you were able to lift a grown-up.
Younger offspring: I have something it connects with, kind of. In martial arts.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yes?
Younger offspring: When sensei gets a sword —
Dr. Free-Ride: Uh huh?
Younger offspring: A foam sword.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yes.
Younger offspring: He swings it, and he tells us not to go near the end, ’cause the end’s faster and it will hit you if you go near the wall, where he is.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh, so if you’re going to get hit by it, it’s better to get hit by it closer to the the handle than to the end?
Younger offspring: No! You’re not going to get hit by it. It’s a timing practice.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh, it’s a timing practice.
Younger offspring: You have to time when you’re going, and he says, if you don’t want to get hit, go near the shoulder.
Dr. Free-Ride: Got it, because it’s moving slower there.
Younger offspring: When he’s like this — he’s swinging his arm, like this — and when he goes right here —
Dr. Free-Ride: When it goes near the shoulder.
Younger offspring: When it goes right here — that’s where you are — when it goes right here, you walk past and around him so you won’t get hit.
Dr. Free-Ride: And get near the shoulder rather then going out near the end.
Younger offspring: No, and also getting close to him. You go like this once you get past the shoulder.
Dr. Free-Ride: So you go right around his back. OK.
Younger offspring: So you have to go close to him.
Dr. Free-Ride: That’s very smart. That’s a good connection to make. So was there anything else awesome in the levers and pulleys part of the Kids Day that you want to tell us about?
Younger offspring: There was also a tug-of-war.
Dr. Free-Ride: Mmm hmm.
Younger offspring: And if you were on the side that was the winning side, it was because there was a pulley.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh.
Younger offspring: That’s why you could beat a grown-up at a tug-of-war.
Dr. Free-Ride: Awesome.
Younger offspring: And it was called “Monster Muscles!”
Dr. Free-Ride: Were there actual monsters involved, or were you the —
Younger offspring: No!
Dr. Free-Ride: You were the monsters?
Younger offspring: No! We had muscles, like monsters’ muscles. We had big muscles!
Dr. Free-Ride: I see. Or was it just that you were making smart use of the muscles you had?
Younger offspring: No, we had monster muscles. We got to lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps!
Dr. Free-Ride: But was that not just clever mechanical use of the muscles you came with? Or did they really inject monster DNA into you to make your muscles somehow magically stronger?
Younger offspring: Does it matter?
Dr. Free-Ride: I think to Sprog Blog readers it might matter.
Younger offspring: OK, then, Sprog Bloggers. You guys … I am not going to tell you. I don’t know what she just said. OK? Do you hear me? Do you hear me, DrugMonkey? Do you hear me, Isis?
Dr. Free-Ride: OK, bye.
Younger offspring: Bye!
