Session A: Marble Run Finale

Wow…what a week to kick off summer! Since we announced the challenge of building the World's longest marble run, our campers have been on a mission to incorporate fun, interactive elements into the mix and have come up with some incredibly creative solutions; spirals, ramps, jumps, cascades, plinko and pinball-style challenges.

Thursday was our last full day of building, with many challenges and changes, as collaborations between teams took place to ensure the success of a fully functioning marble run, extending not only the length of the blacktop, but an entire storey! The campers demonstrated excellent team work, cooperation, determination and grit to achieve this.

A couple of cute, furry friends came to say a surprise hello to our Camp Directors!

Arson hard at work, securing the vice.

Ben and Griffin measuring and marking.

Project Ember portrait: Griffin

Team work at it's very best: the whole team working together to complete the last stretch of track.

Time to test the track...

...how's it looking boys?!

Project Ember portrait: Dr Elliott P Blau

Kyle and Ben working on ways to connect the various pinball holes to their track.

Vaughn making some safety checks under the deck.

Tasso showing Leo his preparations for using the jigsaw.

Project Ember portrait: Leo

Elliot P creating the finishing line for our marble run.

Christina hard at work.

A huge team effort to move the last third of the run into place.

Last minute finishing touches; akin to a Nascar pitstop.

The view from the top of our marble run.

The ball is on the move!

Kyle and Ben are eagerly awaiting the moment the ball reaches their multiple funnel section...will it work successfully?

The smiles on their faces say it all!

Davi joins Ben to watch the final stages of the run.

One of the main attractions: our very own pinball machine!

We think you'll agree that all their hard work was well worth it...

* Huge apologies to Session A campers and their families for the delay in this blog post. We've been experiencing a few technical difficulties here at Project Ember HQ (but we're all sorted now). Thank you for your patience!

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Session A Day Campers...what a group to kick off the summer! :)

Session A: Days Two and Three

All our teams' projects have really come to life quickly with all sorts of imaginative designs.  With everything from standard shoots, to zig-zag ramps, to full on pinball machines, this week's kids had no shortage of creativity on call.  Here's a short photo summary of our progress.   

Davi attaches zig zags to aide the ball bearing down the staircase. 

Josh's team (now called the Ball Bearians) gets to work on their "Plinko" board.

Benjamin gets an assist while drilling from the clamps.

Christina trims a dowel on the chop saw. 

Dante helps Dr. Elliot make sure his drill is perpendicular to the wood. 

Griffin demonstrates great technique with the hand saw. 

The wood waterfall comes to life.  (Note the clean work space with all the screws neatly in a storage cup!)

Griffins steps right up to the chop saw. 

Christina and Davi work together on attaching more zig zags. 

No title necessary.  Just look at these guys. 

Kyle excelled with the handsaw and helped teach others who had never used it as well. 

One of our favorite visual elements. 

Elliot shares his amazing "plus plus" blocks during snack.  How cool are these?

Testing time!

Celebratory moment!

Session A: World's Longest Marble Run, Day One

Welcome to the first week of summer camp! The Directors and Collaborators here at Project Ember HQ have been eagerly awaiting today and were pumped and primed for the first full week of art and engineering challenges with some rad young people.

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The first morning at camp can be a daunting one; the combination of new people, new places, new projects. Luckily this is one of our specialities and we pride ourselves in a safe and welcoming space for kids to be seen, heard and valued. As you can see from our group agreements, this week's campers have some thoughtful and savvy suggestions on how to be excellent to one another and stay safe.

Throughout the week, kids at Project Ember will have access to an array of tools and equipment and it is incredibly important to us that they are shown how to use them safely, responsibly and confidently. Tool training focused on the chop saw, clamps and drills - all essential for this week’s (still secret) design challenge.

We decided to keep this week’s project under our belts for a little while longer, with suspense growing throughout park and lunch time. But we can’t keep it secret any longer…this week we are creating THE WORLD’S LARGEST MARBLE RUN!

Dividing ourselves into smaller teams, each group has the responsibility for a different section of the marble run. Christina, Davi, Arson and Leo are working alongside Christopher to create the start of the marble run from the height of the mezzanine level (incorporating the staircase). Elliott B, Dante, Vaughn, Tasso and Josh will take over the run from the bottom of the staircase and continue its course across the blacktop in a suitably challenging and creative fashion. Then it is down to our third and final group; Ysabel, Elliot P, Griffin, Ben and Kyle to conclude our marble run course in style, with collaborative assistance from Jenny and our fab Junior Collaborator Jane. Katie will be spreading her enthusiasm, creativity and technical know-how amongst all three groups and helping campers to figure out the transition points between each part of the run.

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Designing, building and iteration has already begun, even in these initial stages of the project, so expect many more design challenges and problem solving as the week unfolds! As day one came to a close, an encouraging and purposeful start has been made and the staff and campers are excitedly anticipating tomorrow’s first full build day.