Today was the first day of Cluster 7's second part of the course: Tensegrity and Modeling of the Red Blood Cell Membrane. Mainly we were just playing around with sticks (with holes and slots), elastic cords, and caps. In the morning session we did some basic work with one stick and a few strings and then later tried to build a Snelson prism (three sticks with the strings attached in such a way that the structure was self-stabilizing yet the sticks did not touch). Our group (Chantal, Amna, and I) was unable to successfully complete the Snelson prism, so in the end Dr. Oliveira had to help us learn how. After that Amna and I continued to make prisms with four, five, and six sticks based on the same principle.
In the afternoon session we were given the manual for the Tensegritoys set and allowed to build anything we wanted from it. Amna and I both failed in successfully completing the tetrahedron, but we did build a nice icosahedron. Afterwards Amy and Rachel attached 6 icosahedrons together for a really cool structure.
So, tomorrow is our next Discovery Lecture. It should be pretty interesting, just like the past two.
Well, tonight's activities will start in half an hour. I know there's dodgeball and cookie making/decorating, but I don't know the rest of the activities. I hope I find out soon whether I'm in Gotcha or not. I don't mind either way (it would be fun to either watch other people tag and get tagged or to actually be involved in the game), but I want to know...
Anyway, I'm sure this week will be a lot of fun, with Karaoke Night tomorrow and Talent Show on Friday. Good night!
~CS
