This year the 5s are creating whirligigs in Tech. A whirligig is a fun machine that moves in an interesting way. Ben decided to have the 5s make whirligigs because this year's theme is function. Whirligigs have exposed functions, so you can see how they work from the outside. Ben was also interested in them because they have a lot to discover, so we would have something to experiment with all year.

The first step in making whirligigs is to brainstorm an idea. The 5s interviewed their buddies and started a design that incorporated things that the buddy liked. For example, if your buddy enjoyed playing baseball and also baking cakes, you could have a design of a cake playing baseball. But you could do many other things as well. After they finished making their designs, they presented them. The design groups recorded three things they liked about their designs. Everyone got one thing from their design incorporated into the whirligig.

Once they got paired up in their groups, the 5s decided what action, what setting, and what characters would go into their whirligigs. They decided by considering what they liked about the other peoples' whirligigs. One person's design inspired the setting, one person's inspired the character and one person's inspired the action the character would do. If the group had four people, another person's design would inspire another character.

Next the 5s looked in books and found designs for their whirligigs. This ferris wheel could be used to spin a dolphin around, so it looks like the dolphin is jumping up and down.

Next the 5s got to design their own supports and bases for their ferris wheels. The supports had to be tall, so the ferris wheel spokes didn't touch the base. To do this they used Adobe Illustrator. Adobe Illustrator is a graphic design program.

This project is ongoing. but these are the things that they've done so far. By the end of the year, we hope to have finished the whirligig project!