Destination Imagination

In this project we made a bridge that had to span 30 cm but could go all the way to spanning two meters. In the project we worked in groups and my group was made up of Keenan, Kate, Randy and myself. Because of the bridge element in the challenge we decided to name our group Low Budget Bridges Co. We all had our separate roles although most of us did at least two things. For example, I made the load test and also helped Keenan with building the bridge.

At the start of the project we got ourselves organized and soon started working. It took a bit to get organized but once we had the organization right we worked well. At first it was more Keenan making the bridge and Kate making the story but soon enough me and Randy joined in. I made the load test and Randy helped Keenan with the bridge. Then, further in I helped Keenan with the bridge and Randy worked with Kate on the backdrop which was made with the package of an old TV that Kate had. We then finished everything we did in the first test play which went as bad as ever, it was a fail. So we improved. It took a long time to build the bridge so I became an angry German tourist who yelled at the bridge workers because they were ruining my vacation. Because I was more of the flex guy and I also watched the others do their parts as I worked, glancing over to see what they were doing. I knew how everything worked, how we made and did it, and how it got done. That was good because I would know how to respond to the judges questions. The second test or rehearsal was better but there was still one problem, the bridge.

For the bridge we decided to make the supports two wide instead of the one support on each side which we had before. We worked on it and then shortly after we made the extra supports it was already time for the DI tournament. On the day of the tournament I wasn’t feeling well. I was tired and feverish. But I still helped and did my part just like the practices before. It all went well except for one thing, the bridge. I think it was partly because of the pressure me and Kate had bestowed upon Keenan and Randy with our drumming which got much too fast way too quick. Although I had tried to take a slower approach to the drumming seeing as the bridge wasn’t doing well I didn’t communicate it with Kate and she just drummed on like the bridge would be built in no time. The bridge mostly didn’t succeed though because the main section of the bridge got slanted to the side because the supports weren’t taped together. It was like putting Lego bricks on top of each other instead of putting them inside of each other.

We discussed what went wrong after the challenge and will be doing a number of things differently and let me take you through them. First off, we will be taking extra tape to the championship. This will make it easier to get the whole bridge to be one piece and therefore not slant to one side. We will also make the pieces easier  to put together and make the bridge look more clean. We will also build and re build the bridge until the construction is flawless, quick, and effective. We will also try to pressure Keenan and Randy less so that they have better working conditions at the championship.

With all of these precautions and extra steps will win both prizes in the next DI championship!