The Pyramid Project

Today, Alex agreed to let me take a photo of him holding his pyramid project before he turned it in today. Of course that meant that I had to take the picture before Patrick took him to school and the light just isn't very good at 7:30AM. I got one photo of him with a glum face--his usual expression for photos nowadays. He got a text while I was taking the picture and after he read it, he was going to give me that glum face again, but I decided that this photo is more true to life. Not only is he looking down at his phone reading a text, but what he is wearing is also a "slice of life" of what he is like right now. I just bought this jacket and shirt for him this past weekend from Target. He likes to wear clothing that is loose for him and he picked these out totally on his own. I was elsewhere at Target getting other things.

The pyramid itself is nothing really special to look at, at least in my opinion. I posted a photo of him with the first version, made out of cardboard, a couple of weeks ago. This one seemed like it was the same size, based on the templates he brought home to cut out the base and sides, but he insisted that the dimensions were "different", whatever that means. In Science they calculated the dimensions of the pyramid and made the templates. In Math they wrote down the calculations that they did in Science (I'm not sure what the difference there is, but I'm basically quoting Alex). In Social Studies they made the warning signs in hieroglyphics and talked about the three items he placed inside the pyramid that a pharaoh would bring to his afterlife. It was convenient that Alex owns old "toys" that he used for the artifacts, a plastic ring that looked like something a pharaoh would wear, a weapon, and a Lego person he wrapped up like a mummy that was supposed to signify a favorite "servant". Apparently, a pharaoh sometimes killed a favorite "servant" so that he could retain the services of the servant even in the afterlife. I forgot to take a picture of the stuff inside the pyramid. I'll have to remember that later. In English, they wrote a myth, which isn't directly related to the pyramid project, but still along the same lines.

This time Alex chose foam board that was 3/16" thick for the base and sides of the pyramid. We found some sand-colored foam board that he wanted to use so he wouldn't have to cover the sides with paper, although the inside was still colored white. He used his templates to trace the sides and base and I cut the pieces out using an Exacto knife. At first Alex put the pyramid together with only tape and with the white core showing. Patrick and I, being "Type A" parents, thought this would not do at all, so I tried to bevel the edges with the Exacto knife, not an easy task, so the pyramid would fit together without the white core showing. That didn't work well, so Patrick got out his power sander, which worked very well. As you can see from the picture above, the pyramid came together pretty well after that. Patrick and I pointed out to Alex that his way was probably adequate, but we wanted to make it just a little bit better (and satisfy our obsessive-compulsive tendencies.)

I have lots to post about this week so I might have to double up on a couple of days. I started trying to separate my topics for easier reading which has resulted in more posts. Today is Anthony's birthday. I realized that I didn't get any photos of him on his actual birthday, so I'll have to make up for that this weekend.