Transcript: Design for Function

JACKIE: Thanks for the ride, Mother G.

MATT: There’s the Wreaker! Bet Hacker’s in that little house with Digit. Let’s go!

WANDA: No! You can’t walk in this goop - it’s too deep! And even if you do get to the island the cliff’s too steep to climb! Oh... What are you going to do?

INEZ: Well, maybe we can invent something to help us.

JACKIE: I don’t know. I mean, we already messed up one invention today.

INEZ: Don’t worry, we won’t make the same mistake we did before.

MATT: Right! This time, we’ll make a list of what we need our invention to do first.

JACKIE: Then think of ways to make our ideas real. Let’s make the list!

INEZ: Okay. What do we need our invention to do?

MATT: Number one: we need something to take us across the swamp.

JACKIE: Number two: we need something to get us up that cliff.

INEZ: Something to get us across the swamp... and up the cliff. Let’s design the climbing thing first.

JACKIE: The cliff looks really high. We could try a ladder.

MATT: Or a ramp.

INEZ: Or maybe a staircase.

WANDA: They all sound like good ideas. How do we decide which one to do?

INEZ: Well, we should try them out. But that means we’d have to build them - and we don’t have time to do that!

WANDA: I could draw them!

MATT: Cool! Then we can see if they work.

WANDA: Well, what do you think?

JACKIE: I see a problem with the design. The ground’s very rocky. No way, a ladder might tip.

WANDA: Well, how about a ramp?

INEZ: Hmmm...I don’t think that design will work, either. We have to go up - not down, and a ramp could be slippery.

MATT: And it would have to be really long - and heavy to hold us.

JACKIE: Try the stairs idea.

MATT: Nope, too clunky. We can’t carry around a whole stairway.

INEZ: I can’t believe not one of these ideas is right.

WANDA: So maybe these ideas don’t do everything we need. But they’re just designs. Why not change one so it’s easier to carry?

INEZ: You mean like shrink it or crunch it or fold it or something?

JACKIE: Yeah! A ladder can fold.

INEZ: Uh, still sounds too unsteady to me.

MATT: What if we split the ramp apart and carry it to the island in pieces?

JACKIE: Maybe...but I don’t have a clue how to put back together.

INEZ: But the idea of carrying pieces is a good one. Especially if they fit together - like a set of wooden dolls, or--

MATT/JACKIE: Barrels!

MATT: Look! These barrels were inside each other!

JACKIE: Yeah! I bet if we turn them upside down, we can build a tower!

INEZ: No way. We’ll never be able to climb it. There’s no room for our feet.

MATT: Maybe there’s something else around here we can use.

WANDA: Oh! How about these boxes?

JACKIE: I bet they can fit inside each other like the barrels did! They do!

INEZ: So we can build a tower that we can climb.

MATT: Way to go, Wanda!

INEZ: Now all we need now is a boat.

MATT: A boat???

INEZ: How else are we going to get to the island?

JACKIE: Guys!

JACKIE: We have a boat, right here! We can use the biggest box as our boat!

MATT: Touchdown, Jax! And watch this...If we pack the other boxes under this one, we have a bench to sit on!

JACKIE: And we can use these for paddles.

INEZ: A box - a boat - a staircase. The invention that meets all our needs!