The wheels were in motion now and all three sections of my seventh grade math classes were hard at work on their respective components of the benchwork. In addition to the attention that they gave to their own parts of the project they were of course very interested in what the other sections were doing. Since everything took place in the same room it was natural for them to examine each other’s works in progress and think about how the various parts would come together. A very stimulating balance of mild competition and collaborating towards a common goal emerged.

With only two different components besides screws and a simple rectangular configuration the first panel frame was an ideal learning vehicle. I made a quick sketch under the document camera to help the students locate pilot hole locations and we went through many of the same steps the L-girder team encountered for attempting, then improving, measuring and marking techniques.

While the leg team and the L-girder team were wrestling with their components, my third class of seventh graders would construct the frames that sit on top of the L-girders. Four removable layout sections, three at 8’ and the fourth somewhat shorter to fit into a niche behind the main entry door. The design of each of the frames was based on a simple rectangle with cross pieces 16” o.c. but to accommodate the undulations and protuberances of the track plan no two frames were exactly alike.

(I apologize that I don’t have a photo to accompany this post. I don’t have a journalist’s reflexes so missed many key moments, but I’m determined to do better this year and maintaining this blog will help).

I post an agenda for every class on my blackboard. I’d had to revise my plans for the week substantially because I naively expected to finish all six L-girders in a single session, and here we were starting the third session with zero completed L-girders. This day’s agenda looked something like this:

The leg team actually finished all twelve legs at their next class session. We set up the tilting table on the drill press so that each student could step up, position their 2x2 leg, and make that very satisfying pull on the feed lever down to the depth stop. 30 seconds that make a big impression when you’ve never controlled a powerful motor before.

One of the most important considerations in the design of the benchwork, as with most of what I am planning for the layout, was how easy it would be to parcel out tasks in a way that allowed all students to participate. The benchwork design for the blackboard wall consisted of three 8-foot long modules on legs clipped to the wall under the chalk rail, plus a special 6-foot long section for staging behind the door. That section is just a frame sitting on top of a bookshelf.

As I mentioned in a previous post, once I was satisfied that a model railroad produced good chemistry in my classroom, my initial thought was to add a simple yard module so that trains could actually arrive on the Inglenook from somewhere, and to develop the industries which were now just empty car spots. Even those two things, I realized, would provide many additional dimensions and allow us to incorporate a more robust rationale for the distribution of specific car types.

I don’t know if the room dimensions shown on the sketch in my previous post are correct. I’ve never checked.

When I decided to start thinking about layout plan options I asked a couple of kids who had finished their classwork early to measure the room. I made a rough chalk sketch of the major features on the blackboard, handed them a variety of different measuring tapes and asked them to fill the sketch in with the lengths of each section of wall and the distances between opposite walls. This is a photo of the results: