3rd Grade Distance Learning - Project 1

It's music box time!

Your challenge is to use the materials in your work packet to build a working music box. A working music box makes music when you turn the crank. The crank need to activate the mallets, which then hit the xylophone to make music.

This is a 2 week project. We'll start this week and finish up the following week. In your packets you should have the materials listed below. You should also have one marble. Please put the marble in a safe place for an upcoming project.

I will post video instructions and written instructions. I provided you with nearly all the materials, including tape and a hot glue gun. I did not have enough low temperature glue guns for everyone so some are regular glue guns. Please only us the hot glue when an adult can supervise. You will also need a pair of scissors, a ruler, and a pencil.

Materials list:

1/2 a toy xylophone
3 sheets 8.5x11 chipboard
4 - 4" sections of 3/16" dowel
4 - 1.5" wooden beads
4- 1x3/4" wooden spools
6 - 6x9mm plastic beads
1 - 12" section of 3/16 " dowel
1 wooden skewer
2 medium binder clips
10 plastic topped pushpins
1 cork
2 - 3" diameter disposable coasters
1 - 5" section of 3"  cardboard packing tube
1 tongue depressor
 colored masking tape
hot glue gun
2 hot glue sticks

Week 1 - Directions

Please begin by watching this intro video.

Part 1 - Build the Box
​From the chipboard sheets, measure and cut:
1 - 6"x8" rectangle
1 - 6"x3" rectangle
1 6"x1.5" rectangle
2 - 8"x3" rectangles

After you cut out all the box pieces you need to pre-poke some holes.

Before assembly, take the two 8x3 sections. With a pencil, make a mark 3 1/8" in from the side and 1 1/2" from the top. One of your pushpins to make a hole at this intersection. Then make the whole bigger by using a skewer. 

Repeat on the other 8"x3" section. Tape all sections together to for a strong 6"x8"x3" box. Make sure the punched holes are lined up so a skewer can pass through them. The 6"x1.5" side should be on the end nearer to the punched hole.

​If you like video instructions, see below.

Save any extra chipboard. You'll need it to assemble the mallet strike plates.

Part 2 - Build the Drum
Take your 5" section of 3"tube. This is your drum. Line drum up along the xylophone section and use a small piece of colored masking tape to mark where the drum aligns with each key. Then use larger masking tape piece to make a ring around the entire drum for each key.

Using a ruler, make a straight line down the drum that crosses the tape lines. I used a tape measure but you do not need to be so exact. Just try to divide the drum into 10, relatively equal sections.

Now you can decided what you want your xylophone to play. A push-pin centered in a tape-square will make one note. Do not glue pins. You may need to make adjustments later on.

​For video of these instructions, see below.

 Then you need to seal the ends of the drum. I bought a bunch of 3" round, disposable coasters. I use a circle template (below) to find the center and then punched a hole in the center using a pushpin and then a pencil. Since my coasters are plain white, I used colored Sharpies to decorate them in the same color scheme as the xylophone. Then I assembled the 2 coasters and drum along a 12" long 3/16" dowel. Use hot glue  or tape to secure the coasters to each end of the drum. Center the drum on the dowel and attach with hot glue(try to avoid big lumps!). 

This is the end of lesson 1. Find a safe place for the parts you constructed and we'll finish up next week. Be sure to save the extra pieces of chipboard. We will need those next week too.

If you have a question, email me at [email protected] or leave a comment below. All comments are screened before being posted

xylophone_templates.pdf
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