Rough Draft

Today, I turned in the rough draft for the research paper. It was quite a relief to be able to hand that paper over to someone else and let go of it for a time. It was a good start to my final research paper though and will help me to analyze my work so far and create a more clear and convincing paper for the final one. I volunteered at the Miracle League Halloween celebration this evening as a part of Erica's Senior Project. It was good to see the things she is able to accomplish and contribute to through her senior project. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and the event was a definite success.

Mortise and Tenon

Last Saturday, I worked again with Dr. Huminski in his workshop. We finished planing all the wood and I built my first mortise and tenon joint. This is a technique used to join two pieces of wood using a square hole. Another way to join two pieces of wood is by using the biscuit method, but the mortise and tenon joint is usually stronger. It took over an hour to create just two mortise and tenon joints so it can be a long process, especially for a beginner. The time is worth the quality though. I took some pictures during my time at the workshop, but I am having trouble uploading them onto the blog. Hopefully, I will be able to put them up soon.

Research Paper Thesis

On Saturday, I will continue my work with Dr. Huminski. The glue on the front legs will definitely be dry by now and I am anxious to see how they look. Before leaving our last session, Dr. Huminski told me to research mortise and tenon techniques in woodworking to prepare for the next session. I have begun that research and found that this technique is used in joining two pieces of wood using a square hole. I will report more of what I learn about this technique next week. 

I have revised my thesis for my research paper: Due to their scientific, historical, and intrinsic values, The United States Congress and Forest Service need to take a more active role in protecting our nation's old growth forests by more strictly limiting logging in these areas and eventually halting all logging in old growth forests. So far, I have been reading both articles and books on this subject. I have also been trying to contact a forest ranger in Pisgah National Forest because I am hoping to narrow my research to this national park. So far, I have not been able to contact an official ranger, but I will continue calling.

Research and Discussions

Dr. Huminski is not able to work with me this Saturday so we will continue our work in a week. I feel that we already made great progress in our first 3 hours, so I am excited to see what we will be able to accomplish next Saturday. I am continuing to work on the research paper as that deadline approaches. A few hours this weekend will be dedicated to research time at the library. The abstract created some interesting discussion in class on Tuesday. Because I have a free period during another class's Senior Project time, I was also able to listen to their discussion. It was interesting to compare the two group's discussion and the different direction each took. The abstract on helmet laws should spark some good conversation for next week.