Science Project of the Year

(Well, at least it BETTER BE! LOL!!!!)

Caleb's first BIG school project in life turned out to be the science activity assigned by his 6th grade teacher. Each student was allowed to list 3 animals they would like to do a project on. The teacher then chose one of their options for them and the student was to:
1--Recreate that animal in a life size, proportional representation of some sort, (reduced to no larger than 3 x 3 x 3 if necessary),
2--Compile a Facts Sheet on before-mentioned animal, and
3--Include a bibliography of all sources used to compile Facts Sheet.
This animal was to be mounted in a way to show it's natural habitat, as well.
(And YES, if you heard a great thud about 10 weeks ago, it was my unconscious head hitting the floor when this came home!)

Of course, my BRILLIANT, LOGICAL son [insert grin here], began thinking immediately about what kind of animal he could make....hmmm.... He was certain he did NOT want to attempt making legs, arms, wings, or anything with too high a degree of difficulty! So he listed as his three options one small bug and two snakes. She chose the King Cobra.
I will have to add here, that I was quite pleased with his foresight... One child is making a cheetah, one a tiger, another a whale! We were very happy with a snake! LOL.

So here is a picture diary of Caleb's King Cobra from beginning to end. Abbie insisted that the snake needed a name so Caleb crowned him "Venom!"

Hope you enjoy it.
I didn't.
hee hee hee

David helped Caleb cut the base to the right size.

After we formed a 5 foot length of flexible copper tubing to make the shape of the snake, Caleb painted the base that the snake would rest on when completed.


Then he wrapped the coil in newspaper to give it some thickness, and to support the next layer that was to come.


Once that was done, we used 6 feet of pvc insulation to form the body of the snake. Caleb enjoyed pulling the 'tape' off to seal it.


I 'carved' a head and tail from styrofoam and then they hot glued it to the body of the snake. Here you see David and Caleb starting the plastering process, using a Quick Wrap product. Now THIS was a mess!! You can see, too, the hood of the cobra that Caleb cut out of card board. We attached it to the body with painters tape (because that's all we could find! LOL).


Somehow I managed to forget to take a picture of what he looked like all plastered up. And then he took it outside and spray painted the base coat. Sorry to say, but I wasn't willing to take my camera anywhere near an 11-year-old with a can of black spray paint!
Here you see it with it's base coat, and the beginnings of the finishing touches. He used a yellow acrylic paint on the chest and then we mixed several different shades of green to make the other colorations.


He used a Sharpie to draw in the mouth of the snake. I tried terribly hard to convince Caleb that this cobra needed a tongue hanging out, but he insisted that it wouldn't be realistic...."since a cobra would NOT be using his tongue while in a defensive stance."
Whatever.


On the last day, he glued moss over the base to form the 'ground' that the snake would sit on. This turned out to be an eventful afternoon, as well, after he hot glued my hand as I tried to help, and then I screwed the entire project to the dining room table! (He gave me screws that were too long! How was I supposed to know!!!) Thankfully, neither the scar to my hand or to the dining room table are visible! [wink, wink]


Caleb loved the way the cobra's eyes glared in this shot! He used glass beads that we found in one of the craft stores. (We now have an unused bag of about 38 more orange glass beads, too, if any of you need them for something!)


And here is Venom, in all his finished glory.



I think Caleb was pleased with the finished product.
But sometimes he's hard to read. :>)


Anybody want a 1/3 scale replica of a King Cobra for their Living Room table?? We're trying to convince Grandad that it would look GREAT on his desk at work, but if he won't take it, it's up for grabs!

(And yes, Gram, I know he needs a haircut. We'll work on that this weekend..... We've been a little occupied this week.)