Landform Map Project

Sterling has received his first big project of the year. He (and parents) has to make a 3D landform map. This map has to include a myriad of landforms such as mountains, plain, lakes, oceans etc. At first I was determined to hand the responsibility of this project over to Joe, but today it seemed like the perfect excuse to get out of sitting on the couch for conference. Instead, I used my new computer, and listened to a live audio stream. To me, it's actually easier to focus on the conference talks when my body is occupied with something else. When I just sit on the couch to listen, my mind often starts to wander.

The instructions said to build the landforms out of a home-made dough, on a piece of cardboard. Being the perfectionist that I am, I decided we could make it stronger by using a piece of fiberboard for the base, and using little wooden blocks to make the base for mountains and hills. It worked great, and it became much easier to build tall mountains. We also used 3x the amount of dough called for. Phase 1 of the project is finished: the basic shape of the landforms. The next phase will include painting and labeling. But we'll have to be patient, and wait for the dough to dry completely.