Clever Construction: Use Common Stuff To Make Cool And Useful

by Alan Detwiler

Overview

The book is for the 11 to 14 year old who has fun making homemade toys, devices and curiosities. It is for the build-it-yourself enthusiast who likes to tinker and build simple, improvised devices.

Clever Construction is for those who like to make simple homemade and improvised devices. The book could be for someone looking for a hobby, cub scouts, boy scouts or anyone interested in hands-on building and creating.

Most of the projects are made using common materials and items you probably already have around the house. Anything you need to purchase is inexpensive, such as glue, a small styrofoam ball or paperclips. The tools needed are those most people already own such as scissors, hammer and pliers. The time required to make most of these projects is between 15 minutes and 1 hour. A few items require around 2 hours.

This book provides instructions for making 50 projects. Some are useful items, some are artistic, all are clever and appealing. There are a variety of projects: toys and playthings, curiosities and novelties, useful and practical items. Over 150 diagrams and well written instructions adequately explain how to do each project.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940033051243
Publisher:	Alan Detwiler
Publication date:	02/12/2012
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	583 KB
Age Range:	5 - 11 Years

About the Author

Alan Detwiler grew up on a small farm. That background gave him some special insights and perspectives. The weather and the natural world are very much a part of living on a farm. On a farm, everyday observations demonstrate how plants and animals grow and develop and how weather and climate interact with living things. Alan and anyone growing up a farm knows that our food supply is very much dependant on how much it rains, when it rains, and how warm or cold it is. Any drastic change in climate and weather patterns will affect our food supply. Genetics and disease are topics of special concern to anyone living on a farm. Farm crops and farm animals are not the plants and animals of the wild. They have been genetically altered by human intervention. Farmers are especially aware of those differences and how genetics produce those differences. Farm animals are in constant threat of disease. It is not uncommon for farmers to loose substantial numbers of their animals to disease. People and the plants and animals we use for food are at risk. Farm living, plus an interest in science gave Alan the background for writing science fiction changes coming in the near future. Potential threats are very serious and are perhaps likely to drastically affect our lives. The consequences could be unpleasant, but why react with anxiety? Wouldn't a better reaction be to take action to be prepared and feel good that you have done so? The main themes in his writing are maximizing resilience through self sufficiency,self reliance, and how people prepare for and react to the changes of the upcoming decades. Alan writes to explore ideas and to discover ways to more enjoy life. He uses the ideas of others and adds what his own experiences and observations can contribute. Imagination adds new ideas for appreciating all that is good. His hope is that the readers of his books will do the same.