Math Concept Reader MCR g5 table soccer anyone

Math Concept Reader

Table Soccer,

Expedition: Antarctica

by Aenea Mickelsen

Copyright © Gareth Stevens, Inc All rights reserved.

Developed for Harcourt, Inc., by Gareth Stevens, Inc.

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Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 13: 978-0-15-360197-2

ISBN 10: 0-15-360197-3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 175 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07

by Ilse Ortabasi Photographs by Patrick Espinosa

Anyone?

Tara and Kyle always spend the spring holidays with their grandfather Every year, the brother and sister look forward to this time Their grandfather’s hobby is building things out of wood He uses all sorts of tools

in his workshop One year Tara and Kyle helped their grandfather build a swing set They watched him draw diagrams for it They went to the store with him to buy the materials He even let them help sand some of the wood pieces

This year, Tara and Kyle have their own plans and they need Grandfather’s help They want to build a foosball table! Their cousin has one and Kyle thinks

it would be easy to build one of their own A few weeks before the visit, Tara and Kyle talk with their grandfather on the phone He loves the idea of building the table He used to be a foosball player when he was a young man in Germany He played for his hometown’s soccer team, too

Chapter 1:

Spring Vacation



Grandfather tells them that soccer is called Fussball, or

Fußball, in German That word sounds just like foosball

In Germany, children use the name “table soccer” for the game that Tara and Kyle know as foosball He says it is great fun playing foosball He remembers that he and his friends played for hours He would love to play foosball with Kyle and Tara, too

Grandfather agrees that the table will be their project for spring vacation He offers to pay for the materials they will need In return, the children will help Grandfather around the house and yard while they visit They will help him prepare meals and rake leaves Tara and Kyle are very excited that their grandfather likes their idea They promise him they will keep their part of the deal Grandfather gives Kyle and Tara two jobs to complete before they arrive The first job for them is to start drawing the plans for the foosball table The second job is to order the table soccer figures and rods they need Their parents can help them order the parts



Grandfather tells Tara and Kyle he would love to build a foosball table.

6 in.

6 in.

49 in.

Side Board

3 in 3 in.

Playing Field

23 in.

43 in 3 4

3 4

1 2

ce 23 in. 1

2

23 in 1 2

Tara and Kyle have some work to do They know what they want their foosball table to look like They are not quite sure how to build it, though Their parents take them to the library Kyle and Tara find information on the Internet about building a foosball table They also search for information on the best places to order parts and supplies They want to make sure they get all the materials they need

Kyle and Tara talk about the features for their foosball table They draw an initial diagram Drawing a diagram will help them make sure they do not forget anything They need a playing field They also need side and end boards The boards tilt up to form the walls This makes the foosball table look like a shallow box without a lid Two 3-inch-wide end pieces will attach to the end boards and side boards They will cover the goalie boxes, which will rest above the table

The tabletop is actually 494 3 inches long, but the playing field is only 43 34 inches long



23 in.

Now that the diagram is done, they can figure out how much wood they need for the foosball table Tara and Kyle figure out that Grandfather needs to buy a piece

of wood about 61 inches long and 35 inches wide

43 + 3 + 3 + 6 + 6 = 61

23 + 6 + 6 = 35 The wood will be cut into seven pieces based on their drawing

Tara and Kyle scan their drawing into the computer

at the library They e-mail it to Grandfather They write

in the e-mail that they think he should buy a little extra wood in case they make an error They could make a mistake measuring the wood Then, Grandfather might cut the wood the wrong way Tara and Kyle ask their mother for help They use the library’s computer to order two sets of 11 player figures for the table They order eight rods and handles to hold the player figures

They have the order delivered directly to Grandfather’s house

Grandfather reads the e-mail and buys the wood

He brings the wood to his workshop There, he carefully measures the pieces he needs to cut

3 4 1

2

3 4 1

2

3 4 1 2



Grandfather measures wood for the foosball table.

Chapter 2:

Building a Foosball Table Step By Step

When spring break arrives, Tara, Kyle, and their parents travel to Grandfather’s home They cannot wait

to get started on the foosball table When they arrive, they find Grandfather already in his garage workshop It looks like Grandfather is excited, too! Before they even finish greeting him, Tara and Kyle ask if the foosball figures and rods arrived Grandfather has lined up the two teams on a big piece of green felt The tiny teams

of players look like they are ready to play!

Next to the foosball figures are the rods

Grandfather will attach the players to the rods with screws and washers They will use the green felt to cover the foosball tabletop The felt looks like a soccer field It makes the foosball table look good, and keeps

it from getting scratched and dented It looks like they have everything they need to build the foosball table

After dinner, Tara’s and Kyle’s parents head home

Grandfather, Tara, and Kyle make plans for building the foosball table It’s important to plan ahead so they know what to do first



Chapter 2:

Building a Foosball

Table Step By Step

Tara and Kyle wake up early the next morning

to start building the table Grandfather shows Tara and Kyle how he uses a planer and a jointer to shape the wood He explains that the planer is used for smoothing or reducing the thickness of rough lumber

With a planer, every board on a project can be a perfect match The jointer makes a flat surface on a board

Safety always comes first for Grandfather! He puts

on his safety glasses to cut the wood on the radial arm saw This is a power saw that has a toothed disk that rotates at high speed

Grandfather uses the saw to cut the wood He cuts the wood for the table’s ends first He cuts to match the width in Kyle’s and Tara’s design Then, he cuts the side pieces to the length shown in their drawing

After he cuts the wood pieces, Grandfather says it is time to sand the wood This process, using sandpaper, makes the wood feel smooth and gives it a better look



Kyle and Tara watch Grandfather use a radial arm saw

to cut wood.

The next morning, Grandfather gives Tara and Kyle the job of marking where he should drill the holes on the rods The screws that hold the foosball figures in place will go in the holes The foosball figures represent the players on the field Kyle and Tara must make sure that the figures are evenly spaced along the rods

They get to work For table soccer, there are 4 rods for each team of figures There are 11 figures on each team Two rods for a team each have three figures

The third rod has four figures on it The goalie for each team is in the middle of its own rod This figure guards the goal box Each of the four rods is 45 inches long

Each rod used for a foosball table has a long end with a handle Game players hold the rods in order to move their figures to strike the ball When playing the game, the objective is to put the ball into the opposing team’s goal box Grandfather decides to make the handle of the rod 1314 inches long



Tara, Grandfather, and Kyle work together to measure the rods.

in.

13 in.

23 in.

7 in.

1 2

in 1 2

1

2 1 4

1

4

The next step is for Grandfather to help Kyle find where to drill a hole for the goalie on two of the rods

Grandfather calculates that the halfway point of the playing field width is 11 3 4 inches from the edge of the field Kyle double-checks this measurement by adding

11 3 4 inches to it The sum is 23 1 2 inches, the total width

of the playing field

Kyle makes a diagram of the goalie rods He draws

a line representing a rod that is 45 inches long He first measures 131 4 inches from one end and then marks where the end with the handle will stick out from the side board Then he marks off 1 2 inch for the thickness

of the side board From that point, he measures

11 3 4 inches to mark the halfway point over the playing field This is the point where Grandfather should drill the hole for the goalie

A shorter end of the rod sticks out on the opposite side of the table Kyle computes this length by

subtracting all the measurements made so far from the total length of the rod

23 1 2 + 131 4 + 1 2 + 1 2 = 37 3 4

45 – 37 3 4 = 71 4 The shorter end of the rod will be 71 4 inches long.



7 in 5 in 13 in.

23 in.

in Foosball Figures Handle

1 4

1

4 7 8 5 in 7 8 5 in 7 8 5 in 7 8

1

2 in 1 2

1 2

Tara uses Kyle’s drawing to mark where the holes will be drilled on the two rods for the goalies While she does this, Kyle makes a new drawing that shows where the holes will be drilled on the rods that hold three foosball figures

Kyle draws three dots on the drawing of the rod

This helps him see that he needs four equal spaces

on the rod to place the three figures If the figures are evenly spaced, they will have a better coverage of the foosball field That means it will be harder for the opposing team to get the ball past them

Grandfather helps Kyle divide 231 2 inches into four equal parts This quotient is 5 7 8 That means that each

of the four equal spaces is 5 7 8 inches long Kyle double-checks to make sure the four parts add up to the width of the playing field

5 7 8 + 5 7 8 + 5 7 8 + 5 7 8 = 23 7 8 Now Tara and Kyle mark all four rods

10

Finally, Kyle works on a diagram for the two rods where four player figures from each team are attached

This time he draws four dots on the sketch of the rod

This helps him see that he needs five equal spaces on the part of the rod that fits inside the playing field This

is where he will place the four figures

Grandfather divides 23 1 2 inches into five equal parts

This quotient means each part is 4107 inches long Kyle marks the rod on his drawing at distances of 4107 inches

He starts at the mark for the edge of the playing field and measures 4107 inches four times from that spot

Then he and Tara mark the rods

At this point, all the rods are ready for Grandfather

to drill the holes Tara and Kyle have made careful measurements and are getting even more excited at seeing the foosball table come together

11

Kyle and Tara watch Grandfather drill holes into a rod.

When Tara and Kyle take a break that afternoon, they look over the work they finished

They have gotten farther than they expected thanks to the careful planning they did with Grandfather ahead of time While they were working on the rods, Grandfather worked on the table pieces and the goal boxes

He used a router to cut the holes for the goal boxes

A router is a woodworking power tool with a shaped cutter that is used to hollow out an area in the face of

a piece of wood It can be used in carpentry for cutting grooves, too He made a groove in the side boards where the tabletop piece slides He says he needs to drill the holes for the rods in the side boards before they can assemble the table

When Tara and Kyle get back to work, they mark where the holes go on the side boards They have to consider the 3-inch end pieces where the goals are located Grandfather helps them divide the length of the playing field into nine parts

4 7 8 + 4 7 8 + 4 7 8 + 4 7 8 + 4 7 8 + 4 7 8 + 4 7 8 + 4 7 8 + 4 7 8 ≈ 43 7 8 Each part measures about 4 7 8 inches.

1

Grandfather uses a router to cut

holes for the goal boxes.

7 in.

43 in.

7

8

3 4

49 in 3 4

Kyle adds 3 inches and 4 7 8 inches to find where the first hole needs to be drilled This is the hole for one of the goalie rods to go through the side board

3 + 4 7 8 = 7 7 8 The first hole on the side boards has to be drilled

7 7 8 inches from the edge, so Tara measures 7 7 8 inches from the edge and makes the first mark Grandfather reminds her that the mark should be high enough above the groove where the table board will fit This

is important so that the foosball figures do not hit the playing field when they swing The figures should be about 1 8 inch above the felt Tara is glad Grandfather thought of that

Kyle marks where the other holes will go He measures 4 - inch distances from the first hole that Tara marked and continues to make marks for the remaining rods by measuring 4 inches from the last hole After working carefully, both side boards are marked for the holes to fit the rods Now Grandfather

is ready to drill all 16 holes

7

8

7

8

1

Chapter 3:

Let’s Play Foosball!

At the end of the week, Tara and Kyle call home

They tell their parents what a great time they’re having and talk about all the work that they have done on the foosball table It is almost finished!

The next day, Grandfather, Tara, and Kyle wake up early to finish their project All the foosball table pieces are ready to assemble

Tara and Kyle fasten the figures to the rods with

a screw and special kind of washer They set the rods aside to help their grandfather screw the backs of the table together As soon as one side board is attached to the back of the table, Grandfather slides the tabletop into the grooves along the sides and ends Tara and Kyle attach the other side board

Grandfather remarks that it is much easier to assemble a project like this when there are so many hands working together! He places clamps on the wood pieces to hold everything together at this point, which allows him to screw the second side board to the back ends Kyle and Tara brush a protective wood finish

on the table after it is assembled

1