Assignment Three - Discussion

[Prof. Ryan Granger]

Please post your class discussion for Assignment Three below.

Make sure you answer the following questions:

1. Balloons have been around for quite a while, what is your favorite use for balloons? (I suggest you research further into balloon usage. You may find something else cool! Example: Balloons used in war, The Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, etc.)
2. If you had the ability and resources to make anything out of balloons, what would you make and why?

Feel free to add more though!

[Jessica Barnes]

1.My favorite use for any type of balloon is for birthday parties, Gender reveal, and parades such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. The Macy’s day Parade has one of my favorite balloons, the Pikachu balloon. I have been a big fan of pokemon for many years.

2. If I had the ability to make balloons out of anything they would be made out of christmas lights that could be plugged in and work. This is because one of my favorite times of the year is christmas. It's the joy and happiness around the world that brings everyone together.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

1. Balloons have been around for quite a while, what is your favorite use for balloons?
My favorite use for balloons is the beauty of when there are a lot of them in the air, floating, drifting and the colourful groupings of 8 to 15 balloons is just sort of wondrous to see. I remember the first time I saw them, in Auburn, California, and was so amazed at the sight of them! I had to find out - is this a race? What's happening? So I found out that you can actually book a ride in a hot air balloon, that there were many places which did this, and you could do this all over the country.

2. If you had the ability and resources to make anything out of balloons, what would you make and why?
I don't know why this is, but when I read the question, I immediately flashed on Lee Scorsby (of His Dark Materials) who was an aëronaut and who flew in the air, and I thought, that would be a good thing to make! The balloon and the ropes and the basket and the whole bit.

[Gail Allen]

1. My favourite use for balloons is actually to create shapes. I make bowls out of strips of plaster and to hold the shape while the plaster sets it needs something to hold it up. And preferably something that will give once the bowl is finished so that I can allow the bowl to have a slightly narrower opening than its widest point. Balloons are perfect for this use and I love to use them for that purpose.

2. I think I would make walls out of balloons and make them fillable with helium. It sounds a little like a bouncy castle and in a way it is, but it would be more rigid and usable both as a tent that's better insulated than most tents because of the layer of suspended air inside the balloons, but also one that has the ability to float which would be VERY awesome.

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

1. One fun use for balloons is through a Muggle form of Divination known as "meteorology". "Meteorology" is essentially the usage of various Muggle methods to predict the weather. In this case, Muggles take a special Muggle device, called a "radiosonde", and put it on a large balloon which they call a "weather balloon". This weather balloon is sent up high into the sky and, through its "radiosonde", calculates various parameters such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure. Muggles then use these measurements to perform their Divination through special "electronic" Muggle devices known as "computers", which essentially are Muggle machines that can perform large numbers of calculations faster than a Muggle... or wizard. Predictions about future weather will end up coming out of these "computers"!

2. If I could make anything at all out of balloons, I would likely make a transportation device that would be able to safely take me anywhere in the world, while keeping me concealed (and in luxury) for the duration of my travels. I enjoy going places, but sometimes it's just too risky for me - and quite often the act of travel can be way too time-consuming and stressful for my desires! I think that going in a balloon may well alleviate all of that (if I have the right structure, which I can construct properly) and this would therefore be a great option for me to use balloons: floating and relaxing (ideally with great views) en route to whatever destination I wanted!

[Rory Devaney]

1. My favorite use for balloons that I have seen, is their use in parade routes and celebrations. I really like watching them float down the streets, avoiding the buildings and such, with all of the different animals, characters, designs and types.

2. I think the idea of being able to make a ship out of balloons would be pretty cool. The massive size that it would have to be, so that it could support the weight of any crew and to still be able to float would mean it would have to be a pretty large ship, and to survive the ocean.