Thumbs Away!

Briefing

One of the greatest systems around is your body. Inside and out, it's packed with parts that work together to do amazing things. Take away one of these parts, and your body probably wouldn't work nearly as well. In this Fab Lab, you'll find that out first-hand!

Activity

What You'll Need:
Heavy tape, yarn, or two pieces of fabric, like bandanas or long handkerchiefs.
A shirt or coat with buttons or a zipper (that you can unbutton or unzip without totally undressing!)
Loose-leaf paper
Paper clips
A tennis ball or another soft ball

What to Do:
With your palm facing up, curl your thumb into the palm of your hand.

Wrap the tape, yarn, or fabric around your hand so your thumb can't move. If you're using yarn or fabric, tie it up tight. Make sure all of your other fingers are free to move normally.

Do the same with your other hand. You may need someone to help you!

Your job now is to try and do the following things without using your thumbs:

1. Write your full name (clearly enough so someone else can read it!)
2. Button up a shirt or a coat, or zip up a coat that's completely unzipped
3. Pass out five pieces of loose-leaf paper to five different people
4. Clip several pieces of paper together with a paper clip
5. Play catch with a tennis ball and another thumbless kid. Each of you must catch the ball three times in a row.

Your challenge is to do all of these things in under five minutes. Go!

When you're finished, try to do some other ordinary things without your thumbs. What happens?

Debriefing

Your thumbs are an important part of the system that makes up your hand. (Other parts include your fingers, your palm, and your wrist). What happened when part of the system was missing? Was it harder to do things than you expected?

If you've got your Case Journals, free up your thumbs and answer the questions in it now!