>> Major funding for Design Squad Nation is provided by: >> The National Science Foundation, where discoveries begin.
Series funding is provided in part by NASA-- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
>> Northrop Grumman Foundation, supporting innovative education experiences for students and educators.
>> And the Lemelson Foundation.
The Foundation sparks, sustains, and celebrates innovation and the inventive spirit in the U.S. and developing countries.
Additional funding is provided by: United Engineering Foundation... >> ...Motorola Foundation.... >> ...and IEEE.
>> I'm Judy.
>> And I'm Adam.
We're engineers.
>> We work with kids... >> This is so cool!
>> ...to make their dreams come true through engineering.
>> ( speaking in Spanish ) >> If you can dream it, you can build it.
>> I never really thought I could do something like this.
>> That was really fun.
( laughing ) >> On Design Squad Nation.
>> I'm Ronnie.
I live on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Whiteriver, Arizona.
My great-great-great grandfather was Chief Alchesay, the famous White Mountain scout who helped track down Geronimo.
I've lived in Whiteriver my whole life.
Things I really love about it here is the people, the food, that beautiful land, and this mountain.
It really looks beautiful.
And that represents Whiteriver to me, and that tells me that I'm home.
I've been skating for probably five years now.
What I really liked about it is how the tricks are done.
It's tough to learn, and I was always falling down all the time, too.
( laughing ) Street skateboarding is when you go skateboarding in the streets in town.
You skate anything that can be skateable-- ledges, stairs.
Skateboarding is, like, really important, because it keeps me in a positive mood.
Like, if I'm feeling sad or, like, really down, and I grab my skateboard, and that's one thing that just makes me smile.
( laughing ) My favorite place would be the post office.
The surface is, like, really smooth.
I really like going there at night and just listening to music and just skating by myself.
It's, like, a really good feeling to me.
The company that I'm a part of, it's called Four Wheel War Pony.
I met the founder of the company, Dustinn Craig, a few years back.
>> I was always just very proud of Whiteriver, you know, in that we had a lot of kids that were, you know, really good on a skateboard.
And so that was the whole catalyst for creating Four Wheel War Pony, to try to help promote skateboarding in our community.
Ronnie was already a good skateboarder at the age of, like, 14.
He's always been very, you know, inquisitive, you know, very genuine.
>> There's a lot of skaters here.
We're all friends.
It's like a big family.
Yeah, it's more than just a sport.
>> In the '80s and '90s there were two schools that were, like, perfect skate parks.
Toward the end of the '90s, these schools were bulldozed, so that doesn't exist anymore.
And as a result, you see a lot less skateboarding, and that opens the door for getting into more negative activities.
But when the kids do have a place to come, they're active more.
They're just able to utilize their bodies and their minds and spend time together as, like, a big skateboard family.
>> I think that if we have a skate park it would really help, like, the kids come out and get healthy in a positive way.
I think, like, Whiteriver really does need a place like that, for all the skateboarders to come together.
>> Ronnie, where do you skate around here in Whiteriver?
>> There's nowhere really to go skate.
>> Nowhere, nothing?
>> No.
>> You never had a skate park or anything like that?
>> Well, in the past we've had several skate parks, but they get given away, or just rot out, like the ramp over there.
>> Out in the cow pasture out there?
>> Yeah.
>> That's kind of hard to skate in, huh?
>> That's no good.
>> If we had a skate park in Whiteriver that would really bring out the kids, and they'd just know they have a safe place to go skate and hang out and have fun.
>> Yeah, that's what it's all about.
>> Yeah.
>> You know what?
I think Adam and I can help you out with that.
>> Yes, we can.
>> That would be awesome.
>> Yeah, we'd love to come build a skate park with you.
>> Yeah.
>> Can you teach us how to skate?
>> We'll see about that.
>> ( laughing ) >> I'd love to hear some of your ideas.
We have this pad of paper here.
>> Yeah.
>> And imagine this is your blank slate.
What would you want?
>> I'd say, like, a pyramid with ramps on each side.
This is, like, pretty simple to do tricks on, too, and just... that's good for speed, too.
It gives them speed.
And then on one side we can, like, put a hubba.
>> You can come up there, and you can grind along that.
>> Why are they called hubbas?
>> I don't even know.
And then, like, on the sides, nice, long ledges.
That would be, like, something really good.
>> Just, like, a straight-out, solid, good grind box.
>> The ledges have to be, like, a good height.
>> Yeah.
>> That ledge is, like, a perfect height.
>> Let's go over here.
>> So this ledge right here?
>> Yeah, this is a good height.
>> Like, is it a good height for a beginner, advanced, or just all of them?
>> I'd say, like, a good height for a beginner would be, like, right here.
>> So this line.
>> Yeah.
>> What do you think about kind of a wave, like this?
>> Oh, yeah?
>> What do you think about that?
>> That would be pretty fun to just start learning more stuff on.
>> Yeah?
>> Got a good name for it?
What do you think?
>> The wave.
>> The wave.
Write it down.
>> Like, there's nothing like that around here.
>> We could even make these modular pieces and move them around, so that if you get bored doing the same stuff over and over, you can mix it up a little bit.
It'll be fun to, like, kind of figure out what are these modular pieces, and really start rearranging them.
>> This is exciting.
>> Really cool.
We're excited.
>> Yeah, totally excited.
>> So Ronnie, before we cut the wood, we want to check a couple dimensions with you and see what you think about some of the features, all right?
>> Yeah, we kind of took our best guess, and, well, we need you to say right or wrong.
>> So if that's two feet, how does that feel?
>> That looks good.
>> Is that all right?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
We're coating our wood over there, that goes on the ramps, and we're going to start cutting it pretty soon.
>> What this does is really protects and seals the wood from all the elements.
>> When we had skate parks here in the past, I think we kind of, like, just really rushed into it before.
We never painted it or anything, and this is, like, more solid.
Everything is good.
>> All right, we'll start cutting and finish treating.
>> Yeah, we've got wood to cut.
>> We'll put the pieces we're going to cut here.
This is the real deal.
So who wants to go first here?
>> He's going first.
>> No, we've got to play it.
>> We've got to play it.
>> It's you.
I won, you go first.
>> I have never built a skate park before.
Skateboarders here in Whiteriver build rails and boxes for us to skate, but never a whole skate park.
I think it would be awesome for Whiteriver to have a skate park.
I can't wait to skate in the park.
>> Nicely done.
>> Giv eme some skin.
>> I think it's going really good, because there's nothing here, there's no skate park here.
It's a small community.
They really need one.
They had a skate park here, like, twice or three times, and it just got trashed.
So hopefully, this one stays.
>> All right, just like that.
Easy enough, right?
>> I feel manly now.
>> Exactly.
>> Okay, let me show you what I can do right now.
>> Yeah.
>> Are you ready?
That's about all I got in me.
Right here.
So we're going to this crosspiece here.
That looks good.
He knows how to wear glasses, so he knows how to use a drill, yeah?
>> I'm ready.
Let's do this, guys.
>> All right, and there.
>> We're going to match these two together.
Check it out!
>> Hey, that's perfect.
>> That is nice.
>> What do you think, man?
>> I think Malcolm's got it over here.
Listen to this.
How's it doing?
>> Yes.
>> What do you love about skateboarding?
>> Well, the thing that really got me into it was the guys.
They used to say girls can't skate.
>> Yeah.
>> So I picked it up in one week, and then I was out with all the guys, skating.
>> How important is it to have a skate park here in Whiteriver?
>> There's a lot of kids that are willing to learn, and it gives them something else to do and provides something that they can turn to other than drugs and alcohol.
>> What do you think you're going to try first?
>> The pyramid.
>> The pyramid, yeah?
This is the top platform.
In just a few minutes we're going to be able to flip it over, and we're going to be able to match it up against the pyramid ramps.
And then we should have a really good idea of what it'll look like.
So it's been a long day, the sun's starting to set.
We're almost done, though.
We've got basically all the frame supports for all the pieces built.
Everybody's been working so hard out here.
Should we flip it?
Let's bring it up to here.
>> Oh, man.
>> Watch that bar behind you.
>> This is awesome.
Check it out.
All right, cool.
>> So now we're getting ready to put together the grindbox.
And a grindbox is kind of mimicking what you would see in the city, with benches that you would, you know, normally sit on.
But it literally will look like a box with a metal edge.
How's it looks?
>> It looks really good.
Oh, these are really heavy.
>> Yes, they are.
>> All the skaters we talked to, everyone was like, "You know what?
Like, for all the crazy stunts and features you can have, like, the most important one is just, like, a straight up, solid, good grindbox.
>> No, like, this is the thing that everybody builds.
We've got them in lesser versions all over the res, a couple of my friends.
But this is the most well-built one that we've ever put together.
And the stuff you'll see here, like smith grinds going across, 5-0 grinds pop up, salad grinds, where you're going sideways like that.
>> Cool.
>> You know, they do nose grinds.
>> Show me what I'm doing to be doing by the end of this build.
>> Well, first you have to learn how to ollie.
>> An ollie is the first trick that most skateboarders learn, because it's a basic move for all kinds of other tricks.
It looks like the board is stuck to a skateboarder's feet in midair, but here's what's really happening.
You start with your back foot on the tail of the board and your front foot just above the screws.
The downward force of your weight equals the upward force from the ground pushing on the wheels.
This keeps your feet on the board and the wheels on the ground.
Slam you back foot down hard on the tail of the skateboard.
The downward force of your foot on the back of the board makes the nose of the board flip upwards.
If the force is big enough, the upward motion of the board can actually overcome gravity and send the board into the air as you jump.
While you're in the air, drag the side of your front foot along the top of the skateboard.
This creates an additional force between the shoe and the board that pulls the board even higher into the air.
At the top of your jump, push down on your front foot to flatten out the skateboard underneath you.
Then gravity takes over and pulls you back down to the ground for the landing.
The whole trick lasts about a third of a second.
And by the way, the world record for the highest ollie is 45 inches, about the height of a mailbox.
Can you do it over me?
>> That's my coworker!
What are you doing?
>> Making the wave.
>> I think the trickiest part of it is making those curves so they're consistent on both sides.
>> Looks like fun to me, just to hop onto it and ride the wave.
>> This is that curvy rail for the wave.
So that's... it's not too much, not too swoopy?
>> No, it's good.
>> Where does the wood come into this?
Does it come in kind of flush with the top, or kind of in the middle?
>> Kind of in the middle.
>> In the middle?
>> Yeah.
>> This one's going to be pretty fun.
>> Yeah, I can't wait to skate it.
>> It's going to be stiff.
We're going to have to just get a lot of weight on it to bend it.
I'm a little worried about it cracking, but hopefully it'll be okay.
Guys, we really need just some weight over here, if somebody wants to just come stand on this.
We need another body up here.
How many skateboarders does it take to bend a piece of plywood?
I like it.
It's awesome.
I like the team effort here.
>> The wave rail, it's not done yet, but it's the first thing I want to try.
I haven't skated anything like it before, and I think it's going to be fun.
>> We've got the rails right here.
We can pop those on there.
Does that work, to jam it in there?
>> Yeah.
>> This tubing is longer than the screw, so when you put that in there it just falls on in, which was a problem until a.k.a Squirt, Dr.
Engineer, came up with a little screw inserter.
Jam it in there, pop it in place.
>> Nice.
>> Brilliant.
That is good.
We've got an engineer over here.
All right, who wants to build a hubba ledge?
>> Hey.
>> One?
Let's do it.
Yeah?
We're building on the side right now.
This is going to be the bottom, like, right here.
>> We're making a hubba.
It's like a ledge that goes down.
I can't wait to try it.
It's going to be fun.
>> There you go.
>> All right, Ronnie, what do you think of this?
>> It's perfect.
>> This is wide enough?
>> Yeah.
>> This is your last chance to give it the thumbs up or thumbs down.
We got thumbs up?
>> Up.
>> What, what?
>> Okay.
>> Had to shake it out a little bit?
>> Yes!
>> Hubba's done!
Nice.
Good stuff, good stuff all around.
Boom!
It's time to bring it over there and check it out.
>> Let's do it.
>> You guys ready?
Judy, you ready for a hubba?
>> Yeah, bring it.
>> All right, let's line this... so this should go end to end on the ramp here, if we did everything right.
Yeah, there she is!
>> Dang!
>> Oh, that's so nice.
>> What's going to be your first trick?
>> 5-0 on the hubba.
Down the hubba.
>> Yes.
One more day.
Tomorrow we're going to slap some plywood, some metal on here, and then Thursday... >> Skate day.
>> Skate day.
>> All right, so we're starting with day three.
Yesterday was a really fantastic day.
We got all the framework done.
And today is all about getting the plywood on there, as well as the bridge, which is the nice finish on top of all the framework.
If we get that done for today, we're right on track.
>> When we put the plywood on, we want it to line up.
Nice, man.
All right, you got this one?
Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Looks great.
>> It's solid.
>> Yes.
It's not going anywhere.
>> It's just seamless.
It goes right up, nice.
>> Cool.
>> Nice job, guys.
>> Yeah, it's... >> We can tighten it up.
>> There you go.
Check that guy out.
>> Dustinn, can you tack this here?
>> Yeah.
>> You're going to have to just kind of push it.
>> Yup.
( cheering ) >> That was awesome!
>> Yeah!
>> What I love about this effort is that the skateboarders themselves are working on this process, you know?
They're really investing themselves in it.
What we're doing here today, I think, will have a great positive impact on a lot of our youth in that they're going to have a place to go.
>> I think this looks amazing with having the stencils on there.
I love that this is... this really makes it theirs.
>> All right, this here is a White Mountain Apache scout.
So it's a tribute to our heritage here in Whiteriver, Arizona.
To have some spot, you know, that they can feel like, "This is ours," that tells them that they matter and that their community cares enough about them to create space for them.
>> Whoo!
>> So we're about to lay on the skate paint.
And what this stuff actually does is really protects and seals it from all the elements.
But not only that-- what it'll do is give you a really nice surface to skate on.
That looks pretty good, yeah?
>> So this is called angle iron.
It's basically just really strong quarter inch thick steel they can grind on.
They can pound on this for years, and it's not going to fall apart.
It'll last forever.
That's what matters.
>> We need to drill some holes in here.
>> Yep.
>> We're going to seal it down with maybe some half inch screws.
That way they don't stick out, and it's a good hubba.
It's a new angle iron, and it's awesome.
>> We're doing the metal now for the bottom of the ramp.
This is the part where the skaters are going to roll up onto the wood.
We don't want that wood edge to chip or break at all, so we're going to put this piece of steel over it.
We call this the threshold.
We're actually going to weld two pieces together, so they're going to have a really nice, clean seam right there.
Skateable?
>> Yes.
>> Then our job is done.
>> Whoo!
>> All the excitement that's gone into building it so far I think is going to be nothing compared to the excitement when these guys get to actually, like, throw some tricks on these ramps.
Today we have a skate park.
Tomorrow we're going to have some skating.
>> Well, I just want to thank everybody for coming out.
I'd really like to thank Ronnie for giving a lot of himself.
But, you know, you guys have got to give yourselves a hand for everything that you did.
It really took all of us.
And especially as everybody started coming in the last couple days, it really made the difference, because the work picked up.
>> Four Wheel War Pony.
>> Four Wheel War Pony.
Whoo-hoo!
( cheers and applause ) Now we can skate.
>> Whoo-hoo!
>> Yeah!
>> Every, single obstacle here I really like.
I like the pyramid, I like doing hubbas, I like the wave.
It's a really good park.
>> So these kids out here, they're expert city skaters.
But us?
Whoa!
( laughing ) We need to wear our helmets and knee pads.
In fact, it's really good idea for everyone out there to wear some protection.
>> I'm going to ride the wavy, Judy.
>> Okay, you should do that.
I'm just going to go forward.
( screaming ) >> Yeah!
>> Whoo!
Whoo!
>> When I'm mad or anything, when I'm sad, I just skate, and it just... it keeps me happy.
The adrenaline rush is the thing that really gets me.
You can't really describe how that feels.
It's basically a priceless moment.
>> Yeah!
>> Yes!
>> I couldn't sleep last night, because I was excited about skating this today.
I'm proud of what we did here.
>> You know, even though I'm not going to be riding this every day, it's good to know that it's here if I want to come.
So it's, you know, cool that you guys came out and helped be a part of this.
We need more people like you.
>> Yeah!
>> Amazing.
Finally got somewhere to go skate.
( laughing ) They're all having fun, and I'm pretty sure there's going to be more kids coming out later on.
That was hard work.
Everybody, like, had to get up early in the morning and start working all day.
It was good.
I'm glad that I was part of it, because it is important to me to build a place for me to skate.
It really means a lot to us.
>> Yeah!
>> Major funding for Design Squad Nation is provided by: >> The National Science Foundation, where discoveries begin.
Series funding is provided in part by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
>> Northrop Grumman Foundation, supporting innovative education experiences for students and educators.
>> And the Lemelson Foundation.
The Foundation sparks, sustains, and celebrates innovation and the inventive spirit in the U.S. and developing countries.
Additional funding is provided by: United Engineering Foundation.
>> Motorola Foundation.
>> And IEEE.
>> Hey, Adam, check this out.
It's the Design Squad Nation Web site.
You can play games on it.
>> Whoa, sweet!
Hey, look at this.
You can watch videos from the show and you can sketch your own neat designs.
>> And there's a ton of amazing designs on here from kids at home.
This is a skateboard with jets on the back.
That's wild!
>> This is a game that combines skateboarding and basketball.
>> And this is a scooter that uses solar power to charge its batteries.
>> So join Design Squad Nation at pbskidsgo.org.
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