Wednesday, March 7th, 2007, Halifax, NS, 2nd graders worked together braiding tendons and assembling a skeleton learning about Collagen thanks to the team of Laura Foster (BFA, NSCADU) and Christian Kyle (MSc, SMU).  Team work and the strength of the braid versus three single strands was demonstrated by Christian as he used the braid to hoist up the log that could not be lifted by a single strand nor three individual strands.  Christian described how nature uses collagen, a braid of three repeating peptide chains, as scaffolding for our bodies. Collagen, which makes up 75% of our skin, controls mineralization and cell shape allowing broken bones to regenerate and wounds to heal.  Relating the coiled-coil shape of collagen to braids, Laura led the students through a discussion of the importance of such weaving in the fabric of our daily lives.  Working as a team, the students braided their own collagen-inspired braids and subsequently used the braids as tendons to assemble bones together to form a skeleton.  Thinking about collagen in shark fins, elephant trunks, their noses and ears…, the students were enwrapped in the magic of the braid.