Thursday, February 5, 2026

3D Printing Week Two in the Classroom

 

What happened in the classroom during the second week (in four classroom days, afternoons only) in regards to Digital Design?

Students continued to develop and explore possibilities with Tinkercad.   The focus was on using the program in two groups.

Cohort Two were working on the start of their AR/VR designs for the year.   They have been working on projects such as the farm house repair - in the example shown left the student has applied their skills to start to look at potential to create a 'flip' for the roof.   Other students are working on the doors and attempting to work out a way to have them swinging on a basic hinge.    You can follow this project by using the label tag 'AR/VR Exemplar' or clicking on the link here.

We have completed the badge projects detailed last week.    Selected students have returned to them independently and created more advanced layers.  In the example shown left the student wanted to opt to add in a basic shape with a different hole section and finally added a butterfly - the wings required some rafting but the teacher was able to remove this successfully.   You can read details of this project by clicking on the link here.   You can look at a multitude of badge designs by using the 'label'.

Last year we wrote at length about a project from the students to solve an issue around our school.   One of the issues where we identified that the 3D Printers could prove a practical solution was to the areas of our school verandah where we had birds nesting and bird infestations.

Due to the shape of the building and the connections there are protected gaps where birds have been repeatedly nesting, which is directly above an area where our students eat their lunch and sit during break times.   This area can be affected by bird waste as they are nesting.

We were able to use our iPads, the measure app and the Tinkercad app to create customised 'bird block' to prevent access to this area.  We have been identifying where these have gone, applied contact cement to glue them in place and are observing what now happens as a result.   We know that the 3D Printer is robust enough to allow the prints to be drilled through should the prints require a further way to secure them but at this stage this appears to be extremely successful.   You can view the original problem, potential solution and students progress by clicking on this link here.

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