Auroa Primary - Apple Distinguished School Renewal

 

The work of the students (and sometimes the staff) from our wonderful rural Primary School in Auroa, South Taranaki, New Zealand are very lucky to be a 1:1 iPad School (with Mac Books for the older students).   

We've also an Apple Distinguished School - and we were very excited to recently have our status renewed for another three years.    This is a huge deal for our school as it allows us to share our learning within that community and network with our schools.    You can see our application video below - thank you to Mr Bloor and Sonic Vision Studios again for this outstanding visionary work, it is as always so much appreciated.

A reminder that we are also running a Facebook Page - the purpose of this page is to post additional media related to this site that sometimes doesn't fit the format (it is mainly additional photographs) you can click on the link to this page (which is #NZ

3D Printing: Extending Fathers Day Design

 

Challenge: To produce a unique Fathers Day themed print including additional challenges.

Background: This was one of the first of the next level challenge of designs for Fathers Day.   You can click on the link here to view some of the students coasters initial ideas and the development of their prints that followed.

This student when presented with the option wanted to look for something different that he could adapt or manipulate.   This print represented something that he felt represented his father and also something he felt would be different from the standard coaster.   There are a number of pre-made designs that feature from the Tinkercad design page (accessible from the search option).   The student selected one of the diggers from this page.

The student concerned attempted to import this into Tinkercad (successfully) and then attempted to AR/VR the image. This proved not possible due to the detail.   Following an evaluation of the detail it was decided that the print, while it was detailed and creative would not be a workable 3D Print (as it had a collection of levers, wires and general detail that would require very accurate rafting removal and also would require minimal handling).

A second digger file was located and the student felt that this would be more workable and also could be modified easily to clearly meet the 'Fathers Day' brief.    The student then made the decision to personalise the design by adding the addition of the lettering/message around the edge of the body of the crane.

Resources Used to Complete this Print: iPad, Tinkercad, Bambu H2D, Bambu Filament.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is not a students design they have taken the design from the main Tinkercad page and are merely adjusting it by adding the lettering.   An extreme challenge would have been to build something like this from scratch in an original sense which would have been possible using the basic shapes.

Size: The print has some interesting dimensions based on its size.  The tracks measured 80mm long and were 30mm high.   The base of the design was of similar length but had the addition of the cab which was 20mm by 40mm.  The arm of the digger was 30mm wide and consisted of three sections being 60mm long each.   Finally there was the scoop which was 30mm across and 40mm wide.

Cost/Price: The print used 75g of PLA to complete the print.   This gave the print a price point of $1.49c.

Timeframe:   The total print time for this design was three hours and fifty three minutes which included the regulation time to warm up.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:   This design at the moment has the approval of the student however there is an issue with the arm of the crane and the join point for it.   There is significant small amount of 'rafting' that needs to be moved from around the print.   This needs to be removed by the teacher not the student as it is in places that would require a sharp object.   There is of course the opportunity to increase the level of personalisation and details - and again as touched upon there is the potential that we could have students create their own versions using the main interface.

Roland Versa Sign Maker - Labels for Basketball

 

Please note the postings for this site for the week are going to look slightly different for the next five days or so as we are in attendance at the NZAIMS Games in Tauranga, New Zealand. 

We will continue to be posting as we have a number of projects that are ongoing although we are not going to be starting anything new this week directly as we are working remotely.

This week with Basketball it has been pleasing to know that we can indirectly showcase our technology in a couple of ways.  We have already posted how we have created some school specific 'gifts' for the teams that we are playing against in the form of the super sized glow-in-the-dark key rings.    

On a practical level for the team we wanted to ensure that each student while they had a drink bottle obviously made sure that they had their own individualised bottle and so for this purpose we used the schools Roland Versa Sign Maker.   We used the students Mac Book and Gimp to create an image which we then converted to a png file.   Once it was in this form it was an easy transition to the school sticker machine and a set of team individualised stickers were made for each of the students drink bottles.   

This task was completed independently by a senior student who is a Y8 student at our school.

If you want to see examples of how we have used the sticker machine to produce signs for our rubbish bins to address our recycling you can click on the link here.  You can also read a previous post about this process for a more generic team sticker from 2024 by clicking on the link here.

If you want to see additional school related projects that demonstrate how we've used the Roland Versa Sign Maker (also known as our sticker machine) you can click on the link here.

Fathers Day 3D Printing Step 102

 

We located this print online - it was printed as its intention was to show that something could be deconstructed or created by the student using this as a template or an example.   In the example shown left the print used 35g of PLA to complete the print and had a price point of $0.68c.

The print measured 80mm wide and was 100mm high.  It had a width of 10mm thick.   As it was located online there was no student input into its creation, however it was a useful physical print to be able to show the students an example that they would be able to create themselves.  By breaking down the print the students were able to realised that they could use the 'scribble' tool to replicate the lettering - that this could also be used to create the hearts that were not uniform and that the other hearts could be created by using Tinkercad shape menu and also create the bubble and a range of other affects by using circles and other basic shapes.   This design was not spray painted it was printed using a multi-coloured PLA.

Following on from yesterdays basic coaster design students began the process of using the hole tool in Tinkercad to develop lettering that was sunk into the base of the design, instead of sticking out of the design and facing outwards.

In this instance the template was used, as you can see one one of the hearts visible at the top of the print and the other one was deleted.   This was completed independently by a nine year old student in the classroom part of the cohort one of students who is printing and designing for the first time using their iPad and Tinkercad.

This print used 31g of PLA to complete the print and it had a price point of $0.61c to complete the print.   Again there was some student input into this print but it was somewhat minimal as the student was working off the design that had been shared with them, their adaptation was to take the design and include the font and lettering with the design.   The lettering for the 'Happy Fathers Day' could have been made slightly deeper into the design so it might stand out more, as did the font for the year which can be clearly seen as being more defined.

In this example shown left was one of the first attempts by a student to take a design or an idea and develop it further.  Someone tongue in cheek this student wanted to create a toilet seat themed coaster as they felt that there father spent some time there.   The student wanted to take the basic coaster idea and expand on that further.

 

They used the coaster for the base and experimented with a very basic cistern in the background, which was essentially a rectangular prism.   The student then was intending to develop both this and the lid/coaster further by including additional details and physical features to extend this design further.

The PLA used to complete this print was 62g of PLA and this had a price point of $1.20 to complete the print.

Fathers Day 3D Printing: Steps 101

 

Challenge: To produce a 3D Print that celebrates a particular event (or day).

Background: This Sunday in New Zealand is the Fathers Day celebration.  We wanted to target this as a potential project for 3D Printing.  We had a specific timeframe in mind, a goal and wanted to include levels of challenges for the students involved.  As noted previously we used previous creations and designs on this blog as a starting point and physical examples from our example box (where we have prints over the last few years in a number of boxes as discussion points, as examples and ways that we can encourage the students to design and create).

The other considerations with the classroom at present - we have now 24 students in the classroom (we are as many of you will know a regular mainstream classroom although we are very fortunate to be an Apple Distinguished School with 1:1 iPads for every student from Y1-Y8.

We also have had a number of students recently join our classroom, which has been wonderful, these students have not had experience with Tinkercad before, or using the technology that our students have, so for some of them, as we would do with many curriculum activities we want to be able to scaffold more for them or provide opportunities for them to be successful at a different level as in the case of nearly all of them they are taking their very first CAD design steps.

Finally the decision to complete the prints for the class has also shaped the designs - we can comfortably run two printers at one time, and both machines (our H2D and P1P Bambu) are reliable to produce prints that would meet the purpose.

Resources Used to Complete this Print: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu P1P, Blue Bambu PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this would be considered a basic introductory task completed independently with a student on the first attempt.   Typically when introducing test to a design the only checks required are below to ensure the font is not going through the back or at the top to ensure that the font is touching the base plate.

Size: The print measures 110mm across the base and is 70mm high.   The print base is 5mm and the lettering is an additional 5mm (for a total including font of 10mm).

Cost/Price: The print uses 25g of PLA to complete this has a price point of $0.44c.  There was no support rafting with this design.  Had it been any smaller the lettering would have been very jammed up so the dimensions and hence the amount of PLA was about correct for this project.

Timeframe: To complete this print printer was operating for 45 minutes from start to finish.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The students now was a basic 101 task completed can move onto more challenging and difficult tasks.

3D Printed Coaster - Fathers Day 2026

 

This blog has been running for a number of years, as such while it probably could do with a system refit (ie a move to another support or hosting site and do away with blogger) but as a positive in this regard there are now projects, examples and work from the students dating back to 2015 - thats eleven years ago.

So when we might be look at a format or design idea that we've had students work on before we have the potential to talk with the students and go - have a look at this, how can we make this, how was this designed etc.    

This year we've decided to look at making something for students as a gift for a specific event in this Fathers Day in New Zealand (which is the first Sunday in September).   We decided that it would be realistic to produce something for the classroom if we had two printers available (Bambu H2D and Bambu P1P) running and students had a size limit on their print.   We wanted to ensure that everyone would be able to complete the print, including some of the new students that have joined our classroom recently, having not used Tinkercad before.   However we also wanted to make sure that we challenge students who might be able to complete more advanced projects.

We printed a template design (left) with two hearts on it.   We demonstrated to the students that the design essentially consisted of two interlinked circles, the outer layer and the inner layer with different layers.

It took forty minutes to print, was a basic design and allowed students to think about the base.  We were also able to push this template design out to students (via airdrop) for those who really struggled to start to put the design together.   Once this was completed obviously the next task was the personalisation for students - to consider a short message that could be sunk into the design, or extended out from the base of the design.

Then there was the issue of the extension task to complete this we turned to chatgpt.   The prompt that we used to complete the poster shown below was simply to make suggestions about the potential creation of a themed 3D Print using Tinkercad.   The design task was completed in under three minutes.

As with any questions when we've been using a resource such as this with our students it was - how easy could these suggestions be completed, and could we have already completed some of the examples.

You can see the suggestion for some of keyring or badge - designs and prints that we can comprehensively say the students have completed.

Phone stands are something that we've completed in the past.  This was one of our student businesses from our 2025 School Market Day.

It was more of a discussion point for our students rather than a solid starting point, and we didn't necessarily want an option search for ideas.

We also wanted to ensure that it would be realistic to complete the printing of twenty five designs within a two day period of time.

We will be posting material related to this project next week - we will be away from school for the week as we are managing a team of students at the 2026 NZAIMS Games sports tournament with our small rural school.   

Revising a Maze and Engineering Solutions

 

Sometimes despite our best efforts we end up printing designs that have apparently passed the 'design' test when there is a miscommunication or something slips through the net.

This maze shown left is one example of this 'fail' that we have been able to use as a teaching basic.   We thought that it was valuable to illustrate that sometimes things don't work out well.

The first teaching point is the start, to the left of the entrance.   The students have the letter coming out from the walls, instead of sinking it into the walls, which has meant it is considerably less robust lettering, which with a high use item tends to fall off over time, particularly with a font that sticks out as much as can be shown.    Secondly there is an error in the walls immediately to the right of this.   there is a division between the walls and there is a 5mm section of the wall seperate.

When the print is viewed from above another engineering issue was discovered by the students, which was very apparent with some basic testing.    The walls have a varying space between them which significantly limits the ability for a ball to roll in certain directions.    This means that while there looks to be several different routes to the exit on the far side it is in reality quite limited and accessing the 'hole' obstacle is challenging to say the least.    

There is an area of the maze that is top left that has a 'dead' area where the student cannot access the space.

The student who created this now has a physical copy of their design to compare it to their digital version and can clearly see the areas that need addressing to complete the maze as a workable print.

The final current issue of the print is the base of the entire structure.   This is 1mm thick, which is extremely floppy and applying pressure to this base by bending it would potentially break it.   The student has considered this since the print and had the great idea to use MDF off cuts from the school laser cutter as a base by applying a glue to the base of the maze.

All of these revisions have been discussed with the nine year old student who is confident and able to address them independently of the teacher in the classroom.    We also discussed being able to test these different dimensions in a practical way prior to anymore potential printing.