3D Printed: Junior 'Unique' Dragon

Challenge: For a junior school student to create a dragon, from scratch.

Background: We have worked on designs of Dragons before, and featured them extensively in the school market day that took place at the end of last year.   We had a business that was run by Y3 students who were able to locate a range of available designs of Dragons that were available online as free designs.

This student was looking for a way to extend herself considerably.   She has shown a lateral view with designs.   The challenge put to her (she is a Y4 student so someone who is 8) was to use the basic shapes from the Tinkercad main interface to create a unique dragon.  Given the age of the student, the scale of the challenge and the likelihood that it would work seemed very challenging - but again it needs to be acknowledged that the teacher (myself) has again underestimated the talents of a junior school student completing a challenging CAD design process. 

However in the past we have had students create projects such as the Christmas Sleigh from 2018 which was able to achieve the design of a complicated project using the basic steps.

Level of Difficulty: Hard.  The process is to take something that is almost universally recognised.  the student is going to refine and remeasure this design moving forward (see below).

Timeframe: Ninety minutes.  This was ideal for this project as it will allow reworking and following a process of development, with the student taking the lead.  We would have been reluctant to allow the student to create a larger version when this is an early prototype.   

Size: 80mm long, 25mm across and 40mm high at the head.   Ideal for the process of design.

What we would do differently/Next steps for students:   The speed at which the student has succeeded in working through this process has meant a smaller print time to encourage the student was ideal.  The student is going to now work through the basic design that they have created, adding details, sculpting and shaping the design to make it more detailed.  She is using various illustrations and book series to look at details.  It has been a fantastic experience which has shown again the power of the potential for the student to continue to experience with design and creation.