3D Pritned Junior Progressions Summary - Badge

 

The classroom this year consists of students who are a mix of Y3 and Y4 in New Zealand, that is students who are seven and eight years old.   The eight year olds have the experience of being in the classroom for a calendar year and have used Tinkercad to design and make the 3D Projects that are featured on this blog.

Blending in the new designs is something like this design shown left, which has a basic shape and lettering.   Twenty minutes to print, student designed it independently (we have four 3D printers as school so I do need to be mindful of other classrooms and what is being designed and printed.

An extension task following on for this is something like adding additional features and working out how to insert a hole into the design to create a way to tie the design to an object.  The students typically experiment with getting the size correct, typically starting with something simple as shown left, which was developed by a new student this year for his second actual print.   Dimensions were worked on by the student, including measuring it up.

Furthermore we then look at adding an object into the design - there is a full range of objects that can easily be added from the main design page, in this case it is a rugby ball.   Students experiment with the depth of the objects and lettering, typically when they start both tend to be extending out from the design to a point that they compromise the design itself.  In this progression shown left the student has the lettering coming out 3mm from the design and the ball a similar length.  This print measured 100mm long was 60mm high and was 5mm thick with the default settings on the print this took just over three hours.

Another second tier design is shown left, this by a second year student, who has developed his skills during the past twelve months.   As an eight year old in under ten minutes the student is able to design a label from scratch, attach a name to it and two additional images to go with it.

The student was able to present this design for printing, without any input from the teacher, based on his design experience last year.

The final challenge at this stage with the more experienced students and the students who are designing for the first time but excelling was to look at inverting the writing so instead of it featuring on the outside of the design it instead was on the inside but sunk into the design.

The students designing this kind of item can be reassured that the item has a significant shelf life.  The earliest prints from ten years ago, when we first started printing are still in existence as has been evidenced by our outside print.

We have also used a box of inspiration featuring some old projects and while students are waiting for their initial designs to print, we have utilised Tinkercads AR/VR feature to image their creations.

You can see ten years of examples on this site by using the search bar on the right hand side as we have tagged 'badges' 'labels' and 'exemplars'.

3D Prints: How do we reimagine basic tasks to keep it fresh?

 

We have mentioned previously on this blog that we have an examples box and that box provides a number of print ideas and exemplars that have been designed and created by past students.

One of the ways that we check off is someone has Tinekercad (or design) mastery is to challenge them to build something and look at the results.  Badges is a loose term for a very basic design which allows the students to personalise their prints.   It often leads to more creative and inventive designs and can be viewed as a starting point.

This year with half of the classroom being experienced designers (that is being eight year olds having designed and created for a year) the basic designs are something that they have not only mastered but tend to be well experienced in.   Extending them can sometimes come in different forms - in this case the original task was to produce a badge, which even independently shouldnt take more than one or two minutes, even for a first time designer.   We created a flipped video for this process - created by our students which is still in use.

One of the common challenges with design is how to increase the difficulty without radically altering the task, in this instance we have asked the students to take a basic name plate design and invert the name, so that instead of having it above the print line it is sunk down into the base of the print.   This makes it much more robust, as at times the letters being on the outside or above the print can cause them to be knocked off or damanged.

3D Printed Numbers: Seven Years On

Background: In the longest running print series on this blog, we have a small update about a print that was first completed in 2018 and has now been outside at a fixed location for seven consecutive years. 

We have regularly updated this series of posts, although you can read the original here.  The intention was always to put something on display and have it running long term.   It served a simple and specific purpose - we needed to have numbers on display for our emergency assembly area.

We wanted them to stand out.   We wanted to be able to adapt or update them easily - and it needed to be durable and sustainable.    We knew that the numbers would be outside, in the elements, in Taranaki.

Although our winters and relatively mild, it has still meant the prints have been outside for nearly seven calendar years.   Of the original prints we have had to replace several but these have all been replaced as a result of being struck by students with a ball (soccer/football) in particular relative to the goal.  There has been no evidence of any PLA that is wearing as a result of exposure to the elements.

We have had to respray the numbers, as the colour that the numbers that was originally printed in (orange) has faded over time.   To replace the numbers it is a simple matter of students using Tinkercad to create a number, via the text option and then introduce two holes into the number so that the numbers can be hung from the wire mesh fence that they are displayed on.

Shown left there are the two numbers that need to be replaced for this year - other than a result of accidental damage, as noted there is not going to be the need to replace the lettering which is functional.  There will be another update with this post next year if the blog is still being run at that time.

Y7/8 Project: Using the Laser Cutter and 3D Printers to Upcycle

 

We are always trying to think outside the box about projects that we can use the technology to rebuild or develop.

We have done this in the past and this year we saw an opportunity to complete this again, as we found what would be described as a vintage/old dolls house.

The house is built predominantly of wood, with some metal fixtures for the windows etc.   It was destined for a skip, to be thrown out as rubbish.

We were able to identify this, and have assigned it to some of our senior students as a project to rebuild it.    The first step is obviously the cleaning as shown in the photograph.    We have roof and exterior paint available from general repairs that have been carried out around the school.

We want to allow the students to brainstorm the opportunities and think how about we could use our major machines - for instance we could use the laser cutter to create framing for the walls and the windows, such as the photo-framing details previously created by our students.   We can use the sticker machine to create details and decals for the walls - and even the floors, as we have previously created as a floor for a basketball court.    We have the 3D Printer that could be used to create fixtures, such as a dolls chair previously designed by our students.

The dolls house currently is a shell, it has the bones and it will be an ongoing process that will take sometime and the intention is then to gift the dolls house to the junior school.   You can follow is progress during the year using the tag "dollhouse 2025"

Using Tinkercad AR/VR to Project an Image

 

We are working at combing some of our Tinkercad designs and using the iPad APP with its inbuilt AR/VR option 

In an example shown left the student has used an existing 3D Print, which was a design that is found from the main interface.

The design was printed and put on display, the student then used Tinkercad to create a copy of the original design and then put the two together.   You can see from the photograph of the two images shown left.   While the quality of the image shows the difference between the real object and the AR/VR version you can clearly see the progression.   One of the things that we wanted the student to do was look at how this might look on their desk with the material and prototype what it might be.

3D Printing - Mathematical Resources

 

This is a companion piece of sorts to a previous post about using the laser cutter to produce ones, tens and hundreds boards for help with place value.

The speed was there however MDF generally is not as durable as PLA and the 3D Printed material can sometimes be better especially if something is intended to be handled extensively.

In this case we were able to locate a download from the Thingiverse website which was titled Place Value Cub Manipulative.  This file contained the designs that we were looking for - a one, tens and hundreds block.   The time to complete the blocks was scaled.

The single blue cube, which represents a base value of one took three minutes to print.   The block of ten took just under thirty minutes and the hundred block (which is not pictured) took three and a half hours.

As this was a pre-made print there was no design necessary but the amount of PLA could then give us a price point for each of these objects.

For the purposes of keeping the price simple we have used a cost of $43.00 for a roll of 1kg of filament.

The single cube (three minutes) uses 0.7g of PLA to complete the print and takes three minutes.   At this price we could produce over 1400 pieces which would give us a price point cost of three cents each.

The ten block needs 5.5g of PLA to complete and takes half an hour.   With a roll of 1kg of material it would be possible to produce 181 from a single roll and the price point for that would be twenty four cents each.

The hundreds board was created using 42.1g of PLA and took three and a half hours to complete.  With the measurements and expectations listed above it would be possible to produce 23 of these from a standard roll of PLA, which would be a price to produce each board of $1.87.

All these figures are listed in New Zealand Dollars.

Using Tinkercads AR/VR option with juniors

 

We have spoken about this topic on our blog before with our classroom of students, and how we have our students creating designs that might not make it to the printing stage.   One aspect of that is using the Tinkercad iPad App which has the ability to AR/VR a design for the students into a real situation.

This allows students to check the viability of their designs as we have demonstrated in the past which you can see by clicking here.

At times the 3D Printers can be limited via their availability as we have a large number of students wanting to print.    Using this option with Tinkercad brings meaning to the designs.

Sometimes objects can be placed in locations such as on a desk or table, to mimic or see what they might look like when printed, sometimes the challenge can be based around the students holding the design - as shown here.   This has been created by a class of Y3/4 students in New Zealand, some of whom are creating for the first time independently.

Furthermore we have also explored in the past another way to using a Tinkercad design - and that is running it through a filter.

In the example shown left the scene was designed by a student using Tinkercad and focussing on a scene (yes we have through about design for instance of a fairy tale, like the woods from Little Red Riding Hood!) and then put through a Pic Collage filter.  We have again completed this at length before, examples of which from last year you can see here.

3D Printing: Using the new Design tool

 

Challenge: For an experienced student to create an original design using the new Tinkercad tool to add details to it.   

Background: As we start 2025 we want to look to extend our students with their 3D design and not to look to be too repetitive with their projects.  Having already had some of the students for twelve months the idea was to incorporate new designs into the classroom.

We issued a challenge for students to use the new tool in a way that we could add detail or reshape a design..

The student in this case wanted to create something that had the ability to act as a storage for items, like a stylus, and also feature the students name.   The student likes animals and thought the new tool would be able to create whiskers on the outside.   

The profile picture of the design below clearly shows the storage and the detail which allowed this to be created.

As with nearly every single post on this blog the student was working using Tinkercad, an iPad and working independently.

As shown left you can see the hollowing out of the design for storage, how the ears on the cat are angled towards each other to hold a stylus, and the three whiskers which were created with the new tool.

Size: The design measures 95mm across and was 70mm wide.   The design measured 50mm high.  The student wanted something that was not too large and could always be moved from location to location.

Timeframe: Four hours with the default (regular) settings.   The student was pleased with the dimensions and realistically it would have been not as effective if it was smaller and increasing the size would obviously have effected the print time, amount of PLA in use at a time the machines are in high demand due to their usage.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the student: We opted to use a plain base colour, so it could be spray painted.  It was a positive introduction for the student to use the new tool, and it should lead to them using it again in the future

Laser Cutting - Mathematical Resources

This year we have a significant change in the curriculum delivery for Mathematics in New Zealand.   As part of that there is a move towards using a wide range of resources for use with the program.

We are always looking for opportunities to how we might use our schools technology in ways that can enhance the students learning.   In the example shown left one of the staff from school wanted to create a hundreds board (shown left) a tens board above and then a ones block.    These can be used in combination with other material to support learning.

Many of these designs can be located online, so the design time is potentially minimal or can be created very quickly.  Further examples are shown such as the token examples of the numbers left.

There is a significant opportunity for expanding this further in future, either by students or staff.

Starting 2025 With a New Classroom

 

The school year in New Zealand has started for 2025 (for the benefit of those of you who are visiting this page from overseas we run from February to December each year).

We have a classroom of Y3/4 students the Y4 students had the experience of using Tinkercad and the 3D Printers last year, the younger students who are seven years old are typically designing for the first time.

As it has been the last few years we are using Tinkercad to design and maintain our students creativity.   This blog has been running for over ten years of 3D Printing for classroom designs - we cannot say enough of the practicality of using Tinkercad for our students CAD designs.   Apart from the face its a free program, it is a web based design site continues to evolve and develop.   The classroom management is exceptional,  and the students are able to design easily - this years new students have been mentored by the older students who have quickly picked up how to design and create.

We are a 1:1 iPad School - we have pushed the Tinkercad app out to all our school iPads as the app allows for the students to VR/AR their designs anywhere.

Each year we start with basic designs such as those shown left.  We will not be repeating all of our designs again this year as posts - you can look at the 'search' bar on the right hand side and look at 'badges' which we have created for the past ten years or click at some of our exemplars such as the one located here.

Our students are independently creating these designs which we will be printing a range of, typically we would expect them to come in at under two hours on our Snapmaker Printers.   Although for the first time in several years we are going to experiment by purchasing additional printers.

The new tool from the main Tinkercad interface has already proven to be very popular with the students, allowing precision cutting to take place from larger objects and also to add additional shapes to a creation.   We have also started exploring the changes to the main picture interface.

This site is being maintained by an active classroom teacher - that is someone who regularly teachers students and encourages creativity.  If you want to get in the contact with the teacher you can email me at:

myles.webb@gmail.com

I also am on several of the social media sites and platforms chiefly as @NZWaikato.   I am more than happy to explain the process or creation of particular projects further including some of the other projects that I have been involved in.

We also have a major school event this year - we are again holding a School Market Day when the local community comes into the school to looks at the products that the students create.   We have a specific tab from the main menu from last years event including detailed videos of the event.  You can click on that here.