3D Design: Junior Extension

 

We challenged our students at the end of this term to create some detailed designs for the Dolls House project, we have the intention of printing these during the ongoing school holidays in New Zealand.

An example shown left from a student who created an original bed design for the Dolls House.   This student wanted to make something themed from the Bathroom portion of the house.    The student is using Tinkercad to create the design from scratch.  All of the elements that were placed into the design came independently from the student from the main design page.   The student was also able to use features like the wagon wheel to create the drain hole.

The bunk bed was an early stand out design which featured more detail than a single level bed.   As a result a number of students used this as an example that they could build on.   The ladder itself came from basic shapes.   This was completed by a student who was working on their first year of using Tinkercad to create designs.

Further refinements of design can be seen in the detail around the pillow on the mattress base.

This student is going to use the sticker machine to create a decal to put onto the bed to show the blankets and the details.

As a basis for students to design something from the start, who were perhaps not as confident as others we tasked them with looking at objects that were in the classroom and potentially making a version of this.

In our classroom the furniture includes a bookcase - which we used as an example for students to see in front of them and work out the dimensions.

Typically we had to ensure that the design was based and shaped correctly, and we insisted that students carry out an animation task to ensure that the design was balanced.

This ensure that everyone of the twenty seven students in the class could complete a design.

The biggest challenge for the students that was present with their designs is shown by the example left, the legs underneath the design in the picture above.

The students independently sized each of the legs, instead of copying one of the legs and duplicating it four times to make a perfect copy.  

The one part of the design that needed the most attention is the feet and we also need to consider the use of the design.  We found many designs online of model dolls houses - this is not something that we want, we are building a dolls house that we want to be constantly used, moved and shifted and have the students interacting and playing with.   As the target is a group of five year old students we cannot have any parts that might break or not stand up to the pressure of being moved, dropped or have pressure put on them.