3D Printed Junior Challenge: Miniature Bees

 

We have talked about in the past how were always looking for things that might combine from the 'real' world into a 3D Design challenge or a 3D Printing challenge.   Examples of this which we've covered this year was the cyclops challenge which was based around the use of an oversized eye as the starting point for a project that morphed into the 'cyclops' project, the dolls house project which started with our students looking to repair something local or our art stencil project where we asked our students to use Tinkercad and their iPads to develop their own stencil for use with art.

This challenge came in a similar vein - we were looking at bees for shared reading and this provided the theme.  We again source from a local dollar store a bag of 'miniature craft bees' we then presented them to the students and encouraged them to think about ways to build a design around the object.   Early examples from our seven and eight year old students had the students using Tinkercad to combine a bee shape (from the main interface, left) with a small group of the craft bees.   The student had some knowledge about queen bees and their role so wanted to show this was a queen and therefore used the 'scribble' feature to add a crown and some regal features.  The student then took their iPad and used the TInkercad app to project the queen onto a scene with the 'real' bees.

The student shown left had a different idea - they wanted to use the bee as an inspiration to create honey comb earrings - with the craft bee placed there for scale.

We have talked about the suitability of ear rings as a realistic project before in terms of print times and detailing.   We have also created a slideshow (for teachers) detailing the process of how to create such a project.   Again the student to display the creation used the Tinkercad app and its AR/VR ability to project the earrings into place so they could determine how they might look once they were constructed.

This design challenge also allowed students to work on their own bee designs and also have a conversation about the parts of an insect and its composition.   The colour matching on Tinkercad also included discussions about the stripes, the wings and the details.   The student not only then projected their own AR/VR bee next to a 'craf't' bee they also created an entire flower (right) and started to look at pollination and the different features of a flower (again which lent itself to another AKO or investigation).

We also had students who were a bit less confident use the designs repeat feature to build a scene like the one shown left.  This is typical of something that the students can create, then use for a purpose (in this case it was projected onto the floor of the classroom).

This featured the first 'queen' bee (from the top photograph which was then transferred between students for some to use again or put a different spin onto it.

This open ended challenge also allowed students who were operating at the other end of the design scale to share their ideas - as shown left.  In this instance the student has been experimenting with hinges and locks and wanted to print an entire box.

We are likely to break this down in seperate pieces and print it as a set.  In every case we are going to have a sharing session with the classroom where we can apply to the students the same questions that were a key cornerstone from our recent School Market Day - can you personalise the print? How can you use your iPad to create? How can you innovate or improve your design once it has been started?