I've been using TinkerCAD in my digital arts exploratory classes for a year or so now and always get the students to create something wild after they complete the tutorials. The last piece of work we did as a group was the design of a piece of impossible playground equipment, which has them imagining something that would break the laws of physics or, as is more often the case, something that would be absolutely illegal to put on a schoolyard playground. They love creating slides that end with spikes or centrifuges that never stop.
We used to have a 3D printer at my last school, but it broke and the decision to not replace it came in the wake of many discussions about putting more plastic into the environment. There are 3D printers that work with compostable filament (or so I've heard), but the community of the school had a hard time justifying the setup as it currently existed.
One thing we eventually decided upon was to purchase a GlowForge, which is effectively a programmable laser cutter. It can work with natural materials like wood or cardboard instead of having to use plastic. Had COVID not overrun our efforts to develop the program further, I imagined having the kids design objects in 3D that could then be disassembled into "slices" (much like the layers of a 3D print process) and then glued together to create their objects out of corrugated cardboard or thin wood. It's still in the cards for me in the future, I hope, but most of the hands-on learning around the GlowForge was off-limits this year due to the pandemic.
If I find myself in a school with a 3D printer or GlowForge again, I'd love for the students do build things in TinkerCAD that can be solutions to identified problems in the school community, either to address a need or find one!
Karen -
Hi Christian,
Your point about not wanting to add more plastics to the world is a solid one. Perhaps the problem you class need to solve is that one - how can we still use a 3D printer and not add to our plastic foot-print.
I'd love to see their solutions.
Chris –
Hey Christian,
I've heard that many schools are in the same way of thinking when it comes to the plastic foot print that 3d printers are putting out. It would be great if technology and learning didn't come with such a negative effect for our environment. That was a big thing we used to talk about in my shop classes is the impact that learning has on our environment and how the choices we make with the materials we use can effect the planet.
I'm curious to know how well the glow forge works... I'm used to having industrial laser cutters and cnc machines in the shops but now that I'm in the classroom I'd love to have…