Module 2, week 1

This week, we worked on 3D design with a laser cutter. Since primary is in the middle of a plants unit, I thought it would be nice to create a flower puzzle. Using Inkscape, I designed my flower. The leaves and flower were found on an image search, but the rest was designed by me (as you can probably tell).

Transfering the file from Inkscape to whatever weird program our laser cutter uses was not easy. Multiple aspects changed when transfering the file, such as the leaves completely disappeared, and some lines were connected that were not supposed to be connected. The hardest thing we had to do was to make sure the flower’s middle part was not fully cut out, because it had one line connecting the entire outside and middle. This proved to be quite challenging to edit using the PCs program, but after some time we figured out how to cut the lines at certain places to seperate them. Printing the file went fine.

After printing, I tried to put the pieces together. Sadly, I was under the impression that the board was 3MM thick, so all the gaps I made were 3.1MM wide. This turned out to not be the case though, as the wood was actually 2MM. This made the puzzle impossible to stand up beyond the base pieces (soil).

If time allows, I’d love to try to print this again with 3MM board to see if the pieces would fit in properly and stand up correctly. I should also rearrange the bottom piece’s holes so that the two boards pieces that are poking out don’t push the other board away. But, I still think this can be a fun, and super challenging puzzle, for my students to put together. Perhaps we can glue it all when the students are bored. I’d also like the students to label each part and color it if possible.

Reflection Questions

1. How your press-fit can be utilized in education? How other teachers could use it?

This could be a fun puzzle for educators to use in primary school for students to get a hands on experience of parts of the plant. If multiple could be printed, students could be allowed to write their own labels and color the parts as well, further increasing learning retention.

1. What has been your experience using Project Based Learning / Problem based learning in the past? What were the main challenges? How DF can support Project Based Learning / Problem Based learning?

For young primary students, PBLs are a bit different than they would be for older students. 90% of PBLS for young learners is about the knowledge they learn before the project begins. Then, the project is usually similar to a summative assesment along the lines of “Make/draw/write something that shows your learning.” For example, in grade 1 the students were learning about animal habitats. A very common project for them to do at the end of the unit is to create a diorama that shows they understand what the habitat looks like and what animals might live in that habitat. This almost always involves making at an accessable level for kids, using modeling clay, cardboard, art supplies, and of course a shoe box to put it all in. The main challenge of these is usually getting the materials needed, division of labor in partner/group work, time in our curriculum (as if it is in partners, it should be done at school,) and finally clean up. DF can help with these as some students are not great at drawing/painting, but might find success using digital art programs. Also, if students don’t want to create their own clay animals, they might be able to find 3D models and print them online. Finally, if you want to save materials, or be more environmentally friendly, you can always have the students create something on ScratchJr or TinkerCad for the older students, and display it digitally instead of using physical resources.

1. When organizing DF activities with kids, What are the aspects that you think should be prepared beforehand? What aspects can be improvised?

The most important aspect that needs to be prepared beforehand, is the students. They need to learn the skills required for making. Their creativity needs to be cultivated. They need to learn to be makers, not copiers. They need to do activities that encourage them to not be scared to make something new. Then, they need to learn how to use the software and hardware they will be using, and most importantly how to be safe while doing those things. These skills sometimes take years to build up, so its important for me to teach the basics in primary school.