Maker Monday - 3D Doodler Pen

It's the first day back to school, and I am getting ready for second semester and all the new projects students will be able to consider for their Spring Maker project.  A few months ago, I ordered a 3D Doodler Pen with funds from the Voya Unsung Heroes grant. 

(Note: Apply for the grant - https://unsungheroes.scholarshipamerica.org  Deadline is April 30).  

Our students are already familiar with 3D design as they have been working with the 3D printer for several months.  The 3D Doodler pen looked like the perfect companion especially for those students who prefer to create with their hands.  I was further enticed by some of the amazing creations I saw online.  Look at this amazing bird!

http://the3doodler.com/2014/10/17/master-3d-pen-tips-technique-inspiration/

First, the 3D Doodler is easy to get up and running.  You just plug it in, select your filament type, turn it on, and wait for it to heat up.  Then, simply load the filament like you would a lead pencil.

Making something is a little more challenging.  Maybe I shouldn't have looked at that beautiful bird creation first.  My goal was to create a dog house.  Umm... Here's what I managed before realizing this was not going to happen...

So, I did a little more reading and got some great tips.  First, use painter's tape to prepare your surface.  Why didn't I think of that?  It's just like the tape we use on the build tray for the 3D printer.  Second, don't expect the lines to be smooth at first, so start with projects that don't require them.  

My next project wasn't that great, but it's much better.  We were making Christmas cookie cutters with the 3D printer, so I tried making a Walnut Grove ornament with the Doodler.  It's not beautiful, but not horrible for less than 30 minutes working with the pen, including the time on the "doghouse".  Motivated, interested students should be able to do better with a little more practice and time.

Some other tips:  

Use a model to guide your big projects.  For example, if I had started by folding an origami dog house and then used it as a scaffold for the 3D drawing, it would have been much easier to keep my lines straight. I'm thinking of it as high tech paper mâché.

Use the 3D Doodler to add finishing touches to another project created with other materials.  This would be especially useful for adding a little extra color or flourishes to our 3D printed projects.

Change the speed of the filament flow to match the level of detail your design requires.  It worked better for me to start at the high setting and then slow down for corners and other more precise work.

Stay tuned for some future posts with student projects.

Problem Solving in the Makerspace

The best thing about my library Makerspace is how student projects form and problems get solved.  At library night this week, I was showing a group of students and their parents the Sphero robot.  Our talented custodian, Patrick, and his budding artist daughter inspired me to suggest that it would be great if we could make a carriage for Sphero that would include a pen holder.  Then, we could program Sphero to draw something on poster board.

Patrick sketched out a working model for the Sphero carriage, and I shared it with two fifth grade teams of 3D designers.  They haven't been through all the Tinkercad tutorials, but they need to work on a real project. They were excited and a bit anxious about starting the project.

I explained that they needed to calculate the diameter of Sphero, so that they would know how big to make the hole in the carriage.  James said, "It needs to be a little bigger than Sphero, or it won't spin or move."  Absolutely, right!  I showed them how to use a tape measure to find the circumference.  Then, we looked up the formula for calculating the diameter of a sphere when you know the circumference.  Because math is my weakest subject, I suggested they check the formula with Mr. Brandon, our math teacher.  The truth is, I felt confident that the formula was correct, but I like suggesting that they verify information with a second, reliable source.  And, I like having them discuss their projects with other teachers.

Upon returning to the library, the boys quickly did the calculations and converted it to millimeters.  Then, they set to work on the design.  When I came back a few minutes later to check on them, they had something like this:

They had used the torus thin because it already had a hole in the center.  I asked them how they were going to determine how big the hole in the center is since the measurements are for the entire shape.  Silence.  I said, "Maybe you should replace it with the cylinder shape. Then, you can drill a hole the size you need."  More silence.  
Then, Logan said, "Hey, James, why don't we just grab the sphere and make it the size we need.  Then we can stretch the torus until the sphere fits inside it with a little room to spare."  Yep, I'm getting back out of the way.  They obviously only needed me to ask the question.  They were more than capable of figuring out a much more elegant solution than I.

That's Makerspace learning.  The inspiration for our projects comes from our needs, the mentoring and collaborating come from our entire school staff (and they don't have to be in the library at the time - Patrick was there two nights before and the other involved a brief in-school field trip to the math teacher's classroom), and the solutions to problems come from questioning and taking time to think about it.

3rd Grade 3D Project

You need to see how 3rd graders and Kindergartners have worked together on our first real-world 3D printing project.  I'm kind of mad at myself for missing the first part, and not capturing all of their amazing conversations on video.

It all began last Friday...

Mr. Clemons' third graders met Mrs. Young's kindergartners in our outdoor classroom to discuss geometric shapes.  Working in teams, third graders interviewed a team of kindergartners about the geometric shape they were studying in class.  Kindergartners had to answer questions, like:  How many sides does it have?  How many angles does it have?  Will it roll?  Third graders had to take good notes and ask all the questions they needed to be confident that they could identify the shape and make a model of it.  

Today, third graders came to the library to learn how to use AutoDesk123D to draw the shape, change the dimensions, and rotate the viewing field so that they could show their "customers" how it looked from all points of view, including the bottom, top, and all sides.  They had their notes from the meeting last Friday, and could be heard explaining to each other and referring back to their notes about whether or not the design was correct.  

Then, we brought the kindergartners to the library to meet with the product designers.  They were so excited to see their shapes and give feedback - "Can you make it bigger?" and ask questions about what would happen next.  Third graders demonstrated their products to the kindergartners in exceptionally clear, confident language while answering all their questions and responding to their requests, when feasible because, um... "No, we can't make it as big as you!"

Shame on me for not getting better video footage.  Here's a small example of the amazing learning experience.  The girl talking in this video is also using the mouse to rotate the image.

We are in the middle of taking the ACT Aspire this week, and the fact that the test will never be able to measure the kind of learning and skills that are on display in our Kindergarten-3rd Grade 3D printing project makes me sad for all those people who think they can judge a school, a teacher, or a student based solely on those scores.