OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

Students will use Tinkercad to make a basic key chain with their own name on it. They will export the STL file to get sliced for the 3D printer. They will document the estimated print time and the time to complete the print. Data will be gathered to chart a trend line. Students will have a key chain and data to analyze.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Science
• Grade Level : 6-8, 9-12
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Data Analysis
  • Algorithms and Programming
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Collaborating Around Computing
  • Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems
  • Developing and Using Abstractions
  • Creating Computational Artifacts
  • Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts
  • Communicating About Computing
• Materials:
  • Website, Maker Station (3D printer). Google Sheets and tinkercad (https://www.tinkercad.com/) Resource websites: http://bit.ly/2Vwp4Vb, http://bit.ly/2ZDgT6M, https://bit.ly/3a27MU5
• Considerations:
  • That you may need to take multiple data points to get valid data. One time through will give a wide range of data and it may take multiple attempts with multiple classes to get usable data.

Lesson Plan

Overview

Students will use Tinkercad to make a basic key chain with their own name on it. They will export the STL file to get sliced for the 3D printer. They will document the estimated print time and the time to complete the print. Data will be gathered to chart a trend line. Students will have a key chain and data to analyze.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

PRE: Can you produce a dimensionally accurate key chain through tinkercad? What are issues that you anticipate can be found in the project? How do you anticipate correcting them? POST: Can you produce a dimensionally accurate key chain through tinkercad? Post a screenshot of your design and post a picture of your final project. If there are errors, describe how you would fix them.

PRE: What data points are needed to construct a graph? Where does each variable need to go on the x y coordinate plane? What do you anticipate your data will show? POST: What data points do you need to construct a graph from estimated print time and actual print time? What does your data show or what do you think it should show?

PRE: What material is important to share in your conclusions? Why do we share our findings? POST: What material do you think is important to share in your conclusions? What specifically would you share about these findings and why is it important?

OBJECTIVES

Students produce a dimensionally accurate key chain through tinkercad. Students will analyze and record data from the estimated print time to the actual print time. Students will construct a graph that gives a trend line for the estimated versus the actual print time and share their findings.

CATCH/HOOK

Do you need a key chain to find the right keys when you leave the house? How long do you think it would take you to design a special key chain that you can use whenever you want?

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

The student will generate and print a dimensionally accurate 3D model. They will also document estimated print time with the actual print times to compare differences.

1. Students will log on to tinkercad.com and create an account using their google credentials.
2. Students will get a basic instruction in how to use tinkercad and watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdSIDzvr4VY. Answer Pre-lab questions.
3. Students will start by dragging the letters to the red base.
4. To make positioning the letters a little easier, change the snap grid setting from 1.0 to 0.25.
5. After placing a letter, the arrow keys on the keyboard will let you nudge the letters in any direction
6. It’s easy to resize the base using the black dot on the right of the model
7. Click on the shape to select it, then drag the black dot until the red base matches the size of the letters.
8. You can click and drag your mouse across all the letters to select them.
9. Then, press the delete key on your keyboard to remove the selected letters.
10. Select all remaining shapes.
11. Group them together by clicking on the “Group” button on the toolbar.
12. Great Job! You made it! Export your design and save as an STL to the jump drive.
13. Take the jump drive to your teacher who will assemble it on MakerBot and export the combined name tag file with 4 names on it to a .makerbot file
14. Take the new file to the MakerBot and upload the file to the 3D printer. Record the estimated print time and start time.
15. Record the completed time once the print is done.
16. Take your data and create a google sheet. Create a table and input the correct times into the columns. Use the equation setting to create a new column with the % change equation.
17. Graph the percent change for each print.
18. Answer the post lab questions.

Supplements

Any items in this section are the property & under the license of their respective owners.

REVIEW

Students will receive a key chain of their creation and will be assessed on whether or not they have successfully created a dimensionally accurate 3D model. They will also document estimated print time with the actual print times to compare differences and write a conclusion. Students will then be introduced into careers in computer science and fabrication.

STANDARDS