Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

Whenever I've had new students come into my STEM classroom and see that I have 3D printers, a common question I get asked is, “Are you going to print us whatever we want?” I say no. And I say, “No, you're gonna actually make something that's going to get printed.” They don't like that answer at first, but then they realize it's okay. It's an okay answer. Too often, I've seen 3D printers being used as a hub to print little toys that students print without any real purpose in mind. I've said this before in this podcast, but when I started doing 3D printing with my students, I had never 3D printed before myself. Any new tool can be scary, but this is actually a skill in how to design and do 3D printing that I love to teach my students. And, honestly, the hardest part about doing a 3D printing unit is actually managing the prints anyway. Not so much teaching the students how to create the 3D design. It's keeping up with all those prints. Well, the audio from this episode has never been heard before on this podcast. This is a presentation I did at a past online summit. In this session, I'll be sharing with you how standards can actually inform your 3D printing projects and how you can use this innovative tool in a meaningful way. 

Naomi Meredith [00:01:54]:

Hey there, and welcome to this session on 3D print with the standards in mind. I am your presenter, Naomi Meredith, and I am so glad that you are here today. Whether you are a STEM, tech teacher, or general ed teacher, you are in the right place. Whether you have experience with 3D printing or you are brand new to this, there are lots of great takeaways that you can add to your classroom and help you with your future or current 3D print lessons. So a little bit about me before we get started, I am a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach, and I love helping teachers like you navigate STEM in technology in your K-5 classroom. There's a picture of my little family and that furry little guy, little with the big ears, not the one with the sunglasses, is Frederick the dog, and he is a sweet little naughty boy, which we are so happy to have. 

So why in the world should we be concerned about 3D printing, and why should it take place in our classrooms? 3D printing is a great way to prototype designs. Building with cardboard and clay and all of the hands-on types of things should not go away. Don't take those away. Those are still powerful and meeting people. This is just another way where students can create with technology and not just be consumers and create their prototypes that can actually be printed out in typical plastic in a classroom setting. However, you could have very advanced 3D printers and lots of different filaments that can print out for you. Also, 3D printers are becoming not only more common in schools and libraries but they're becoming more common in various industries. There are a lot of companies that build buildings that use ginormous 3D printers to print out some of the materials that they're actually going to build with. This saves on shipping costs; they can print things on-site. If they run out, they can print more, and there are so many benefits to that. Likewise, 3D printers are being used in the health industry. They're messing around with biological tissue print out things that can be used, and also, some restaurants are trying 3D printing with food and how they're using sued as a filament to print that out. So it's pretty amazing how it's becoming more and more common, which is great because then the cost of 3D printers in the filament, the plastic that goes inside, is a lot cheaper, and we'll have more and more in our houses. Also, 3D printing is a way for students can collaborate online with digital tools. So the way our world is going digital is not going away, and students need to be able to collaborate effectively when using those digital tools. So it's a really cool way that students can see their designs and share those technology skills. 

So just like any lesson with cool tools, it's really not about the tool, but it's how you set up that lesson for success. So it's all about how we can look for the great standards that would make sense for these 3D print lessons. So when we're looking at our standards, we wanna think about those words like create, make a model, design a solution, Those will actually work best when thinking if you wanna do a 3D print lesson. Not all standards are created equal, so not every standard's gonna work well for 3D printing, which they shouldn't. Not everything's going to be 3D printed. So really analyze your standards and see where students could create something to demonstrate their learning. From there, once you have your standard in mind, typically, we'll look at the science standards, and we'll go into the process later on this in this session. You wanna have a process for creation. So maybe you're going to use the engineering design process, which is also a standard. Maybe you do some project-based learning, design thinking, wherever the flow of your lesson is going to go, this works great for 3D printing. Also, if this is your students, and maybe your first time using 3D print software, you definitely wanna balance out the time for learning the tool and also demonstrating the standard. So if this is a first time kind of thing, you're definitely going to have to have more modeling of how to use the tool. And then from there, students are able to apply it. So the first few time, I've noticed that with my students, the first time I used 3D printing, it did take us longer to design, and the designs were more simple. But the years after that, the kids were a lot quicker, but they did have more details in their design since they had some more tricks than their tool belt on how to use the software. 

So just like anything, when you're thinking about, especially technology tools, there is that progression of learning, some are gonna be really quick at it, some are gonna need more time, but definitely allow more time than you think when you're in that creation space. So when we're thinking about that first part looking for the standards and the keywords, I like to use all of these when planning any STEM or technology lesson for my classroom to ensure that I am using things that are common for the gen ed, which you could also do this in a general education classroom. So I use the common course state standard to the math EMEA, also speaking and listening, the common core mathematical practices, the next generation science standards, or you could use whatever science standards your state or district requires, and also the ISD standards for students. So if you're not familiar with those, Those are technology and innovative practices to help kids be amazing learners for our time now, but also beyond. So let's take a look at how I would think about the standards when I'm going to create a 3D print lesson for 3rd grade. So you could apply this to the grade that you teach. So I like to, so I know I'm gonna do 3D printing. Of course. That's why you're here. And so from there, out of those standards I showed on the last slide, I actually start with the next generation science standard. So every this is my core of the lesson, and everything else is going to fit in within that. So the standard for this 3rd grade 3D print lesson, I looked at those keywords and it's something like developing a model to show the birth, life, and adulthood of a living thing. So, basically, life cycles. That's what that one's saying. And so develop a model I thought would be excellent for this 3D print lesson. And, actually, I was inspired by going to museums and aquariums. I like to travel a lot, and I go to a lot of museums and aquariums and zoos. When I'm traveling, and they always have models and interactive models that you can touch and feel. And I thought, oh my gosh. These could definitely be 3D printed. What if my students created this, then this could be something, I guess, even further in a museum or a zoo. So I get kids excited about that, and they actually share examples of when they have seen this as well. So it brings to life what their 3D print actually is. 

Why would you need a model? Well, here's an example of why you would want a model of a life cycle. Alright. So from there, we have the common core standards. So I like to look at the reading informationals will be using some research to help them with their model. So we will read that informational, and then we will write down our think to help them get to the end of the year grade level standards. Part of their writing will be digital, so one of the standards goes along with that. They will eventually have to share and talk about it through presenting. So whether it is having a little museum presentation or it might have them record using a digital little tool online. There are those speaking and listening standards along with that collaboration. So definitely become familiar with not only your typical reading informational standards, but the speaking and listening and the writing and how that can integrate as well. This is also where you can add in the common core math standards as well depending on your grade level. So I know with 3rd grade, there is a lot about geometry and shapes, which the platform I like to use for 3D printing uses a lot of shapes. and identifying shapes to help create the things. Other grades and beyond, we can talk about lines and angles. So once you've become more familiar with platform, you can definitely even add in more of those specific common core math standards here. 

From there, we have our mathematical practices, which is great because these are A lot of those, like, long term skills that can apply in any setting. So the one that we chose for this lesson is number 5, whereas students are using tools strategically, which they definitely have to in this and manipulate the shapes and the objects in their design so that it makes sense and represents what they want to show. Finally, we have our NST standards for students and students are taking on their role as innovative designers, so they're thinking about how they can use the pictures of life cycles that they have researched and read about online. and how they can create it in a 3D format. And so they can there are some animals in the platform they can pull from. But overall, they have to figure out how they're going to design those living things in their program. From there, so we really dive into the research of the standards. And the standards actually are gonna take the longest amount of time when you are creating your lesson. which is great because you know your lesson is going to hopefully be purposeful and make sense with the whole 3D print design. I like to use the engineering design process when we are in that creation mode. So the question was how can we create a model to demonstrate the life cycle of a living thing. Imagine we look at lots of different life cycles of living things in ways that they're shown. Through their plan, we do some research using online tools, and then to create and experiment and improve. There should be an arrow back and forth from experiment and improve. There's a lot of that going on with this 3D print program. So no matter what program you use, there is a lot of experimenting and improving and creation And then finally, once it's printed, definitely allow yourself a lot of time to print these, then they can share like we talked about in person or using online tools. 

So here are some student created examples. I actually personally have not created any of these. The kids always up with better things than I do. On the far left is an example of 1 of the life cycles of a frog. So they use different shapes to show that, and there is an option to type. So it's about the size of my palm. These are all very small, by the way. That is a little tip. Make your print the design small so you can get through them a lot quicker. The middle one is a 4th grade example. We tied it to a standard about light and how there's a transfer of energy from the battery to the circuit tape, that shiny tape on there. So students created a night light, so they have to design their 3D print hollow and then have a hole on the bottom so that when they placed it on top of the light, it could shine through. The last one is a 5th grade example, and it goes along with a standard that talks about how or resources need to be protected and preserved, so students research different problems that are happening to Earth like not natural disasters, but things in the environment. And then they designed a invention or improved an invention to help with that problem. So that's a student's design. I believe it went with something with water when hydroelectric power. You noticed there's a little thing too. These are just the colors of filament. Filament is the plastic that comes in the 3D printer. These are just the colors that I happen to have. I don't necessarily let students choose the colors since I don't have a whole lot of opt So this is just things that I had you could with lighter colors, use Sharpie or paint pens to color the designs if you wanted to, those have been successful in the past for me. There are lots of 3D print tools out there, but when you're thinking about getting started in the class 

These are 2 very popular platforms, and they are free to use as of the time of this recording. So we have TinkerCAD and Sketchup. Both have really great similarities and differences. Doesn't usually matter what 3D printer you have, They are just creating in these platforms, and then you can download it as the type of print file, your 3D printer reads. put it in that program your 3D printer talks to and go from there. So you don't have to have a specific 3D printer. Also, if you are watching this and don't even have a 3D printer still have kids design, and they can still share. It just might not be printed or you can send it off to maybe a local company, and they'll print them for you. So don't be held back if you don't have a 3D printer. You can't do this. You definitely can't. You can just show the model on the computer. Now when you're thinking about just some little teacher tips and when you're teaching 3D printing. I have done 3D printing for every kid in the school, k through 5. So every year, I'd print at least 500 plus prints. So these are things that I know work. Is possible, depending on your school, have students create their account using Google. It's just really easy to sign up. That way both platforms pretty sure use Google. That way they can save all their work from year to gear, so that's really, really helpful. Of course, allow kids time to explore. So about the first 5 to 10 minutes, if they've never used the platform before, Let them play around and see what they discover, and you can have a discussion. What did you notice? What are you wondering? What tools did you find so then they can be more comfortable with the tool. Also, when you have the balancing, demonstrating the skill, demonstrating the standard and teaching new skills, I will have a mini lesson each day. So the students know, okay. We have done our research. We're going to create our model. They know that's what the goal is. However, I still teach them a new skill each day that they can apply to your design. 

Now I teach 24 classes in a month. We use the same program for almost all of them, so I highly recommend this is another teacher tip not on here. Make videos of yourself teaching about the tool, quick little videos that you could play as your mini lesson because that way you won't forget anything. and then students who are absent can rewatch it. So very helpful tip. Also, using clay to model what's happening in a print, is very, very helpful. I always have modeling clay or Play Doh on hand so I can have students build what they're thinking of in their brain because it is that abstract thinking when you're creating it on the computer. But, also, when you're teaching a lesson, you can model it with the clay. I also have foam 3D shapes, which I will use them to help name the shapes and manipulate and show how the tools will work in a program. Also, make sure everything in a design is smooth together because sometimes when you look at designs, there's just a thin layer of things floating, so you want everything to be smooshed together. so that it doesn't fall apart no matter what platform that you're using. Also, when you are man managing these 3D prints, I recommend having students save their design with their name and then put a dash or a slash in their teacher's name. That way, you can download all of their prints, put it in one file, and then you have them all organized and can check them off on a checklist, a roster of the student names. Also, again, AirDrop, email download, have it all in one folder on one device. Keep it all in one place. Depends on your program. 

Maybe you have to put a flash drive in your 3D printer. Sometimes you might need to reprint something. Maybe you wanna make multiple copies of something. So if you have all of the prints downloaded, at least when you are 3D printing, it's really helpful. And then keep their planning sheets. I always have students still plan through drawing on paper. I keep their planning sheets, and I like them to see how their plans developed into their final model, but also helps me stay organized so I have all their planning sheets I know I'm printing so and so's design, and then I put their planning sheet in a bag with their name on it. And then it keeps me all organized, keeps all the papers organized, and then they can use that for their final project. So we are almost at the end here, and I wanted to give you a good takeaway with this 3D print toolbox. So there's a couple of outlines to you plan using the process that I showed you with the standards along with some standards broken down from 3 through 5 where I think they would work great for 3D printing. So thank you so much for joining me today. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns or how you can use this in your classroom. My email is on there. ContactNaomiMeredith@gmail.com. You can also find me on my website, NaomiMeredith.com, Instagram, and Twitter at NaomiMeredith_, and also at my TpT, teachers pay teachers, shop, Naomi Meredith. Thank you so much again, and I am so excited to have you try and keep adding to your 3D print tool belt. This presentation had a ton of visuals, and I bet you are dying to see all of the examples and handouts. You can grab the video recording of this episode, the video slides I referenced throughout, student examples, and bonuses for only $5. That's less than a fancy coffee drink. This will all be linked to the show notes, and you can check it all out here at naomimeredith.com/pdreplay.