How To Fund 3D Printers For Your School

Schools around the world, whether K-12 or universities, are implementing cutting edge technology and makerspaces to equip students with 21st century design and problem solving skills. 3D printing is now one of the most popular and effective ways to drive classroom excitement, and incorporating the tech has gotten even easier as more 3D printing lesson plans are published to Thingiverse Education.

It’s no mystery that getting approval and funding for next-generation makerspaces can be tough, especially when working with limited education budgets. Education grants are valuable resources for gathering the funding necessary to provide students access to 3D printers, though searching to find which one is right for you can be time consuming. To make things easier, MakerBot developed a Grant Resource Guide to help you find and apply for relevant grants.
 
Check out the full Grant Resource Guide!

Here are some examples of how a well organized grant list can help you plan your applications and find what grants best fit your institution.

• Educators of America Grant: Grants are awarded to a teacher that is in need of an effective technological tool that will assist in bettering student achievement.
  Applications are reviewed quarterly (January, April, July, October).

  First Energy STEM Classroom Grant: Grants are awarded to programs that support classroom projects and teacher professional-development initiatives focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
  Application period opens summer and closes late September.

  Hearst Foundation: Grants are awarded to early childhood, K-12 education, and
  professional development programs (but has a large focus on higher
  education) preparing students to thrive in global society.
  Applications are accepted year round and are reviewed within 4-6 weeks.

 
In addition to the Grant Resource Guide, be sure to check out Thingiverse Education, the world’s largest collection of 3D printing curriculum.

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Using 3D Printing For Stem in Higher Education

Elana Reiser, Professor of Math at St. Joseph’s College and member of the MakerBot Educators program, has a passion for combining math with pop culture. So much so, she actually wrote the book on it: Teaching Mathematics Using Popular Culture: Strategies for Common Core Instruction from Film and Television.

Her unique talent for increasing classroom excitement on classically intimidating math lessons inspired her to explore another tool – 3D printing. It has obvious applications for subjects like design and engineering, biology or physics, but what sort of value can a 3D printer offer to college level math curriculum?

Lots of subjects lend themselves to learning in different modalities, like visual and auditory learning. Math is more difficult. Educators are always innovating new formats to their lesson plans in order to tap into different learning styles, but how do you give a physical or visual component to an equation? Ever innovative, Reiser has developed strategies that do just that with a new instructional book that interweaves 3D printing and math, entitled 3D Printing in the K-12 Mathematics Classroom: A Beginner’s Guide for Teachers.

We sat down with Elana to ask her about how she implemented 3D printing in her math courses.

MakerBot: When did you first see the potential for 3D printing in your classes?

Elana: I run a math interest program for middle and high school math teachers and wanted to teach something on 3D printing but didn’t know much about it. So I signed up for the MakerBot makeathon last summer and learned how to use the technology. The challenge was to work in groups to create curriculum – ours created a lesson plan that had students design a roller coaster by thinking about the curve in terms of functions before finally printing it.

MakerBot: We see a lot of 3D printers used at the university level, but rarely for math. How did you weave it into the coursework, and what do your students think?

Elana: I’ve put 3D printing in both of my math courses, all the students love it. I use the cryptography lesson I designed on the first day to give them something fun and tangible. I also use one on modular arithmetic in my number theory class. Giving students something in their hands to rethink a problem can be especially useful for challenges that tend to be all cognitive and not very physical.

MakerBot: Has it been hard to create or find new 3D printing content?

Elana: Before this semester, there really wasn’t that much content available or easily findable, but once Thingiverse Education went up, it’s a great place to go for lessons.

MakerBot: What do you think is the biggest barrier to wider adoption of 3D printing in education?

Elana: One barrier to introducing more 3D lessons is probably the time it takes to print, but on a university schedule it’s not really an issue because we don’t meet every day. So if I have students design on Thursday, I can print their designs in time for our next session on Tuesday.

MakerBot: Have you seen any results from your introduction of 3D printing?

Elana: It has the biggest impact on student engagement – they’re always alert and talking about it when I bring 3D printed objects into class.

MakerBot: Do students pick up the new technology quickly? What about general design and CAD skills?

Elana: Even though my students are digital natives, Facebook and all, it doesn’t automatically make them good at 3D design. Maybe they catch on quicker, knowing where buttons are and what they might do, but they need a little bit of training. But because they find it so interesting, I can introduce them to Tinkercad and have them design something as homework and they all enjoy the assignment.

For example, I wrote a lesson on the Pythagorean theorem, where students had to design objects in TinkerCad at ratios that proved the theory. Teaching TinkerCad went really well, they picked it up in just over an hour.

Thanks for the tips, Elana!

Elana is part of a growing movement of educators developing and sharing 3D printing content and best practice with one another. Make sure to check out her book 3D Printing in the K-12 Mathematics Classroom: A Beginner’s Guide for Teachers.

For classroom-ready lesson plans, check out Thingiverse Education.
To learn more about how to become a MakerBot Educator visit 

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This Makerbot Educator Teaches Life Skills in Her 4th and 5th Grade Science Classes

Among the cacti and tumbleweeds of Scottsdale, Arizona, is an oasis of learning known as the Rancho Solano Preparatory School. At this private pre K-12 school, education is all about preparing students with the life skills needed to succeed in our ever-changing 21st century world. In fact, it’s stated mission is to “cultivate in our students the ingenuity to thrive in a global society and to be architects of their future.”

That’s a mission that Shannon Feaster takes to heart in her 4th and 5th grade science classes. As a member of the MakerBot Educator program and a teacher of 20 years, she’s going beyond the books to meet the rigorous standards at Rancho Solano.

Since August of 2016, she has used a MakerBot Replicator (5th Gen) and MakerBot Replicator Mini to challenge her students to design and 3D print projects. In turn, she’s elevating engagement, encouraging real-world problem solving, and teaching larger life skills —especially those for tomorrow’s jobs.

We chatted with Shannon to learn just how she is 3D printing in the classroom and what she’s achieved with her students.

MakerBot: What MakerBot products are you using and what do you like about them?

Shannon: We use MakerBot Fifth Generation 3D printer, MakerBot Replicator Mini, MakerBot Desktop, MakerBot Mobile app (teacher only), and Thingiverse. All are very user-friendly for both teachers and students.

MakerBot: What do you and your students primarily 3D print in your classes?

Shannon: Projects! My students have used the printers to create everything from robots with second grade science buddies to cars, design prototypes, and organisms for plant or animal classification and adaptation units. Both printers are also used by my STEM club.

MakerBot: How does 3D printing with MakerBot help you target specific learning goals?

Shannon: It goes right along with STEM and Next Gen Science Standards —we find a need, design, test, modify, print, modify again, and use! It’s not only teaching the kids about the design process, but they also have to collaborate, problem-solve, show persistence with a project, and see value in how technology can change lives for the better. We hope to soon work on printing toys and food bowls for a rabbit rescue in our community.

MakerBot: Tell us about the most exciting or interesting lesson that you’ve run with your MakerBot so far.

Shannon: After studying about the 5 kingdoms and ecosystems, my 4th grade students had to design their own organism and write a book about its scientific classification, habitat, and more. They used TinkerCad to create their organism. Some did plants, some did new species of animals, and some even did protists and bacteria. They 3D printed their organisms and had them on display along with their book about that organism.

MakerBot: What does having access to a MakerBot 3D Printer help you achieve in your classroom?

Shannon: Simply put—projects come to life! Students have the opportunity to design, test, modify objects for projects; and the kids use the 3D printer to make models to show what they have learned or to use for presentations.

MakerBot: Do you think having access to tools like a 3D printer at this age helps set your students up for success in the future?

Shannon: I think our 3D printers set my students up for success simply because they can turn their ideas into a reality and they understand how to persevere through a difficult design and learn from their mistakes to make improvements. These are not simply STEM objectives, but also life skills.

MakerBot: Have you saved time or money creating teaching props for projects or on other teaching supplies using a 3D printer? If so, how?

Shannon: Absolutely! It was actually my students who reminded me that I could 3D print containers for all of our STEM materials, and even a screwdriver to keep in the classroom! They have also used the MakerBot to create props for a play they are currently doing in Language class. And other teachers like to ask my STEM club students to print math manipulatives and letters for the younger grades on campus!

MakerBot: How do you plan to continue using 3D printers in the future? Do you have any new projects coming up?

Shannon: My fifth graders will be taking a trip to Biosphere II and after our ecology unit, they will jump into Google Sketchup to design their own Biosphere. They will export their designs from Sketchup to 3D print the model to use in a presentation or project. The 5th graders are also designing a working windmill to print and use! After studying the Human Body, my fourth grade students will use the printer to design cross sections of a heart, cells, eyes, and more.

MakerBot: Is there anything else that you would like us to know about how MakerBot empowers you or your students?

Shannon: One of my fourth grade students has a notebook with drawings of prototypes and he now has the means to design and print his models. Being able to take his designs from paper to a real model has inspired him to further his ideas, and even look into how to present and patent his ideas!

Thanks again to Shannon and Rancho Solano Preparatory School!

More Resources for 3D Printing in the Classroom

MakerBot provides a variety of resources designed for educators of all experience levels with 3D printing. To learn more about how you can 3D print in your classroom, visit makerbot.com/education. For classroom-ready lesson plans, check out Thingiverse Education. To become a MakerBot Educator, visit makerbot.com/educators.

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Fun Steam Projects That Teach Real-World Skills in Two Days or Less

The life of an educator is a busy one. Finding the time to create a new 3D printing lesson from scratch can be hard when you’re in a rush. Whether you’re new to classroom 3D printing, or just strapped for time, you can achieve more with with Quick Projects from Thingiverse Education! From designing art sculptures to creating decoder rings, there’s a variety of free lessons that are fun, fast, and easy to complete. Each project includes a full lesson plan that’s approved for a variety of state learning standards. To help you get started, we’ve collected five Thingiverse lesson plans that your classroom can finish in two days or less.

Each lesson plan includes step-by-step instructions for a 3D printing project that’s approved for certain learning standards. Many projects include a grading rubric, reflection questions, requirements sheets, and more.

1. Lead a Group of Speedy Architects

Challenge your students to design their own buildings in the Speedy Architect Project! In this lesson, grades 3 through 8 will create buildings that meet critical design requirements. Students will connect 3D printed connectors to drinking straws to create final structures. They’ll team up to build the tallest building they can with a limited amount of materials and time. This way, students can become familiar with being creative under professional design constraints.

All it takes is 1 or 2 class periods for students to plan their designs, create models on TinkerCAD, and 3D print their final structures. Meeting Next Generation Science Standards, this lesson is a fun preview of more advanced science, engineering, and technology concepts.

2. Recreate a Famous Logic Riddle

In this activity, your students will help a farmer complete a puzzling mission. In A Fox, a Goose, and a Bag of Beans Logic Riddle, students will use deductive reasoning to figure out how a farmer could carry his items safely across a river. Grades 5 through 8 will 3D print models of the farmer, the fox, the goose, and the bag of beans to help them act out possible scenarios and solutions.

In about 25 minutes, you can challenge your students to think deductively, which will help them tackle proofs in the future. Thingiverse designer ereiser suggests introducing this project on the first day of school to reintroduce students to mathematical thinking.

3. Create Unique 3D Sculptures from 2D Sketches

Transform your students’ sketches into complex art sculptures with the Art Connector Set SVG Conversion Project. Students will begin by drawing shapes within the circles provided. Then, they’ll photograph their drawings to upload them to their computers as .jpeg images. Once they’re uploaded, they’ll convert their images into SVG files. From there, they can import their SVG files into Tinkercad, where they’ll design and finalize their 3D print files. After 3D printing their circles, they’ll connect each print to form a unique art piece!

To achieve the same results in fewer steps, teachers can also use the ShapeMaker feature on the MakerBot PrintShop iPad App. All students would have to do is take a photo of their drawings or upload their files on the iPad, and then ShapeMaker converts them into CAD files that you can customize, resize, and print.

This project, optimized for grades 2 through 6, can be completed in 2-3 class periods. This lesson is a good introduction to advanced STEAM thinking. It meets National Core Art Standards for elaborating on artistic ideas and devising multiple approaches to a design problem. Teaching students how to visualize and convert 2D sketches into 3D objects primes them for the work they’ll encounter in design, digital manufacturing, and engineering jobs in the future.

4. Explore Cryptography with Decoder Rings!

Introduce young mathematicians to cryptography and ciphers with the lesson Cryptography: Sending Secret Messages. Grades 3 through 8 will learn how to use ciphers to encode and decode messages on a 3D printed decoder ring. Students will discover why the Vigenere cipher works better than the Caesar cipher, as they send and decode secret classroom messages! This one-day activity meets Common Core State Standards for solving math problems and using tools strategically.

5. Breathe New Life into Book Reports!

Add some exciting design elements to your Language Arts lesson with Book Report Keychains! In this activity, students are asked to design and print three keychains – one for three different characters from a recently read book. Each keychain should possess one or more elements of the character’s personality, motivations, challenges, or important relationships in the story.

This project is an interesting, engaging way for grades 4 and 5 to express their reading comprehension. It meets Common Core State Standards for English and Language Arts. In 3 to 5 class sessions, students will enhance their retention, build key 3D design skills, and enjoy 3D printed keepsakes that are unique, eye-catching, and fun!

For more fast, easy 3D printing lessons, explore Quick Projects found in Thingiverse Education!

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