My sixth grade students are full of curiosity, compassion, and creativity.
When walking into my room, it's hard to tell who the teacher is.
Our classroom is flourishing with a student-led concept. This is my second year teaching this age of students and let me tell you, it has been fabulous. The students see everything with open eyes and still believe that with some imagination and creativity, anything is possible!
My students get the opportunity to put their curiosity to a test one to two times each week in our STEM Innovation Lab. Through their hands-on exploration, students are learning the importance of collaboration and communication.
My Project
We are currently working on engineering design process and engineering design thinking. The students are learning ways to solve problems through hands-on prototyping. They are currently using Keva planks, LEGOS, cardboard, and duct tape to create their solutions.
We want to take our learning one step further and 3D print our prototypes for real people with real problems to test out.
The plan is to start up a website that will allow students and teachers to submit problems that they need solved. These problems would be ones that students can use Tinkercad and other open source resources to design prototypes that can then be printed on the Flash Forge. For example, a teacher may have a student that struggles to hold a pencil correctly because of low muscle tone. Students could observe the student, research pencil grips, and then design the personalized grip for the student. The possibilities are endless.
The goal is for students not only to learn to design on 3D platforms, but to also see that they can help others in need despite their age. In fact, their creativity will amplify the outcomes in this project.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Koehler and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
