Did you know that Nobel Laureates are 3 times more likely to have an arts avocation than the general public? That's because the ability to think creatively allows people to make connections and see beyond boundaries.
My students are diverse, talented, and ambitious, and they love developing their creativity by incorporating the arts into STEM!
So far this year they have designed 3D printed obstacles for a robotics obstacle course, built bridges that held the weight of their teacher (and I'm not that light), and put together incredible inventions with very limited resources.
My Project
During phase I students will use the modeling clay to practice sculpting models of natural features that might be included in the city's landscape. In this phase the scale of their projects will not be as important as their proportions. During phase II students will use the XYZ 3D scanner to convert their physical sculptures into digital images that can be touched up and scaled before being printed on our 3D printer. The 3D printer is classified as additive manufacturing, but we would also like to introduce them to subtractive manufacturing using the CNC. They will use the CNC by designing structures on the computer that the CNC will cut out of the birch wood. They will evaluate the benefits and constraints of each design tool. During phase III the students will use the birch wood to create structures they have designed and the laser engraver and rotary tool will be used to decorate and modify their buildings. They will use a combination of clay and 3D prints to complete the city. Once the city is printed and sculpted, they will decorate it and add LED lights, and switches. The PCB boards and bits will be used to create circuits that will be placed in the city. Phase IV of the project will be to program the Mip Coder robots to patrol the city and perform various tasks.
We are constantly having discussions in our STEM class about the connections between each of the subjects they are learning about in school.
A project of this magnitude will allow students to utilize the information that they are learning in multiple disciplines to solve complex, ill-structured problems that do not have a single right or wrong answer.
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