Dragsters and 3D Printing

Dragsters and 3D Printing

6th Grade: 

Student Designed 3D Printed Key Chain

Students are in the middle of designing and fabricating their dragsters for the upcoming races which will take place during the last week of the trimester. I love how students learn how to manipulate objects in 3D, create their own unique dragster design, and use some simple power tools to make their design become a reality. It really seems like the students are excited for this really unique opportunity. If your son or daughter really enjoys the technology and engineering section of their future pathways elective wheel they can learn more by taking the Technology and Engineering course next year.

Students have also designed a key chain which will be printed by our 3D printer. Be on the lookout for students taking these key chains home soon! 

You can always check out what is going on in Mr. Franck’s class by going to https://mrfranck.blogspot.com/ .

7th Grade: 

Sanding our projec

We are starting on a new design challenge in the last week and a half before the trimester ends. Will learn how to manipulate a 3D modeling software called Autodesk Inventor by creating a pegboard toy. They will learn more advanced features of this program including assemblies and drawing files. Students are also in the process of painting and finishing their creature amps which they will take home very soon.

8th Grade: 

C02 Dragster Example

We have moved on from our puzzle cube project to our dragster design challenge. The dragster design challenge is very similar to the dragster students created in 6th grade. The dragster for 8th grade is C02 powered, bigger, and faster than the 6th grade cars which is pretty exciting. Students also must design around a few criteria and constraints which simulates a real engineering design challenge. 

As a point of improvement most 8th grade students who did not do well on our  puzzle cube assignment did so due to lack of documentation. Students put all work in a design notebook then turn in the design notebook. I have on the whiteboard all items that should be included in the design notebook from day one of the project however some students did not follow along with the proper design documentation which resulted in poor notebook grades. I have included pictures below of what a good notebook should look like. 

C02 Dragster Sketch Example