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The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Printing the Future in 3D: Lesson 1 of 3: Brainstorming

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Printing the Future in 3D (Lesson 1 of 3: Brainstorming)

A 6th/7th/8th grade STEM lesson

Casey Yu, PhD

6/26/23

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Notes for teachers

  • This is a three part lesson plan - the first is brainstorming, the second is designing and printing, and the third is iteration and presentation
  • Lesson 2 and Lesson 3 here
  • You do NOT need a 3D printer to complete this - keep the focus on designing and creativity (or you can have them create items out of found materials instead of printing it out)

List of Materials

  • Group Planning Project Sheet (editable, make a copy for your own Google drive)
  • 11x17 construction paper - one per group or project (I had them fold this in half and use it to keep their project materials in one place
  • pencils
  • blank paper
  • post-it notes for brainstorming (the small 1” kind is best)
  • 3D printers and filament

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Standards

Educational Technology: Knowledge Constructor

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6-8.3.a. Students practice and improve research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.

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6-8.3.d. Students explore real world problems and issues and actively pursue solutions for them.

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6-8.4.a. Students engage in a design process for generating and testing ideas and developing innovative products to solve problems.

Educational Technology: �Innovative Designer

6-8.4.c. Students engage in a design process to develop, test, and revise prototypes, embrace the iterative process of trial and error, and understand setbacks as potential opportunities for improvement.

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Objective(s):

Today students will form groups, decide on tasks, and brainstorm ideas for their 3D printed project

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Today students will use the Jot Notes technique to come up with their ideas for their project

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Agenda (appx 50 minutes)

Introduction and project overview (15-20 minutes)

Project task assignment (5-10 minutes)

Jot Notes Brainstorming (10-15 minutes)

Wrap-up (5 minutes)

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Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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Driving Questions:

  • How does 3D printing work?
  • Why would a business or organization want to use 3D printing in their creative processes?

If you have examples of printed objects, pass those out as well. I distribute past successful student prints as well as unsuccessful ones.

Show some videos of 3D printing to pique students’ interest. Here are some that I have used before:

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Jot Notes

  • Students should be in their teams - maximum of 4 is ideal.
  • Each student should have their own pad of post-it notes (the smallest ones usually work best, and ideally different colors for each student) and something to write with.
  • Each table should have one large piece of construction paper
  • Teacher should describe the topic (“Think of as many things that you can to improve our school community!”
  • Give students two minutes to write as many ideas as they can on their post-it notes - one idea per paper.
  • Once the timer is done, have students in a round-robin format explain each idea and add it to the construction paper.
  • At the end of the sharing, have students find their top 3 ideas

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Assessment

Formative:

  • As you walk around the room, check in on students and ask them follow up questions about the ideas they are putting down on paper. “That sounds great! Who do you think might benefit from an iPad stand?” or “Tell me more about this idea - what teacher could you work with to talk through this topic?”
  • Review the post-it notes. Encourage students who have few post-it notes to add in some more ideas, even if it might not be something 3d printable

Summative:

  • All students will have a poster of their brainstorming in the form of post-it note ideas
  • Each group will have narrowed down their ideas to the top 3

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Differentiation

  • Come up with some starter ideas for students to talk about or think about before they write their ideas down
    • Example: “What is something that would make our classroom run better?”
    • Example: “What would make life for students easier in the lunchroom?”
  • Have students sketch instead of write if that makes it easier for them
  • Encourage students to write in their native language if that makes it easier for them to get their ideas out on paper

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

  • Students can start sketching out ideas once they’ve narrowed down their final top three
  • If you have a set of building blocks or Legos, have students start thinking about what their objects will look like in 3 dimensions.