The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
Design a Sneaker
Design a Sneaker - 3D Fabrication
A 4th, 5th, 6th grade STEM lesson
Alexis Ramos Kratzer
03/17/2024
Purpose: Students will explore how fashion and design inspire present-day life and influence messaging and culture. They will create a 2D design of a shoe and then a 3D rendering of a sneaker using CAD software (Tinkercad) while reflecting on an individual or group identity.
Notes for teachers
List of Materials
Supplies and Materials
What This Lesson Entails, and Who it is For…
Why ?
Students will learn how to use the Engineering Design Process - EDP
Give students a day to focus on design, they will have templates to choose from, they can use tracing paper and a chromebook to model a shoe that they really like or that a famous sports player might endorse or sometimes created.
ART ISTE Standards
1.4 Innovative Designer - Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions. 1.4a Design Process Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems. 1.4b Design Constraints Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculate risks. 1.4C Prototypes Students develop, test, and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
RESPONDING
Explain how a person's aesthetic choices are influenced by culture and environment and impact the visual image that one conveys to others.
CONNECTING
Distinguish different ways art is used to represent, establish, reinforce, and reflect group identity.
CREATING
Demonstrate willingness to experiment, innovate, and take risks to pursue ideas, forms, and meanings that emerge in the process of art-making or designing.
Collaboratively shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present-day life using a contemporary practice of art and design.
Objectives:
3D Examples of shoe designs in Thingiverse - provide students with a preview of where the project is going once they follow the steps of the Engineering Design Process
Agenda/ Description of Hands-On Activity
This project may take up to 4 lesson periods of up to one hour each.
1st- Introduce the project, show students shoe design examples, have them create their 2D shoe design.
2nd- Model for students how to use Tinkercad, how to create shapes, provide students with a template to begin their shoe design.
3rd- Have students continue to modify their shoes, model for students how to turn the .stl file in using google classroom, this helps the teacher to grade them and to organize their individual works/ideas.
4th- Have students reflect on their use of the Engineering Design process using a project reflection sheet, while they are reflecting the teacher will disperse the 3D printed projects.
Talk about industrial design and retail design, what makes an object that humans use aesthetically pleasing or popular? Have students brainstorm and come up with ideas for how a good design might look.
If students are struggling about what to create or are at a loss about what their shoe design should represent -have them think about a theme for example: TRAVEL
Another theme could be outdoor themes such as sports or even wildlife such as flowers; EXAMPLES
The shoe might also be designed to represent cultural significance such as representing a students’ culture or identity for example, sports player Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks.
Thingiverse shoe TEMPLATE imported into Tinkercad for students to modify or inspire them to create a new design
Sneaker template from Thingiverse, Jordan badges can be covered up with shapes or any student created logos
Shoe Design examples -artist created
create
Sneaker Design Examples -NOT original or student created
Assessment
Consider assessing the following:
-Did the student apply the Engineering Design Process to their project? Students will have an EDP checklist that they complete at the end of the project. They will self reflect in order to determine whether or not they followed the steps of the EDP and if they felt they were successful. This checklist can be modified in any way, turned into a worksheet or made into an exit ticket. These are a few general reflection questions that I have the students complete as part of an artist statement.
Ask - What makes a good shoe design that someone would want to buy or wear?
Imagine - What type of shoe do you want to create? Do you want it to represent you, your culture, or something you like? (example, cooking, soccer, nature, dance, etc.)
Plan - Come up with a plan of how you would like your shoe to look once it is sent to the 3D printer.
Experiment - Now that you are in the 3D fabrication step of the Shoe Design, what are some new idea that you have?
Improve - What were some things you had to change due to the limits of Tinkercad v.s. when you were drawing the shoe using art materials?
Differentiation
Students may need help creating a design for their shoe. The teacher can offer the students a template to help them along and also help the student to draw designs on their shoes. I have had younger students request assistance with drawing a Nike logo or a specific shape (heart/star). During the 3D drafting process, some students also have issues using Tinkercad and thinking 3-dimensionally. They also require assistance to put the shoe together, regardless of what template they use, some students do have trouble with 3D drafting/fabrication.
Remediation
Extension/Enrichment
Students will be allowed the opportunity to further customize their 3D shoe designs in Tinkercad. One fun project that my students enjoy when 3D printing is creating a chain with their name on it and a similar design to go along with their shoe design, this is one option that the students may use to further build on their creativity.