3D Printed Turtle Art designs from our Maker Club
3D printing Turtle Art designs with 2 colors looks so nice! We attached some magnets on the back and the kids were delighted to take them home.
Pop Stick Windmills
When I was prototyping this project I was working indoors and using the air coming out of the HVAC system to move the “spinners.” I had the axis of the spinners oriented vertically because that worked best indoors but the second I took it outside in a strong breeze the spinner would get stuck. I guess there’s a reason windmills and wind turbines have a horizontal axis!
After making some adjustments to the 3D printed hub that holds the pop stick “blades” I realized the students could make their own wind mills! The spinners really move when the axis is horizontal and the 30 degree angle I added to each blade makes them spin very easily in a gentle breeze.
What’s even more exciting is that I chose a 3/8th dowel for the axis of the windmills because I have a lot of random off cuts to work with but the dowels are really from a large scale building activity I do called sticks and rubber bands. This means the second graders will be able to build their own windmills!
Pop Stick Wind Art Spinners
Prototyping a new project for 2nd grades Natural Forces unit.
Let’s try this again?
So I’ve walked away from social media but the desire to share my creative successes and failures still remain…Which means maybe I should try blogging again?
Check back for updates on teaching Design and Technology to grades 1-5, eternally unfinished weekend projects, and anything else I’d normally post to Twitter.
- Reid