12th Grade — Production Skills: 3D Printing for the School

⏰ Do Now — Start Here

Look around the classroom or school. What is one small object that, if it existed, would make something easier?

🎯 Today's Big Question

How do we design and produce a useful 3D-printed object for a real school need?

📈 By the End of Today, You Will Be Able To

Identify a school need that a 3D-printed object could solve (a label holder, a organizer, a display stand, etc.).
Design or adapt a 3D model in TinkerCAD (or another tool) to meet that need.
Slice and print the object, evaluating it against the original need.

🧰 What You'll Need

Computer with TinkerCAD (or similar) access
3D printer + slicer software
Filament

📋 Your Plan for Today

Day 1: Identify & Design

Do Now (5 min, above): what small object would make something easier? Mini-lesson (5 min): functional design vs. decorative design.
Independent design (30 min): choose a real school need and design (or adapt) a 3D model to address it.
Share (5 min).

Day 2: Print & Evaluate

Do Now (5 min).
Slice & print (25 min): slice and print the object.
Test & evaluate (10 min): test it against the original need.
Note changes (5 min): what you'd change next time.

🖥️ Today's Slide Deck

Short, on-the-board pacing slides — project these to follow along. (The full details are in the handout above, not here.)

Day 1

⬇️ Open / download this slide PDF

Day 2

⬇️ Open / download this slide PDF

📚 Key Words

Functional Design: A 3D object designed primarily to solve a practical problem, not just look interesting.
Iteration (in 3D printing): Printing a test version, checking fit/function, and adjusting the design before a final print.

✅ What Your Finished Work Should Include

Finished object evaluated against the original identified need: does it actually solve the problem?

Exit Ticket: What would you change about your design if you printed a second version?

📊 Before You Leave

Quick, anonymous class check-in -- takes less than a minute.

Class Check-In

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week, add your best finished or in-progress yearbook (or, later, studio) work to your portfolio with a 1-2 sentence caption -- and once you're in the Design Studio phase, a photo of the piece in its real, installed location if possible. This is the same evidence trail you'll use for Archive & Portfolio and any PBAT/portfolio review.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Production Skills: 3D Printing for the School.” This project asked: “How do we design and produce a useful 3D-printed object for a real school need?” I used Functional Design by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

🔗 Want to Learn More?

Tinkercad Lessons

🚀 The Extra Mile

Cross-Class Connection: The same measurement-and-tolerance math Geometry and Physics use for real physical objects.

Career Connection: This exact lesson is a named project on the Industrial & Product Design career page.

Go further -- turn this into a portfolio piece:

Design and print an object that solves a real, specific problem somewhere in the building, and actually deliver it. Start here: measure the actual problem space (the gap, hook, or surface the object needs to fit) with a ruler before opening the modeling software.
Write a short technical case study documenting your design's iterations, print settings, and what you'd improve. Start here: photograph your first failed or rough print attempt before you fix it — that photo is where the case study starts.