city x
As a culminating project for 3D construction I chose the CityX curriculum because it was free and required the Design Thinking Process - simplified for younger students.
Backstory
City X is a new city on another planet. Earthlings travelled there with a 3D printer, as they could not take everything with them on their space ship. Once there, individuals communicated to our classroom of students on Earth to share their struggles and ask for help. Students start by empathizing with the City X resident, understanding his or her need (define), and then go on to innovate a solution.
city x
You can find City X here: http://www.cityxproject.com/
This year we had students prototype in clay and share via video.
designer workbook
You can download the Designer Workbook here or the entire "toolkit" from the CityX website. The Workbook needs a few more pages, I think. If you design them for your students, please share them back to me and I will post them here.
downloadable cards
It's terrific that the project includes downloadable cards for each City X resident so our young students can connect a name and face with the person for whom they design a solution.
floating house
I loved this "floating house" invention from Winter 2016. You can't see the detail well in this picture (and this model is pretty beat up after nearly a year of my showing it to people) but there are tiny wisps of filament between some of the larger structures in this print. It gives the whole tiny house a mystical look that make it even more beautiful in person.
The white bottle picture here is from Winter 2017. It is Kata's project and her story touched me so strongly that I want to share it with you. It had to do with a problem with glasses. Kata's solution was not about changing the glasses themselves, but creating a solution (as in a potion) that is in this little bottle. It's so beautiful! And she used letters that wrap around an object--an advanced skill.
This project is definitely a keeper. It turned out to be the perfect "next step" after learning the basics of Tinkercad and the perfect precursor to the Master Toy Maker (aka Shark Tank) project for the 4th grade.
This is Neelan's City X invention. His City X person was concerned about excess sunlight. He invented a personal shield for each City X resident. Just push the button and you will be protected from the damaging rays of the sun.
Sienna's City X resident was having trouble communicating with her family members on the other end of the city. (There's no Wi-Fi yet on City X and no telephones.) Sienna created an elaborate communication device with several moving parts.