Introducing “CFL: Club Fab Lab”
It has taken a few months to get organized, but Charlie P and his “band of 6th grade brothers” have launched the Friday afternoon after-school fabrication club! In recognition of today’s 3rd meeting of the club, the students are starting a blog to share what they are working on and thinking about each week. We sometimes meet on Tuesdays for lunch to talk and plan, so we will sometimes have more than one weekly update!
To follow along, please visit Club Fab Lab. A permanent link has also been added to this blog’s sidebar.
Deepened Understanding and Knowledge Transfer
This post is a short but important moment to share as we document our digital fabrication experience. It is the middle of January, and the 6th grade students are in the early stages of their five week robotics unit in science class. All 165 (166?) students are divided into teams in which they will alternate certain roles but they will each do the programming. In previous years when the science teachers got to this unit they were “pulling their hair out” because students did not have an understanding of proportion. Today, the math and science teachers both remarked what a difference it has made for the students to have had the digital fabrication experiences this fall. As Andrea Morgan, middle school math department chair remarked about the value she sees now of the fall’s cell phone tower project:
“If we had just talked about cell phone towers, looked at pictures of them, taken a field trip to see one up close, and/or researched them before doing proportion problems from the text book, the students would not have the same level or understanding or real-life connection that they do now in January. Their recall and application of ratio and proportion is directly correlated to the fact they were able to physically construct and deconstruct model towers.”
Morgan went on to say that all year long they are able to take what was learned in that project-based-learning experience and refer back to it in a way that is a “real life point of reference” for the students. She added that as they continue to work with the fabricators this semester, she sees evidence of their growing capacity to solve problems.
Looking forward, 6th grade science classes will be using the fabricators to further explore the natural world and test the earthquake resistance of various building designs. At the end of the year, math classes will revisit the cell phone tower project. Students will be placed in their original groups and they will evaluate their work from the fall and what they have learned during the year to reconsider, revise, and reconstruct their models.
Design and Fabrication in 7th Grade!
For weeks the 7th graders watched as 6th grade students raced back and forth down the halls collecting their colorful shapenets from FabLab 1 and FabLab 2 printers. Curiosity and a little bit of envy were evident and further peaked by the Silhouette fabricators lining the counters and cell tower prototypes decorating every window space and free shelf. Finally, some 7th graders in advanced math pressed their teachers for a chance to “play.” With a unit on Ratios and Proportions just before Fall Exam Review, Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Jones graciously squeezed in a little time for some exploration.
In this quick project, students were assigned partners–one from the boys’ class and the other from the girls’ class–and charged with the following:
(1) Create a 3 dimensional object of your choosing
(2) Choose an accurate scale
(3) Develop a prototype with a four-page material restriction
(4) Co-author a short paper about the object selected, why it was chosen, and how the scale was determined
The following questions guided their choice of object:
• How is this object relevant to my life?
• Is this interesting to my partner and me?
• Is this something interesting to model?
• Will this be fun to build?
• Will this item be visually appealing?
• Is this something I can find the exact dimensions of, either by measuring or online?
And some fabrication considerations were offered:
• Am I within the four-page limit?
• Is this thing going to be impossible to assemble with four billion tiny pieces?!?
I found the project a fascinating observation, primarily as I watched the boys and girls try to reconcile what they would create. You can imagine that the perspectives were often quite different (note: football stadiums)! They all did a really great job of learning to work with the FabLab software, learning quickly how the tools worked including adding image files to the design palette and manipulating the nets to fit within the prescribed space. (Another thanks to this great online tutorial resource from UVA and Willy Kjellstrom.) Printing to the FabLab printers went well, and I continue to be very pleased with our choice of two HP Color LaserJet networked printers. However, during this project cycle we encountered our first real issue/disappointment–short-lived–with the fabrication process. As we’ve experienced throughout this pilot, a lot of flexibility and problem-solving mindsets are required of teachers and technology staff. This is “new stuff” and we are out in front of the curve in our incorporation of this into a 1:1 program and working with it on such a large scale. Bumps in the road are to be expected. This time we began having issues with a large number of students unable to fabricate their designs in whole or in part. For some reason, the software drivers in the FabLab software would “hang up” and we could not rectify the situation with a rebooting of the computer and/or the fabricator; and, we could rarely connect the laptops to another fabricator for success. The students were able to get a few fabricated completely, many partially, and then the good ‘ole scissors came out in order to finish up just a day or so behind schedule! In spite of the frustration, the students were proud of their work and evidence of their creativity and thought are now lining the shelves:
As for our fabrication issue? We could not ask for better partners in the folks at UVA and Nick Sanham at Aspex Software (software designer). After some internal testing here at Lovett we were able to describe what we were experiencing (FlipCams and iPhones are great little tools to document!), and we have an updated version of the software that we think will resolve the problem that is specific to our setup: multiple computers (up to 450) loaded with software and trying to connect to multiple fabricators.
Thanks to everyone–students, teachers, and our partners–for a continued positive and fun learning endeavor!
Tags: Aspex Software, Curry School of Education, digital_fabrication, engineering, FabLab, math, middle school, science, STEM, technology, UVA
Celebrating Design and Innovation
Presenting some of the top FabLab models created by our 6th grade collaborators and budding engineers!
Problem-Based Learning: Our Cell Phone Tower Project
The following post was written by 6th grade student, and FabLab blogger, Charlie P.
Recently in math class we explored even deeper into FabLab. In this project my partner (Michael M.) and I were challenged with the task of building and endorsing a cell phone tower model that will help the middle school’s reception. Our limits were: tall enough to pick up reception (100-150 ft), a scale of 5.5 feet equals one inch, and only three pieces of paper! It would also have to blend in with the campus.
Our first ideas were: an abstract sculpture that would move and shoot water in the middle of our pond, and a field goal post on our football field. We finally came upon the idea of foul pole on our new sustainable baseball field. Bonus uses of our cell phone tower were a speaker system, a foul pole, and a rain collector. The speaker system was designed with Lovett logos. It is a small box (openable) at the top of the tower. It is obviously a foul pole and a cell phone tower. Located on top there is a hole that will collect all of the rain water and transport it to the tank of water near the field. It will only be in the part of it where it will not interfere with the wires.
I think we made a convincing product!
Why I Never Heard “When Will We Ever Use This In The Real World?”
The following post was written by Andrea Morgan, MS math department chair and 6th grade teacher.
Teaching middle school math is a daunting enough task; exciting young teens about math and engaging them in meaningful activities can be downright overwhelming at times. This fall, after teacher training over the summer, I dove right in to “digital fabrication” with my 6th grade students. What an exciting adventure in REAL math!
The students’ task was to develop a design for a cell phone tower on FABLAB software installed on their laptop computers. The tower was to be created to blend in with or add to the landscape of our school where cell phone reception is quite spotty..a problem with which the students readily related. The students had dipped their toes in the software by creating one simple shape each as practice and were then to work in teams of 2 or 3 designing the cell phone towers. Their “budget” was 3 pages of paper and their goal was to create the tallest possible tower usng the scale of 1 inch = 5 ½ feet. Proportions and scale immediately became meaningful in this activity. As you might imagine, students were actively engaged, animated and positive about this activity. They bantered back and forth about how to increase the height of their tower, researched the typical heights and used creativity to design and decorate their group’s choice. They watched their emerging constructions on the 3-D screen and saw the 2-D counterpart on the opposite side of the split screen. Once the final version of each group’s tower was completed, students printed it on the cardstock provided in the FABLAB printer and put it through the fabricator…the room was humming with the te..te..te..te..te..te..te..of the machines. There were a few glitches and lessons were learned from them (follow directions in sequence carefully!), and lucky for me, our technology assistants were close by. Then, the fabricating of 3-D from 2-D began. The few brave souls who risked making spheres persevered valiantly and created something close to round. There was much thought from many students about what to connect to what and the stadium lights, lion statues (our mascot), a cherry tree and an entrance arch began to creep out from under all the paper.
Once their towers were built, the students put together a 2 minute presentation to “sell” their tower design. Some used Garage Band and taped their voices over music; others used Keynote to present their ideas and some groups videotaped themselves struggling to get cell reception to show the importance of a new tower. At the end of each presentation, the members set up a proportion, explained the scale and calculated the “actual” height of their tower. As we move through the year and study geometry, scale, proportion, measurement, fractions, decimals and other concepts, I will connect the learning to our original project. (Already I can see our students have a better grasp of ratio and proportion–something we will study in the spring semester–because they have been able to construct and deconstruct their models and they see why ratio and proportion are important!) We will revisit the unit at the end of the year to assess just how much they have learned. Hopefully, the reality of math in our world will inspire these bright young middle school minds!
“Make A Model”-A Young Architect’s Reflection
One day in my math class our regular lesson took for a turn when our teacher
introduced FabLab. All the students interested in architecture started to gaze in
wonder at the new application. It is the latest technology that takes model making
into a whole new dimension. As our teacher started to ask questions about future
uses of FabLab, I wondered if the list would ever end. That is when I started to think
back to an earlier lesson.
In this lesson Ms. Murphy explained a problem-solving algorithm. It was
called “Make-a-Model”. In this strategy you simply read the problem, and
then “Make-a-Model”. This will help you with problems such as one determining the
number of inches between the ant in the front and back of a line. You know that each
ant is evenly spaced by about 1 1/2 in., the first, and last ants are 30 inches apart. So
now I simply “Make-a-Model” of the ants and count the inches.
My hand skyrocketed into the air as soon as the thought entered my head
(and I woke up from my flashback). Surprisingly no one else had even thought about
it like I had. It probably had to do with my love of architecture. Ever since I was a
toddler I always found a way to build. Whether it was Legos, building blocks, or even
bionicles I never gave up on a project. FabLab just made my hobby a lot easier.
Thanks FabLab!
-Charlie P, 6th Grade
How Can We Use Digital Fabrication in Class?
I sat in on an advanced math class (6th grade boys) this week. There are a couple of young men in here I hope will contribute to our blog later this week, but I wanted to share some of their early reflections on how digital fabrication might be used in class this year for problem-solving. We could have talked about this for the entire class period, but here is a sampling of their responses:
1. We could build a city to scale.
2. It will be easier to study shapes and measure them when we can actually hold them.
3. It will help us when we study volume.
4. You can make a model algorithm to solve our word problems! (I love this one.)
5. It will help us with teamwork. We will have to cooperate and in life you will be working on a team no matter what business you are in. (I beyond love this one.)
6. We could fly airplanes out the window. (Laughing ensued, and honestly what is not to love about that one!)
During parent’s night earlier in the week the boys’ teacher, Jen Murphy, shared some of their early work (and one of hers) with their parents. I had the pleasure of introducing our two higher ed partnerships to the middle school parents (the other is with Georgia Institute of Technology and their School of Computing). It was a great way to kick off the school year…
Tags: 21st century learning, digital fabrication, engineering, Lovett, Lovett School, problem solving, STEM
Setting Up The Problem: How Can We…?
During the early August professional development session with Willy Kjellstrom, our 6th grade math teachers decided they wanted to introduce digital fabrication at the start of school during their problem-solving unit. Encouraged to think about project and problem-based learning (with emphasis on real-world application and student-centered learning), our teachers decided to have students tackle a problem on the Lovett campus: cell phone coverage. Although middle school students are not permitted to use their cell phones during the school day (unless it is a structured, integrated activity in class), they are all aware that we do not have service in the new middle school building, and campus-wide the coverage is spotty. The teachers decided that after students initially explored the software and fabricators, they would be challenged with this question:
“Is it possible to find a creative solution that preserves the natural beauty of our campus?”
The students were paired with a partner and given the following specific requirements:
1. Research cell phone towers and consider their design, functionality, and site placement.
2. Design a tower that maximizes reception. (Height and location should be considerations).
3. Design must not detract from the beauty of the campus. (It can blend to or be an artistic statement.)
4. The design must be to scale using the ModelMaker software.
5. Materials are limited to three sheets of cardstock paper.
6. A completed, fabricated model must be presented with a 2 minute sales pitch.
The project was introduced today, and the students have until Friday to complete their models and prepare their pitches. I took a look at some early designs. Shhh….
Tags: 21st century learning, cell phone towers, digital fabrication, engineering, Lovett, math, problem solving, The Lovett School
FabLab Fun!
During the first week of introduction, the teachers wisely gave the students time to explore the software themselves without a specific unit lesson. The goal was to have the students (and teachers!) gain confidence with the tools and also allow for troubleshooting and gauge initial reactions. Students explored ModelMaker, checking out the various shapes, perspectives, and color and pattern combinations. Interspersed with these explorations were video tutorials on basic operations (thanks to Mr. Kjellstrom!) and a couple of very short Elluminate sessions with Mr. K. (We never had enough time to talk with him that first week. We hope to improve upon that soon!) Of course the real fun came in when the fabricators came out. Needless to say, we had some excited students:
In Mrs.Morgan’s 6th grade Advanced Math class we made FabLab models! My partner and I made a Coke house with a sunset sky. (We called it Heavenly Coke!) With the FabLab Model Maker, all we needed to do was make our house. After choosing our design, we headed over to the cutter (Silhouette). We were amazed by how fast it worked! Finally we started putting our house together. When our house was done we were happy and we were so excited that we got to use FabLab!- Brianna B.
FabLab ModelMaker is a program used by people of all ages. It is a fun math application that can be used for math class, and even on your free time. FabLab is where you can make 3-dimensional shapes, such as cuboids, cylinders, and cones. How it works is very interesting, for it takes more than just printing and cutting with scissors. When using FabLab, you design your own shape. When designing it, you can use colors, patterns, and even pictures from the web. You can also take a picture with another application, and use it for this. We used FabLab for the first time today, as a class, and were very new to it. We had fun, though it did require a lot of focus. We were all over the room, helping others, seeing other projects, and showing off ours. I actually made a Coca-Cola can, and even made the tab on top. For printing these 3-D shapes out, it is very cool. First of all, you print it off the printer, which is easy! Then you stick it to a special sheet. After lining it up to the thing that cuts it, it scans it. Your computer is plugged up to it, so it knows the patterns. Away it goes! This will start the cutting and fold lines of your shape. After its done, you go straight to the folding, which requires a lot of tape.FabLab ModelMaker is an excellent program for math class, and on your own time. Though printing and cutting is not the easiest, it is loads of fun. -Sally W.
When I was doing the Fab Lab I felt like for once like I wasn’t in the 20th century. Why? Because when I was using it I found out so much about what you can do with the colors and shapes and then printing and making it. In fact, one of my classmates even designed a whole city! Lovett is one of three schools that has this application! If you haven’t made yours yet then you better begin because it is extremely fun and you will not be able to get off. -A new student
