Constellations

thingiverse

In this project students design and print constellations. It's based on http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:180681 After printing the stars on the constellations models were painted with glow in the dark paint. The paint used was from Glow Inc., 1/2 oz for $10, which is enough to paint 100s of models of this type. The glow is impressively bright. How I Designed This Troubleshooting Student Designs The most common problems the students had with this project: Using the wrong rotate tool, rotating around the wrong axis - kids have trouble using the Tinkercad rotate tool, when a shape gets askew it's usually easiest to just delete it and replace by duplicating a nearby shape. Connections between the stars are two thin - connectors will often get quite thin when they are stretched and rotated into position. it isn't easy to widen them when they are at an angle. A good trick is to duplicate the connector, shift it slightly with the arrow keyboard keys, then group the two to make a double width connector. Pushing shapes down through workplane or lifting up off workplane. Check the student models carefully before printing, check the first layer in the slicer software. Connectors not solidly connected to stars. Have students examine their model closely from all angles, it can be hard to tell if there is a small gap. Standards NGSS Overview and Background In this project students design and print constellations. It's based on http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:180681 After printing the stars on the constellations models were painted with glow in the dark paint. The paint used was from Glow Inc., 1/2 oz for $10, which is enough to paint 100s of models of this type. The glow is impressively bright. Lesson Plan and Activity Students selected a constellation visible at some time from their home town as the topic of this project. Students completed a research report about their selected constellation that included these research questions (see example). If students use the Internet for research http://www.dibonsmith.com/constel.htm is a good website to start with Name and picture of constellation When is it visible? Story of the constellation, what does it represent? Try to find at least one alternative idea of what the pattern represents from a different culture What are the brightest stars in the constellation? Are there any notable galaxies, nebulae, or star clusters in the constellation? Students used Tinkercad to design the constellation. The stars were represented with cylinders 3 mm high and with width of 4 mm for average size stars, and 5 m and 6 mm for exceptionally bright stars. The stars were connected with rectangular struts 2 mm high and about 3 mm wide. Models were printed in translucent PLA. The teacher then painted the stars white, and then painted them with glow in the dark paint. Project: Constellation Objective Design and print a constellation. Audience This was a 4th grade project. Preparation This was completed as part of a 4th grade science unit about astronomy. Designing the constellation models on Tinkercad is harder than you might think and will be hard for inexperienced Tinkercad designers. I got around this by having more experienced and skilled 8th grade students help the younger kids. Steps Students selected a constellation visible at some time from their home town as the topic of this project. Students completed a research report about their selected constellation that included these research questions (see example). If students use the Internet for research http://www.dibonsmith.com/constel.htm is a good website to start with Name and picture of constellation When is it visible? Story of the constellation, what does it represent? Try to find at least one alternative idea of what the pattern represents from a different culture What are the brightest stars in the constellation? Are there any notable galaxies, nebulae, or star clusters in the constellation? Students used Tinkercad to design the constellation. The stars were represented with cylinders 3 mm high and with width of 4 mm for average size stars, and 5 m and 6 mm for exceptionally bright stars. The stars were connected with rectangular struts 2 mm high and about 3 mm wide. Models were printed in translucent PLA. The teacher then painted the stars white, and then painted them with glow in the dark paint. Results This project was completed with two groups of 4th grade students, assisted by 8th grade students. All the students were able to complete one or two constellation models in one 40 minute period. The student created models are included here. The glow in the dark paint from Glow Inc. was very bright and worked out great.