Make a Jack-O-Lantern Project

thingiverse

This is a 6th grade project to help the students learn to use Tinkercad for 3D design. It's a remix of Hugoelec's pumpkin. I took his pumpkin model and chopped the bottom flat, cut the top off, and hollowed it out. There are 2 versions - thick and thin walls. I recommend the thin wall model. The students started with the Hollow Thin pumpkin and used holes (negative space) in Tinkercad to "carve" a jack-o-lantern. The pumpkins are just the right size to fit a flameless LED tea light inside if you print at 1X. Printed at 2X you can fit a brighter tap light inside. You can save time by printing the tops ahead of time. All models here that don't have their own top should use the Hollow Thin Top. Don't use a real candle, the heat will melt the plastic! The students used a few design techniques that are new or unfamiliar to them - negative space (holes), tilting, lifting objects off the build plane. I used Monoprice brand PLA which has a semi-translucent quality which is good for this project. In the picture you can also see what it looks like with a more opaque filament. Video using Tinkercad to "carve" pumpkin: https://youtu.be/qnBd6qFHS7E Standards NGSS Overview and Background This is a 6th grade project to help the students learn to use Tinkercad for 3D design. It's a remix of Hugoelec's pumpkin. I took his pumpkin model and chopped the bottom flat, cut the top off, and hollowed it out. There are 2 versions - thick and thin walls. I recommend the thin wall model. Lesson Plan and Activity The students started with the Hollow Thin pumpkin and used holes (negative space) in Tinkercad to "carve" a jack-o-lantern. The pumpkins are just the right size to fit a flameless LED tea light inside if you print at 1X. Printed at 2X you can fit a brighter tap light inside. You can save time by printing the tops ahead of time. All models here that don't have their own top should use the Hollow Thin Top. Don't use a real candle, the heat will melt the plastic! The students used a few design techniques that are new or unfamiliar to them - negative space (holes), tilting, lifting objects off the build plane. I used Monoprice brand PLA which has a semi-translucent quality which is good for this project. In the picture you can also see what it looks like with a more opaque filament.