Multi-Layer Interactive Animal Cell

thingiverse

After spending a school year in my biology class, one hour each day, the teaching methods felt very flat and 2D (pun intended). But in reality, after so many fill-in the blanks worksheets and videos describing the function and details of an animal cell, we never got a hands-on model of any type of cell for us to look like. We made several drawings and presentations on the topic but it felt as if we were missing something. So, I set out to create a detailed model of an animal cell to the best of my abilities in order to help teachers, educators, and most importantly the student learn more about the cell and surrounding topic in a more interactive way. And what better way to do it then with the latest technologies. So here it is, a fully interactive, detailed, and multi-layer model of an animal cell. The object included / need to print in this project are: • 1 Outer Shell/Layer (Plasma Membrane) • 1 Inner Layer (Cytoplasm) • 1 Nucleus • 1 Nucleolus • 2 Mitochondrion • 2 Lysosomes • 2 Centrioles • 1 Golgi Apparatus • 1 Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum • 1 Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum Please read through the information below if you plan to print this educational project as there are some tweaks to be made according to the printer you use. Check out my other educational thing: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1663098 Update 8/30/2016: The inner part of the cell was scaled incorrectly. It is now correct and should work with the other pieces. Thank you to gringer for noticing this. Print Settings Printer: M3D Rafts: No Supports: Yes Resolution: Medium/High Infill: 10% Notes: The printer used was not a professional printer. The settings on the Micro M3D printer were: Print Speed: Medium Fill: Base - Hollow w/Thick Walls || Other pieces - Low This was printed on an M3D printer where I encountered several problems while printing. The model that I printed ended up having a max print area of this project of about 3.5"x3.5". This led to a few minor problems that you should be aware of when you print; first, because the model was so small, the parts within it such as the Lysosomes and Golgi Apparatus had trouble fitting inside their appropriate holes. I did not have access to a bigger/professional 3D printer which led to a lack of detail of the print. For those of you who do have access to one, I suggest that you scale all the parts up to a more reasonable size in order to fit the smaller parts inside the overall cell. Post-Printing Adding the Detail Once you have printed all the parts, it is possible that the tolerances on the printer were not detailed enough. In my case, the pieces did not fit into the holes. There are to things to do in this situation. First, you can use a sharp knife, such as an X-ACTO, to scrape out the edges of the holes in order to fit in the pieces snuggly. If you choose this method, please be sure to be careful with the tools you use. For me, this method works for a couple of the bigger pieces, however, the other did not want to go in due to the low detail of the printer used. More professional printers may work flawlessly as the detail is more precise. For the pieces that did not fit in, I left them as is because when laid on top of their hole, they somewhat grip onto it and work just fine as well. Furthermore, for the student who are using this model, the purpose, objectives, and goals of the project are not compromised due to this fitting error. This next step is also optional but if you choose to do both steps, complete the one above first. To add more color and detail to the model, you can use spray-on paint or some type of acrylic paint. I am not experienced in painting plastic but whatever paint sticks, will work. Painting is a good option for the educators who want to go through the full process of creating the model with their student. It is also a great option for printers that do not have dual extruders. In my case, I printed everything in clear PLA and painted the parts after to give a more realistic look to it. I've included a picture below of the paint I used. I got this paint from the local supermarket for less than $0.50 a bottle making this a very cost-effective project for teachers. Also, the amount of paint was a lot more than needed, so I had quite a bit left over for future projects or to paint other cells. If you are wondering, the paint is matte acrylic. I put 2-3 layers of paint on each piece leaving a 1-hour dry time between coats. I am in no way experienced with painting 3d printed parts, but read into it a bit and found acrylic paints are good for this type of thing. Overall, I am pleased with the paint job but would suggest that you run some sandpaper all around the parts you plan to paint after printing in order for the paint to stick better and dry in a more even way. I painted according to some pictures I found, but feel free to experiment with different colors and patterns. Before Painting Thin Coats Final Product Generic Acrylic Paint - $0.50/bottle How I Designed This The Idea I wanted to create something that had the ability to inspire and help students learn in a more interactive way. As a high school student who recently completed Biology and a passion for CAD modeling, I decided to create this project to reflect what I learned and what others could learn from my model. Planning Out The Project Once I got the idea of making an Animal cell, I began to look around online for reference 2D sample cells that I could potentially transform into a multi-layer 3D model which individuals could learn from. All credit of this image goes to: http://www.timvandevall.com/science/animal-cell-diagram/ All credit of this image goes to: http://biology.tutorvista.com/animal-and-plant-cells/animal-cell.html Modeling Every Part in CAD Once my foundation for what I wanted to do was set, I began to model each part. The CAD software used was Inventor 2017. Every piece in this project was 100% modeling in this software and 3D printed. Some of these pieces were very difficult to model as I was dealing with very small dimensions and it can be a challenge for the software to sometimes accept these tiny changes throughout the model. The parts were then scaled proportionally in Axon and confirmed in Cura. This was the beginning of the cell. I added several curves to it and trimmed of any straight edges in order to achieve the most realistic looking model. The sketch was then extruded out, shelled, and finally filleted to give it a smooth texture on the outside. Next came the inner layer which was the most challenging by far. The circular holes, such as the Nucleus and Lysosomes were made be extruding a half circle 180* to make the indent for the part to fit in accordingly. The irregular holes were made with ovals connect together and then trimmed/extruded down. Ah yes, The Gogli Apparatus was fairly simple to make, made up of solely curves that were trimmed together. The nucleus took some experimenting but again, was modeled by extruding a semicircle 180*. Then, an offset plane was added in order to be able to extrude as Inventor does not enable you to regularly extrude from a curved surface. Once the extrusion was aded, another sphere was added in the center using the same process as before to fit in the nucleolus. This is the lysosome. Again the semicircle was sketched and extruded 180*. Another circle was then sketched on top and extruded inward to create the indentions and dimples. The centriole was the simplest to model as it is just a nonagon extruded outward. The tricky part is printing; for this piece, because it is so small, you must use a raft to print it, or at least on an M3D. You will most likely not need a raft you you print on a professional printer or scale up all the parts The Rough Endoplasmic reticulum was somewhat simple with interconnected ovals. Again, the detail of the printer used is important. The Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum was simply made with two ovals and two circles interconnected and extruded. Overview and Background By completing this projects, students and users will learn how to identify the parts of an animal cell and how they relate to each other. Lesson Plan and Activity The great thing about this project is that educators or even the student can choose how much time and work they put into putting this together. Here is a good step-by-step idea teachers could implement with middle schoolers to high schoolers: Have the teacher/educator split the classroom into 2-3 groups. Then the teacher/educator will assign a specific part or even parts to each group. The teacher/educator will 3D all of the parts to complete this project. If the students are interested, a good idea would be to show how the 3D printing process works and possibly inspire them to create their own objects. 4.Once each group has their assigned part(s), they will paint and/or decorate their piece(s) according to what they have learned about them and how they think they would fit in with the others. Each group will then research more in depth into their part and the teacher/educator could assign each group to give a brief presentation (such as a few slides on a Powerpoint or a handout like the one in this project) There are endless possibilities to what student and educators can do with this project and this is just one of them. About the Project: Multi-Layer Interactive Animal Cell Fully Interactive Multi-Layer Animal Cell Model Made up of multiple pieces, this animal cell model can be explored in several ways. Overview and Background By completing this projects, students and users will learn how to identify the parts of an animal cell and how they relate to each other. Objectives Students will be expected to learn the functions of each piece of the cell. They will hopefully be able to make the connection between the cell and the objectives in biology and in science. Audiences The concepts of the animal cell are relatively higher-level and in turn, would require more knowledgeable age group. This model would suit students through middle school, high school, and even college as a reference model. Subjects This project could fall under the categories of science, biology, and even more advanced science subjects such as microbiology and anatomy. Skills Learned The several skills utilized throughout this project include processes, cognitive, relationship, and more. Lesson/Activity The great thing about this project is that educators or even the student can choose how much time and work they put into putting this together. Here is a good step-by-step idea teachers could implement with middle schoolers to high schoolers: Have the teacher/educator split the classroom into 2-3 groups. Then the teacher/educator will assign a specific part or even parts to each group. The teacher/educator will 3D all of the parts to complete this project. If the students are interested, a good idea would be to show how the 3D printing process works and possibly inspire them to create their own objects. 4.Once each group has their assigned part(s), they will paint and/or decorate their piece(s) according to what they have learned about them and how they think they would fit in with the others. Each group will then research more in depth into their part and the teacher/educator could assign each group to give a brief presentation (such as a few slides on a Powerpoint or a handout like the one in this project) There are endless possibilities to what student and educators can do with this project and this is just one of them. Duration The great thing about this project is that it is very open-ended to the teacher/educator as to what they want to do. As described in the "lesson/Activity" section of this project, students can take this anywhere and I would love to see where it goes personally. Duration-wise, once the parts are printed, this can be something that takes an hour of class time, or if the student want to do presentations, this project can take a couple of days. Again, it is all about what the students get out of it. The more they put in, the more they get out and ideally learn more about this topic. Preparation This all depends on the age group. I think it is important that the student have a base knowledge of biology and would be especially great if they are currently in their year of biology and in the cells unit. Otherwise, less or more experienced student can still complete this project, but may not be as engaging. References Good links and websites to visit, but not mandatory for the project: • http://www.timvandevall.com/science/animal-cell-diagram/ • http://biology.tutorvista.com/animal-and-plant-cells/animal-cell.html Rubric and Assessment I believe that the final score should be up to the teacher/educator, but the student should reflect the following that the teacher can notice: • Basic-Intermediate understanding of the cell • Can identify all part correctly • Can identify the function of each part of the cell • Shows confidence in what they are presenting and are engaged in what they are doing/ what they accomplished. Handout & Assets Will be added soon. Project Reflection & Goals Overall, I am very pleased with how this project turned out. However, there are a couple things I would do differently: • If possible, take advantage or larger 3d printer if you have access to them as the difference in quality and fitting the pieces are very different. • The bigger, the better - A bigger model can sometimes mean better understanding. In my case, the m3D printer could only print the cell in rough dimensions of about 3.5"x3.5", but I made due with what I had. For the students' benefits, bigger models can help them identifying and learning the parts of the cell. My goal is to help other student learn about subjects they are passionate about and would love to get some feedback if anyone or a classroom completes this project.