For the last two months, 8th grade designers have been learning about both 3D printing and using the Glowforge.
Every Friday, they then were given a challenge to teach their 3rd grade buddies as well as play games, create different crafts, and design in Makers Empire. We used the Glowforge to cut out paper turkeys, cardboard monsters, customized dog tags for each buddy, and pumpkin tea lights. |
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Visual Snapshot into Our Collaboration Using Flip Mixtapes
Pumpkin Tea Lights Project
In November, I attended a workshop with my mom at Timberlane Studios with artist Kami where I created decorative pumpkins. While attending the workshop, I thought about how I could use our new Glowforge to bring this learning activity to my classroom. Kami was willing to share the beautiful svg files that she created which gave me the opportunity to start with a design and modify it. We talked about the materials she used for the adult workshop which gave me the idea for mini pumpkins. |
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My first step was to modify the design which was very simple since it is an svg. I needed to make about 40 and didn't want to waste material. Using Maple Plywood from Glowforge, I was able to get 11 pumpkins per sheet after a little trickery with the machine. I was going to create the base out of plywood also but after more thought an idea of creating a tea light to shine through the paper instead of backing the pumpkins, required me to think about how to create a different stand. |
One of the first things that I have learned is to prototype with cardboard first. So I knew that I wanted to use clear acrylic but first I need to find the correct dimensions. I also learned that dimensions from one material to another need to be tweaked. Amanda from Glowforge shared how I could create a test cut which is what I did. After finding the correct dimensions, I created a mock-up of the pumpkin tea light using the materials I wanted my designers to use. |
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As I created the mock-up, I took step by step pictures to create a quick tutorial that can be found in the Mixtape above. I started with Clips but ended up using iMovie so that I could get the quality that I wanted for the final tutorial video that was added to Flip. Designers then could go to Flip, watch the tutorial, and record their own unique designs. |