One of the great things about our school is the variety of classes. We have electives that cater to a wide range of interests such as dance, tech theater, and sewing. However, there is one class in particular that rises above the rest in the realm of both learning and entertainment.
Design and Modeling is a class where you learn how to 3D print trinkets and useful materials using a 3D Printer and TinkerCad. Not only is it enjoyable to print anything you like, but you also learn how to build and make things, which adds to your understanding of math, science, and engineering, says Ms. Futrell, our design and modeling teacher. Learning how to 3D print could be a good start if you are planning to become an engineer says Ms. Futrell. For example, one of her past students is now working on building an engine in college.
To give you a good idea of how our 3D printer works, I will give you examples of things I have 3D printed and projects that students are currently working on. Throughout my time participating in Design and Modeling, I have printed a phone holder, a luggage tag, a chip clip, and figurines I designed myself. Mrs. Futrell also said that her students are working on making drones from scratch and robots for robot races.
Creating things is one benefit of having a 3D printer, but a 3D printer is also really fast, which makes it easier to create anything in just 24 hours. After you send a request to the printer, your design will be ready and done in 30 minutes to 24 hours, depending on how big your design is. The printer we have here at Parker also uses an environmentally friendly bio-corn material called PLA to 3D print, opposed to plastic.
Having a design and modeling class, design lab, and 3D printer that we are able to access at our school opens the door to endless possibilities. I suggest that you further look into 3D printing and see if there is anything that you would like to print, and look into trying out the Design and Modeling class. We should not take our 3D printing privileges for granted.