Mr. Bonneville has created an environment in which his students feel safe, can take risks, and cares about each and every one of them. Even in my best days, I don't know that every one of my students felt that way.
So when Mr. Bonneville asked if I would like to work with him and his students on a 3D printing lesson, I immediately said YES.
The objective:
Create a keychain using a series of Desmos functions.
That's basically it. With such ambiguity, there was going to be a wide array of products and questions, so I put together a guideline for the students.
bit.ly/mathematicalkeychain
I designed a sample keychain that I was (and still am) pretty darn proud of.
And then, Mr. Bonneville and I started seeing student products on Desmos:
Some students put together designs with over 300 formulas!
I came in with the 3D printer after each class had spent a day (ONE DAY) designing and walked them through how to get their design from Desmos into Tinkercad, then from Tinkercad into the 3D printer. Yep, a group of sophomores learned the process for a brand new style of production in a matter of 51 minutes. We had some hiccups, as would be expected when learning something new, but the culture of the classroom allowed for that to be natural.
Each class was thrilled to submit their project, knowing that the printer was in the back of the room to create a purple representation of it in real time.
It was all worth it. Every moment. Here are some products:
If you are interested in trying this out with your students, I would be more than happy to chat.
Above all the cool designs and the formulas is the feeling in Mr. Bonneville's classroom any time they walk through the doors. His kids love coming to class, and that couldn't be made more clear, keychain or not.
***UPDATE***
I asked the students for some feedback, and I'll leave it below. Let's just say that they enjoyed the project.
Happy "Keychain and Culture" Fishing