The Perloff Family Foundation, in partnership with the Maine Community Foundation, gifted 3D printers to more than 50 schools in Maine. From Brewer and Monmouth, Falmouth and Glenburn, Brooksville and Topsham, to Hampden and Edmund Township (TWP), students’ thinking has come to life and put to use.
Mars Rover, It’s Greek to Me, Monsters Sighted on the Coast of Maine, Around the World in 80 Days, Scratching the Surface, Find It-Fix It, and Rain Gutter Regatta are just some of the titles given the “Imagine! Design! Create!” 3D projects with the help of these gifted printers.
Louis Carrier’s North Haven Community School students recreated architecture of the past. “My students used the 3D printer to demonstrate elements of gothic architecture by making cathedral components demonstrating flying buttresses and ribbed vaults.”
The Edmunds School students used a 3D printer to create boats and masts they modeled on their laptops with web-based design software. Sails were made from card stock, and small weights were used to trim the boats. Students raced their boats over a two-meter course and computed velocity before and after making adjustments.
Science teacher David Winski of the school says having a 3D printer on site for use by students has given them the opportunity “to connect science, math and engineering in new and creative ways and this resource, along with the classroom robotics provided by the Perloff Foundation, offers our students state-of-the-art learning opportunities in our small Downeast Maine school.”
At the Weatherbee School in Hampden, students recycled legos in creating propeller powered cars.
At the Trenton Elementary School’s Family Math night, students received medals designed using Tinkercad and the 3D printer.
You’ve got to hand it to those first graders with the help of Sebasticook Middle schoolers in creating hanging hands for rear view mirrors in cars.
Kennebunk High School students built remote controlled hover craft and submarine with critical parts created on the 3D printer.
Freeport Middle School teacher John Nicholson says his eighth grade STEM students learned how to model and modify CAD files to 3D print for a robotics unit. “The learning outcome is increased understanding and manipulation in a 3D modeling environment.”
Somerset Valley Middle School students’ project actually lent a heling hand to maintenance staff by creating parts using the 3D printer and making replacement parts for school lunch tables.
In giving the gift, David Perloff said, “Maine was an innovator in providing classroom computing via its Maine Learning Technology Initiative. Our strategy has been to build on this initiative, using 3D printing and state-of-the-art coding to encourage and enable more students to experience and benefit from the engineering design-build process.”
To learn more about all grant opportunities offered by the Perloff Family Foundation visit www.perloffgrants.org.
To read details and learn more about the projects in Maine schools, visit here.