3D Printing in Elementary School


I purchased the New Matter MOD-t 3D Printer with money raised from an after school STEM party fundraiser. I saw the MOD-t demonstrated at ISTE 2016 in Denver. I had not con 3D printing in elementary school - the whole concept was very vague to me. I saw this example of a 3D printed model of one of the CA missions at the New Matter Expo booth and I was sold.


I teach California state history and I thought it would be amazing for my students to design their missions in tinkerCAD and print them out - so much better than using cardboard and sugar cubes like I did when I was a kid. As I have learned more about 3D printing, I realize that a project like this mission model is very complex. I had to start small with my students. 


What We Made
We decided to design holiday ornaments as an introduction to 3D printing. I taught my students to use TinkerCAD to create their ornaments. They worked through the tutorial videos on their own learning how to create shapes and holes. Then they created a new design for their ornament. 


I was printing the ornaments from my laptop so to collect all the students' files, I created a question in Google classroom where they shared the link to their TinkerCAD file, and left a comment indicating what color they wanted for their ornament. This helped gather all the information I needed in one place. The tinkerCAD files can be downloaded for printing as a .STL file which is readable by the New Matter printer
Printing the ornaments took some time. Even on the balanced setting, each ornament took 1 1/2 - 2 hours. I was glad that I started early, otherwise, I would have been camping at school to get them all done in time for Christmas.





The students were so excited to see their creations printed. We added ribbons and wrapped them up so they could take them home to their families.


After creating the ornaments, one of my students had the idea of creating a keychain, so we made one for our principal and our custodian. They were thrilled.


What's Next?
Creating the ornaments was a great way for students to be introduced to designing in 3D. It was new for all of them. I look forward to finding more opportunities for my students to use the 3D printer. Some of them are thinking about designing mission models as their passion project. We have just started our Geometry unit and I would like students to create their own protractors. 


Why Use 3D Printing in the Classroom?
I think 3D printing is valuable in the classroom because it forces students to think in a different way and view a project from all directions. Jobs in Biomedical Engineering are expected to rise in the coming decade. We are already seeing 3D printing used in medical science. The possibility of using 3D printing to develop tissue, prosthetics, and heart valves is amazing to me. By learning 3D printing early, students may be inspired to pursue these careers and revolutionize medical science.


How Does One Get Started with 3D printing?
  • New Matter - manufacturer of the New Matter MOD-t 3D printer. They have tutorials on how to print and also have a library of designs that are ready to print.
  • thingiverse.com (@thingiverse) website where people can share items that they have created. Ideas can be used as inspiration for custom creations, printed as is, or remixed and modified into something new.
  • Kathy Schrock's guide to 3D printing - tons of great resources +Kathy Schrock @kathyschrock
  • Amazon.com, I found 3D printing filament on Amazon that was less expensive than the filament sold directly by New Matter. Make sure to check the specifications of your printer to ensure that the filament will be compatible.
  • MakerBot
  • TinkerCAD




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