Learning and Leading

other educational programs will begin to incorporate this capability.

If you would like to explore some of the possibilities now, Parent’s Choice—a nonprofit organization that offers guidance on children’s media— provides downloadable templates for constructing a 3D town. The free templates include 3D houses, shops, schools, libraries, and other buildings along with instructional activities developed by Peggy Stearns.

Engineering Design and Workforce Readiness

Grants from NSF and the MacArthur Foundation have made it possible to implement Fab Lab initiatives that focus on engineering design and workforce readiness. The Sustainable South Bronx project established by Majora Carter received a MacArthur grant to bring a Fab Lab to that community. Similarly, an NSF grant has allowed the Midwest Digital Fabrication Partnership to establish a Fab Lab in that area.

Personal fabrication systems are inexpensive cousins of MIT’s fabrication laboratories and can be used in similar ways to encourage scientific thinking and development of authentic engineering skills. Paper engineering engages students at many levels. It involves abstract concepts and visualization, as well as problem solving in the physical world. Computer-controlled

die cutters expand and extend these kinds of projects.

And there is another long-term benefit. Increased student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has been identified as an important national priority. In fact, the NSF has concluded that this will be critical to the nation’s future in a competitive global economy.

Personal Fabrication Systems

A half-dozen personal fabrication system models are available, and more are likely to emerge in this fast-moving field. Graphtec offers industrial models for $15,000 or more but also offers personal fabrication systems. The principles on which manufacturers base their models are similar: More capable models simply handle thicker, larger materials.

The CraftROBO, a unit designed for personal use, may be a useful starting point. The CraftROBO Pro is a larger model that can be used in the school library or media center to produce multiple sets of materials for every child in a class. The CraftROBO costs about $300, and the CraftROBO Pro is less than $1,000.

Fabrication technologies provide exposure to many mathematical and engineering concepts. Scaffolded practice for students in upper elementary grades and above

uSeD wITh PerMSSIon, ToM SnyDer ProDuCTIonS

provides the opportunity to see abstract visualizations—including students’ own drawings and sketches on the computer—translated into physical objects, offering an opportunity to explore these ideas at an early age in a very concrete way.

In later grades, students can study compound machines in science class, use mathematics to design their own digital models, and then fabricate their designs as three-dimensional objects. These types of activities give students direct experience with vectors and geometric transformations that are useful in many STEM-related fields.

Engineers and architects move between the digital world of the computer and the physical world, visualizing the result that occurs when a 2D drawing on the screen is transformed into a 3D object. Students in school can understand mathematical concepts by making connections between virtual and physical representations. These activities can simultaneously prepare them for 21 -century careers.