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Activity (Hands-On)Grades 4 - 6

Prodigious Printing Possibilities

A 3D printer is printing a plastic part out of red filament.3D printers can produce a variety of objects using a range of materials. What 3D printed objects would you like to see made in the future?

This activity is designed to give students an understanding of one aspect of what an engineer does and the ability to experience various steps in the engineering design process as it relates to a 3D printing task. Students transform into engineers as they work in teams to carry out a 3D printing task by using a blunt-tip needle syringe to print a line using a variety of colored liquid materials (shampoo, conditioner, aloe, and hand sanitizer) into a small plastic box filled with a gel base. Approximating the work of engineers, the teams observe the interactions between the printed material and the gel base at intervals of 10 minutes and iterate, or change, the ink base as necessary to achieve a goal. Using the dye to color the ink allows students to determine which material will permeate or diffuse throughout the base more effectively. Teams share their results to compare with their classmates. A real-world application for this investigation would be when engineers conduct research to develop new medicines, the goal is for the medicine to make its way through the body in the most effective way so that the body can heal.

The investigation is simulated after a real-world engineering design in which researchers investigated 3D printing cells in a gel base, and then introduced a dye into the base to determine the ability of the dye to diffuse through the base and make it to the cells. These individuals work in the field of biomedical engineering and develop solutions to help and heal the human body. 3D printing allows biomedical engineers to solve problems in ways that were not previously available such as printing cells in a lab to grow a 3D printed body part such as an ear, or creating a replacement body part such as a hip. To complete the investigation, students use several steps in the engineering design process such as defining a problem, planning a solution, testing the design solution, and sharing their results.

After this activity, students should be able to:

  • Identify the steps in the engineering design process.
  • Replicate a 3D printing task step-by-step.
  • Use the engineering design process to determine the best ink type.

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