3D Print Measuring, IRL

When my students want to 3D print in class, they need to finish a “completion checklist” prior to submitting a design for the printer. It’s a list that helps students work independently toward completion of a design, it helps me with classroom and print management, and it helps us reduce printer waste by cutting down on a number of simple errors.

One of my favorite steps on the checklist is real-life measurement. The checklist says, “record the length, width, and height of your design. Now find each of those measurements on a classroom ruler.”

Measurement IRL

Students learn to relate screen measurements to actual, real-life size.

What I love about this step is that many students have a hard time visualizing the actual size of their virtual designs, even though they can use a virtual ruler or see the dimensions on the screen. There’s something wonderful and tactile about a student using an actual ruler to mark the measurements of a virtual design. It helps them start to conceptualize their object outside of the computer screen.

I always love to hear things like “what?! it’s going to print so small,” or “my person is taller than my house,” or “these compartments aren’t long enough to hold pencils,” because it means that a student can fix a sizing issue ahead of time rather than be disappointed with an actual 3D print.

Real-life measurement has the added benefit of helping students start internalizing some of those sizing measurements, and depending on the programs and rulers you’re using, I love to insert some conversion math in there (think, millimeters to centimeters).

Adding in real-life measurement is a very simple way to make some amazing academic connections for students while minimizing 3D printer waste!