Hi there 👋🏼
Welcome back to another scimatics blog post.
Fair warning, I am writing this post extremely tired.
Project description
In this scimatics project we worked in a small group to create 3D objects. We had to calculate the surface area and volume of the object we created and then put together a presentation for the class.
Driving question
How can I design a bed to optimize its volume?
The main contributor of a bed’s volume is it’s mattress. A thick and fluffy mattress makes for added comfort and volume.
The project itself
My group decided that we wanted to make a three part bedroom set. The set consisted of a bedside table, a bookshelf, and a bed. The object I was going to create was the bed. Before we started creating, we had to decide whether we would be designing the object for maximum surface area or maximum volume, I chose maximum surface area (but that didn’t work out for me in the end).
We would be using a 3D design website called Tinkercad.com to create the object. At first, I found it difficult to understand the controls but after completing lots of the Tinkercad tutorials I finally started to get it. I made a few sketches on procreate to help guide me with what the measurements of my bed should be.
My bed ended up looking like;
I also recorded a video where I scroll around to all sides of the bed. Just in case you were curious about what it looks like to use Tinkercad.
As I said in the project description, we needed to create a presentation about our 3D models to show the class. My original plan was to record us giving our presentation but I was so nervous that I forgot ☹️. So I made my group do a screen recording with voiceover so that I could still show y’all our presentation. Here it is;
The curricular competencies
Applying and innovating: Contribute to self, others, community, and world through personal or collaborative approaches.
This competency was both harder and easier to achieve when working in a group with your best friends. On one hand we really worked well together and had no problem helping each other out. On the other hand I think that we could’ve done better at trying to keep each other on topic.
Reasoning and analyzing: Model mathematics in contextualized experiences.
My model consisted of 11 basic 3D shapes and of those were 3 kinds; rectangular prisms, triangular prism , and cylinders. Sure my model wasn’t the most complicated but I made the design clean and it matched the other models in my group. I had originally intended the bed to have maximum surface area but later realized that the bed would end up having maximum volume if I designed it as I had planned.
Communicating and representing: Explain and justify mathematical ideas and decisions.
The calculations I made for my model were accurately measured and calculated. My milestone 3 shows the calculations which you can also see in the YouTube video presentation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it was really fun working with my friends in a group project. I enjoyed learning how to use Tinkercad and I am proud of how I was able to create the model. I definitely feel like my math skills in calculating surface area and volume have improved a TON during the project.
Here are my group members posts on this project
Dana – The Ultimate Bedroom Set Up Noº1
Makenna – The Ultimate Bedroom Set Up Noº2
Thanks for reading!
As always, Brooke.