Ultimate Design Challenge
How can we design an object to optimize its shape?
Design is important. Design is professional. Design is the form in which we determine the visual and functional value of an object.
For this project, we were to take an object, and optimize it’s design for maximum surface area or volume. We worked in groups of 2 or 3, so I chose to work with Mateo. Originally, we planned to design and 3D print a shoe, specifically, the Air Jordan 1, due to it’s iconic design. However, while we were in the process of designing our 3D model, we realized that it was way too hard. The program we used to model our objects was Tinkercad. Tinkercad is a free online 3D design program that you can use to design 3D objects.
After we decided to abandon the shoe, there where a few contenders for our next design. We first wanted to build a replica of a real life building such as the Burj Khalifa, The Empire State Building and the Golden Gate bridge. We had a few other ideas but ultimately, we left it to a random wheel spin to pick our object.
The object the wheel gave us was a hammer. We quickly got to work. We had planned to design our hammer with surface area in mind. We used Tinkercad to design the hammer in to main pieces: the handle, and the big heavy part i don’t know the name of. After we finished our design, we sent it to be 3D printed. It has been a while since we sent it to be printed, but we haven’t received our model yet.Â
After we finished our design and calculations, we realized that our hammer actually had a higher volume than surface area. After we realized this, we quickly put together a keynote presentation and gave it out to the class.
Core Competencies
Communicating and Representing
This competency is about explaining and justifying mathematical ideas. This is crucial for solving the driving question as we need to be able to calculate surface area and volume if we are to optimize a design. We used this on milestone 3, where we were to make calculations about our designs.
Applying and Innovating
The second competency is all about contributing to others. This is useful in solving the driving question as we need to be able to identify and present our learning. We used this competency on milestone 5, where we presented our calculations and design with the class.
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