STEAM problem solving in action at Ponsonby PS
By Jason Boyce
June 6, 2016
PONSONBY, Ontario – The grade 5 students of Mr. Boyce’s class at Ponsonby Public School love to create. Recently, they were presented with a real life problem, which they were glad to try their hand at solving.
The picnic tables in the school’s outdoor classroom have umbrella holes, but these holes came without plugs to be installed in the winter months. This allowed moisture to enter, as well as foreign objects like gravel or sticks. In order to prevent these problems in the future, School Council was looking for a plug, but the company did not manufacture them. When he heard of this dilemma, Mr. Boyce suggested that his students would be able to design and 3D print a solution.
Using the Project Ignite application, which is based on the Tinkercad design program, students who volunteered for the task measured the dimensions and then came up with ways of solving the problem. They took these measurements and 3D designed a solution that was later printed. For the hole in the pole, students attempted to create a wide variety of bracket shapes with a cylinder mounted in the middle, which prevents the bracket from sliding up and down the pole. They also experimented with different means of attaching nylon zip ties to ensure that the bracket stays on and then can be removed. For students working on the plug for the top of the table, they faced an extra challenge because the print bed for our Dremel Idea Builder 3D printer isn’t large enough to print a 27cm long print, so they designed a two piece prototype which was later glued together.
After the rough planning, a test print was done and from that print, students made modifications to their own designs to save on printing. Cost calculations were also performed, as students calculated that the PLA filament used costs approximately 18 cents per metre, with designs using 30 to 60 metres of filament based on the styling. Rich discussions confirmed that overall cost does matter, but safety and function must also be considered.
At Ponsonby, staff works to provide hands-on learning opportunities to help reinforce the idea that “We learn not for school but for life.” Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math, or STEAM programming, was at the heart of this challenge and staff are thankful for the opportunity that School Council has presented. Building on these partnerships has been a valuable experience and the school looks forward to finding more ways to lead, learn and inspire together.
*This article has been edited for clarity
Categories: Spotlight On Schools