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Outreaching at Perkins School

Tech Meets Touch:
Crafting Braille Trophies for Perkins School

By Grade 6, our students' previous tech service work has prepared them with technical and project management skills to have a larger impact on their community. They are tasked with designing and fabricating a 3D object to solve a problem experienced by a classroom teacher or other adult in our community. In order to do this work, they have access to 5 Prusa 3D printers (for plastic fabrication) and a Glowforge laser cutter (for cutting and engraving wood, acrylic, and other materials). Many projects involve replacing missing or broken pieces of important classroom materials, which enables teachers to revive previously unusable works and save considerable replacement costs. Other projects give teachers original objects for use in their rooms. We have also collaborated with the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown to create tactile puzzles for young pre-Braille learners and customized trophies with Braille plaques for their IDEA awards.

For more information, including requests

for copies of our 3D Designs, contact: techforgood@wellan.org

Montessori Material - Test Tubes
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A Lower Elementary teacher was unable to find a manufacturer who could provide replacements for the clear plastic test tubes for their Division Racks and Tubes material without incurring the expense of replacing the entire set. The student was able to use Tinkercad to construct a design to match the exact measurements of the original test tube.

Practical Use - Paper Cutter Handle
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The Middle School teachers had a paper cutter that was difficult to use because the plastic handle on the cutting blade had broken and the metal bar underneath was exposed. The student received the specifications and used Tinkercad to design a replacement handle to fit snugly over the metal bar with a comfortable grip design.

Creative Project - Solar System Model
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A Primary classroom wanted a replacement for their Solar System model which would be correctly sized for their young students to handle safely. Two sixth-graders met with the teachers to discuss their request and researched the planets’ relative sizes. They 3D-printed the spheres, name labels, and small stands and then carefully hand-painted each planet using reference images for colors and other features.

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