Rob Morrill is a Innovation Lab teacher who was invited by Tinkercad this summer to write regular blog posts about projects he has done with students. You can read more about Rob's experience and expertise in his introductory post. One way to keep track of the projects he adds is to visit this page, which is a "roundup" of all of the posts he has published so far. You can also visit Rob's website. I've been wanting to try a lithophane project, and now I'm even more inspired after seeing his instructions and examples.

In case you've missed it, Tinkercad is one of my absolute favorite entry-level design programs (and it's free!) that I discovered when our school got its first 3d printer. It keeps improving, and you can move from simple designs to really complex ones to accommodate all abilities. Here is a post I did at the end of last year about Tinkercad Design Slams. It's also one of my recommended online tools to help students develop their spatial reasoning. You can integrate so many parts of your curriculum (especially math) into Tinkercad projects, as well as develop creativity and that Design Thinking mindset. Even if you don't have a 3d printer (see my post on questions to consider if you are thinking of acquiring one), students love to show off their Tinkercad designs virtually, and they can be exported into other programs. For more ideas on using Tinkercad with Design Thinking, see this post on the City X book.

By the way, Tinkercad has a teacher dashboard that you can use, where you can add classes, students, and assignments. And, did I mention it's free?!!! Don't worry if you haven't used it before. They've got you covered with their tutorials, and your students will help each other out. (Mine invariably discovered something I didn't know about the program every time they used it.)

Thanks to Rob for sharing his innovative ideas!

Image by metalurgiamontemar0 from Pixabay