Kids Blaze New Trails in 3D Modeling at our Oak View Club
Do I need special glasses to read a word document? You might think that when the word 3D modeling and printing comes to mind. However, for those unfamiliar, this is the latest trend and advancement in the digital priting sphere. Where before, you could print only up to 2D scale, like a word document, imagine creating full 3D objects. In other words, visualize producing a plastic dining set from your printer or recreating what a femur bone looks like in full scale. Of course, you would have to have a 3D printer to do it, but you get the idea?
Pretty cool right? Our kids thought so too. In an effort to learn about this more fully, Oak View Boys & Girls Club partnered with the Ventura County Library to run a month long 3D printing and coding club. The project consisted of twenty 4th and 5th grade students, for a total of four weeks.
At first many of the kids were skeptical on how hard it would be to put 3D modeling into practice. Yet after a couple weeks, the modeling was more or less routine and the program, according to many of the kids became much easier to manage. The kids enjoyed being able to design their own 3D models and add personal touches to whistles they made, including smiley faces. More importantly, the project itself stoked many of the kids curiosity into how 3D modeling could be applied to other fields like gaming. So many unanswered questions yet to be discovered, but it was a great way to introduce our kids to technology that might one day benefit them in an ever-changing digital age.
