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From drafting boards and drawing tools to desktop CAD and 3D printing, the Design Lab is our space dedicated to expressing imagination through applied math and geometry. Finished products include architectural drawings, wearable art, geometric expansions, bridge truss designs, kitchen tools and all manner of coolness.
Current projects in the Design Lab:
PRELUDE TO BRIDGE OVER MY ICE CREAM SUNDAE
Students use West Point Bridge software to test designs.
Students select materials and place connections.
Red shows compression, blue shows tension.
December, 2024
Can you build an 8 foot bridge that will carry your team over a tray full of ice cream sundaes? 7th graders are taking on the challenge! West Point Bridge CAD software helps them visualize the forces of tension and compression in play as a live load crosses a bridge of their design, all while tracking materials and costs. The students use the software to generate rapid prototypes, allowing for immediate testing of both minor and major design changes.
Full scale experimentation set squarely in the center of the design lab, the bridge frame manipulative lets students test out a variety of truss designs and materials in real time. Tactile prototyping augments on screen design.
Next, O'Maley's 7th graders will begin construction of an 8 foot, wood truss bridge of their own design in The Birdseye Hammond Techroom.
Replacing wood with chains to determine forces at work.
Massachusetts STE Standards:
7.MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing solutions to a given design problem using a decision matrix to determine how well each meets the criteria and constraints of the problem. Use a model of each solution to evaluate how variations in one or more design features, including size, shape, weight, or cost, may affect the function or effectiveness of the solution.
7.MS-ETS1-4. Generate and analyze data from iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process to optimize the object, tool, or process for its intended purpose.
7.MS-ETS1-7(MA). Construct a prototype of a solution to a given design problem.*
7.MS-ETS3-4(MA). Show how the components of a structural system work together to serve a structural function. Provide examples of physical structures and relate their design to their intended use.
Clarification Statements:
• Examples of components of a structural system could include foundation, decking, wall, and roofing.
• Explanations of function should include identification of live vs. dead loads and forces of tension, torsion, compression, and shear.
• Examples of uses include carrying loads and forces across a span (such as a bridge), providing livable space (such as a house or office building), and providing specific environmental conditions (such as a greenhouse or cold storage).
All hands on deck to build a truss.
How does it feel to be a suspension bridge?
Can you identify the school represented in the tactile map?
Tactile maps
Tactile maps
November 2024
West Parish teacher Julie Kunzer reached out the Science Center with a request:
'We are learning about maps and I am trying to incorporate more tactile learning.'
Using Touch Mapper, we were able to print a map for her students using the 3d Printers in the Design Lab.
pasta sorters
pasta sorters
February, 2025
Life is full of pasta-bilities when you have a pasta sorter! Applying content from their classwork, 7th grade math classes designed and printed pasta serving size guides.
Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework
7G-B. Solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume.
4. Circles and measurement:
a. Know that a circle is a two-dimensional shape created by connecting all of the points equidistant from a fixed point called the center of the circle.
b. Understand and describe the relationships among the radius, diameter, and circumference of a circle.
c. Understand and describe the relationship among the radius, diameter, and area of a circle.
d. Know the formulas for the area and circumference of a circle and use them to solve problems.
e. Give an informal derivation of the relationship between the circumference and area of a circle.
6. Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume, and surface area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, cubes, and right prisms.
Engineering Design
Engineering Design
February, 2025
6th graders are in the design lab using isometric paper to draw 2 dimensional representations of 3 dimensional objects on the x,y,z coordinate plane. Using snap cubes, students build objects of increasing complexity. Turning and drawing the objects from different views helps build spatial visualization skills. By adding color, students separate the top, front and side views of the objects.
Spatial visualization is the study of 2 and 3 dimensional objects and the ability to mentally manipulate these objects. Spatial visualization skills are helpful in many subjects and fields including math, science, engineering, art and sports. How strong are your spatial visualization skills?
Spatial Visualization Quiz Answers
Massachusetts STE Standards:
6.MS-ETS1-5(MA). Create visual representations of solutions to a design problem. Accurately interpret and apply scale and proportion to visual representations.*
Clarification Statements:
• Examples of visual representations can include sketches, scaled drawings, and orthographic projections.
• Examples of scale can include ¼ʺ = 1ʹ0ʺ and 1 cm = 1 m.
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN (CAD)
A few of the promising designs in Tinkercad!
February, 2025
Tinkercad is a free, online modeling program students can use to design objects for 3d printing. O'Maley 6th graders are getting familiar with some of the functions of Tinkercad by designing name plates for printing. Their designs must hold together after printing, and fit a size envelope of 2,000-3,000 square millimeters.
After school print time. A special design for dad!
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