Making a New Box - Metric System gone Maker

6th Grade Science finds a new way to teach the Metric System - Make it!

3D pens used to make metric unit boxes  

Students didn't get to just break out the metric ruler to review the metric system this year.  They got to make their own 3D models of the metric system!  

Using 3D pens students were given a task:  Build models of cubic measurement up to a cubic decimeter, based from a single centimeter measurement.  Go!

Say what?

Students were performing a variety of metric activities and had a little bit of review of the metric prefixes, but not much more than that.  They could use reference materials to look things up and what it really came down to was they had to work as a team to build 3-dimensional models of metric units.

They had to figure out how the 3D polymer pen worked, best ways to make lines, how to make a standing structure, how to make a standing structure that would actually stand on its own and more! It was amazing to watch the problem solving, teamwork and ultimately, the learning!

This made learning the metric system tactile, visual and meaningful!

Kudos to Danny Sommer, Ben Morgensen and Kathy Peng, 6th Grade science teachers at the Harker School, for taking learning to a new level!