kids
ISSUE 2 — TERM 3, 2020
technology 4 learning
THE
SCIENCE FICTIO FICTION N EDITION
kids
technology 4 learning WRITERS Ryan Noonan Jarrod Bourke EDITORIAL TEAM Mark Greentree Linda Lazenby Laurens Derks DESIGN & LAYOUT Rob McTaggart
For more information and teacher notes visit T4L.link/T4Lkids
T4L Kids is a magazine that is published by the T4L team at ITD for NSW Education. All rights are reserved.
Note
HEY THERE T4L KIDS!
Welcome to issue two of T4L kids!
Annoyatron for sharing their great games with us!
We hope you enjoyed issue one, and learnt skills on how to design your own game.
I hope you are excited to learn about 3D design in this issue. Don’t forget to share some of your creations with us!
Congratulations to Artarmon Public School who had a huge number of students enter their game designs. The T4L team had a great time playing them!
Mark Greentree Editor-in-chief PS. If you didn’t manage to read Issue one, find it here!
Read on in the magazine to find out who the two lucky students were that won an
JUST S JOKE Q: A:
EDITOR’S
Pun!
“Doctor, I keep seeing printers, scanners and webcams ou t of the corner of my eye!” “That’s just your peripheral vision .”
LoL!
What’s a 3D object’s favourite country? Cuba.
Manufa 3D PRINTE cturer files for bankruptcy R COM NOT TO PR PANY ASKS CLIENTS INT 3D PRIN TERS
Q: A:
HaHa!
your call having u o y o d t a Wh l? n speed dia Grandma o InstaGran.
Q: A:
Jokes!
Why couldn’t th e 3D printing te chnician control his exci tement? He was getting a head of himse lf.
ROFL!
Q: A:
ed when
puter tir Why was the com it went home? e”.
It had a “hard driv
LAST ISSUE’S VIDEO GAME SUBMISSIONS In our last issue, we put forward a game creation challenge. We received a whole bunch of great submissions and we really enjoyed playing your games. Congratulations to everyone that entered! The two entries we liked the most were from:
! g n o ew P
N
Maggie Guo who made a fantastic pong style game using MakeCode Arcade. She gave us a brilliant explanation of her code in her promotional video. Watch Maggie’s video Play the game
Dungeon Domain!
Andres Sarmiento who made a platform style game in MakeCode Arcade where the player needs to get to the treasure and avoid the chasing ghost. Play the game
Your prize Each winner will receive an Annoyatron! The Amazing Annoyatron is the fun way for you to learn about electronics and coding. It was created by Michael Nixon, from Wagga Wagga, when he was just 13 years of age! With more than 20 creations to build (and re-build!) you will love creating new projects and pranks while building your STEM skills.
N G I S DE
E G N E L L A CH
T4L Kids is challenging you to make a 3D object or 3D scene and share it with us! As with all great projects, this challenge has a theme for your creations. We would love to see 3D scenes that represent the theme ‘Science fiction in outer space’. Here are some ideas to get you thinking:
AUT
A CATSTRON
EL DESIGN
ROCKET MOD
What features would a space suit for a cat or some other animal need?
How might you design your own rocket?
YSTEM THE SOLAR S me of the Can you show so net in your features of a pla model? N MARS
MARTIANS O
TION A SPACE STA What things do humans need to live and survive in space?
ED YOU WILL NE
1
TO
EXPLORE Learn about some of the 3D design tools by watching the videos in this magazine.
If martians were out there, what would they look like? What 3D features make them different to a human?
2
CREATE
Create your 3D object or scene using one of the 3D design tools featured in this issue.
3
SHARE Share with your teacher and parents. Send a link of your 3D scene and storyline to stem.T4L @det.nsw.edu.au
We look forward to seeing what you create.
There is a prize for the best two entries!
SIX GREAT TOOLS TO DESIGN IN 3D
Paint 3D On the Microsoft Store Paint 3D makes it easy to unleash your creativity and bring your ideas to life. Make 2D masterpieces or 3D models that you can play with from all angles, splash paint and edit objects. This program is a free Windows based application that can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store. Platforms: Windows 10 Level: Beginner File types: 3MF, GLB, FBX
CoSpaces Edu cospaces.io/edu/ CoSpaces Edu is a website that allows you to create 3D or virtual reality games. You can create your games in the browser or on an app. Ask your parents to sign in with your Google account (@ education.nsw.gov.au) to use the free version or ask your teacher to sign up for the pro version on the stem.T4L learning library.
Platforms: browser on PC or Mac, app on iPad or Android Level: Beginner/Intermediate File types: Sharable link
SIX GREAT TOOLS TO DESIGN IN 3D
Blender
blender.org Blender is a Free, open source 3D creation software. It is a higher end software and can be used for not only modelling but also rigging, animation, rendering and video creation as well! Create 3D master pieces and if you have the desire to learn, then watch them come to life in front of your eyes. Platforms: PC (Windows or Linux) or Mac (macOS) Level: Advanced File types: STL, OBJ, DAE, FBX, GLB/GLTF
SketchUp Pro sketchup.com Google Sketchup Pro is a 3D modelling software that’s easy to use online or as a Standalone application. You can use it to ‘sketch’ or import models to assist with all kinds of projects such as furniture building, video game creation, 3D printing, interior design, and whatever else you can think of. Platforms: PC (Windows) or Mac (macOS) Level: Intermediate File types: STL, OBJ, DAE, FBX
Tinkercad tinkercad.com Tinkercad is a free, web based, easy-to-use app for 3D design. This is a great place to begin your 3D design journey as this is very user friendly and accessible on all devices. Platforms: Browser Level: Beginner/Intermediate File types: STL, OBJ
Minecraft Education education.minecraft.net Minecraft Education Edition is the more powerful version of Minecraft. It has added features that allow you to code the Minecraft universe! Use NPC’s, teleport blocks, Code Builder and redstone mechanics to turn your Minecraft creations into a whole new experience. You can download it from Microsoft. Platforms: PC (Windows 10), iOS or Mac Level: Beginner/Intermediate File types: GLB
n o i t a c u d E t f a Minecr 3D model tips Minecraft Education Edition can allow anybody to create amazing 3D designs, but it can be quite daunting staring at the world trying to imagine what to construct. Some of the students from McCallums Hill Public School, who took home first prize in the Western Sydney Airport Minecraft competition, have some quick tips to get you started designing your next masterpiece.
Joshua 1) Work in a team and your friends can help you with ideas. 2) Be creative with blocks - e.g. you can make chairs from stairs. 3) Use the fill command to build massive structures. 4) Use maps to easily navigate around your world. 5) Believe in yourself.
Ben
Alex
1) Draw blueprints before you build. 2) Always think outside the square. 3) Get feedback from your classmates to improve your design. 4) Flowers and trees are great finishing touches. 5) Always make sure to have fun!
1) There are no bad ideas. 2) Use your agent to help you build. 3) Use bonemeal to grow plants instantly. 4) Learn the command shortcuts. 5) Don’t forget to use decorations to make your design beautiful.
Need an extra challenge? Your challenge is to build your own Mars rover in Minecraft in preparation of the next giant leap, launching astronauts to Mars! What scientific questions would you ask to determine if Mars is safe for humans to land? What’s the weather like? Can you grow crops? Was there ever water on the surface? What data will you need to collect to answer these questions? Check out this great example of a Mars colony in Minecraft from one of our expert learning designers.
Find out more about the Minecraft Education Mars Rover challenge.
3D PRINTING
!! IT E S U – IT T IN R P – IT N IG S DE
D
id you know that your 3D designs can be 3D printed? If you have access to a 3D printer at school or at home, you’ll need to have your model ready in the right file type. 3D printers use the file type .STL and the good news is that most 3D design programs let you export your model as an .STL file. The next thing you would need to do is run your .STL file through a special slicing program (that comes with the printer). This will break your design into hundreds of printable layers for the 3D printer to print.
YOU CAN PRINT
ANYTHING!
Y
our 3D printer moves the print head (extruder) back and forth, left and right to print each layer one at a time. These layers stick together to form a solid object. You can print pretty much anything that will fit inside your print space! Everything from a new toy, a replacement part for a broken item at home, a nametag, a sign, a catapult, a large design in multiple pieces, a model plane, a planter box... Let your imagination run wild!
O
PRO TIP
ne thing to consider when designing your model is that you can’t print something in mid-air. You may need to consider which way you rotate your model for printing or add treelike supports to those floating areas. You can also add a raft or a brim to give your model some extra support.
If you want to learn more about 3D printing, take a look at the 3D printing kit page on the stem.T4L learning library. Ask your teacher to book a trial kit today.
We look forward to seeing what you can create!
Quick Tips
FOR 3D DESIGN
WORKING IN THE 3RD DIMENSION
T
o work in the 3rd Dimension, you need to step through the flat page and imagine what objects would look like from all directions. Lucky for us, we live in a world that is Three Dimensional! All you need to do is look at the objects around you and move around them to see what they look like in all directions. In fact, the best way to create 3D designs is to use the world around us as a reference. When working in 3D, it also helps to understand some of the Mathematics behind it. When we make a flat 2D image we need 2 dimensions; the x-axis (left and right) and the y-axis (up and down). With a 3D image we need to also work with the z-axis which is like the forward and backwards position, its depth. Be sure to check your software as sometimes different programs like to rotate the users camera which changes your perspective.
CONVERTING FILES
E
ach 3D design program opens and saves files in certain file types. Windows devices have a program called 3D Builder which can be used to convert your 3D models into any of several different file types. For example, Minecraft Education Edition exports 3D models as GLB files. This means that they have a certain way of encoding the 3D model’s data and the filename ends with the .glb extension. In most cases, you can avoid converting files altogether by saving or exporting the right file type based on what you want to do. If you want to showcase your model in your class portfolio, you might save it as a GLB or OBJ file. If you want to 3D print your model, you will want to save it as an STL file and it might need some more touching up in a 3D printing tool like FlashPrint or Cura. 3D Builder also allows you to do simple edits of 3D models, combine multiple models, add textures and more. You can download 3D Builder from the Microsoft Store.
SHARING YOUR DESIGNS With OneDrive
M
icrosoft OneDrive is the easiest way to share your 3D models with your friends and family. You can give them a link and with a single click they can view your creations in a web browser from any angle. You can find OneDrive by clicking on the Office 365 icon in your student portal or going to office.com and logging in with your school email. You can upload your 3D model file from your computer to the cloud (file storage on the internet) and view it yourself. When you’re ready to share your file with someone you know and trust, you can email them the link directly from OneDrive or copy the link to paste and send to them.
This model by Laurens Derks was built in Minecraft Education, exported using a structure block and shared with OneDrive.
SHOWCASE YOUR MODELS
I
WITH COSPACES
f you choose to build within CoSpaces Edu, you can showcase all your 3D designs in one place by creating a virtual exhibition. Here, your audience can walk around your 3D scenes as well as up to (and even into!) your 3D models that are on show around a room. Watch this tutorial video to learn how.
O I L O F T R O P D 3 S S A L YOUR C
S
harePoint Spaces is a tool for presenting different types of media from many different sources. They can be explored in a web browser or with a virtual reality headset. Your teacher can request a SharePoint Spaces site and then all of the students can put their 3D models from different tools into one single place (let them know to look up the teacher notes with the QR code on page 1). Here is an example SharePoint Space created by one of our learning designers for you to explore.