Lesson: Creating Your Own Jewelry

Lesson Overview

  • Objective: Learning TinkerCAD basics — adding and subtracting shapes
  • Recommended grade level: 3rd-8th grade
  • Time to complete: < 1 hour for design, plus ~5-30 minutes per piece for printing (we advise doing this part overnight)

Materials needed

  • Laptop (or Chromebook) with internet access
  • 3D Printer (e.g. MakerBot Replicator)

Problem Statement

Create your own jewelry piece!

Design criteria:

  • No longer than four (4) inches on any side.
  • Flat on one face
  • (Optional) Hole for necklace to loop through

Example jewelry made by students

Suggestions for calibrating difficulty

  • To get started: Create a necklace using a basic TinkerCAD shape, a hole (use a cylinder), and text for your name
  • To add a little challenge: Personalize your necklace with a more complex 3D shape — just remember to have one face be flat!
  • To add a lot of challenge: Create a ring with text or images around the outside, or a bracelet with multiple pieces that can be joined by string.