To enhance second-grade students' understanding of the Lenape Indians at The Brearley School in New York, examiner Luigi Cicala established the "Maker" project. For many years, second graders at The Brearley School have learned about Native Americans and Lenape culture in their social studies class with their homeroom teacher.
．The Origin of the Project
In this popular project, every autumn they visit the 4,400-acre Ward Pound Ridge Reservation and Museum. There, they see authentic huts, learn about indigenous tools, and imagine how they lived.
Guides boil water with rocks heated by a campfire, light fires with sticks and drills made from natural plant fibers, and demonstrate Neolithic tools such as axes and adzes, among others.
But the real challenge was how Native Americans created entertainment from their limited materials. Students made darts by tying feathers to dried corn husks, caught a football made of tanned leather, and tried to catch a polished antler toy by poking a stick through a hole in the middle (similar to a modern kendama).
Students quickly discovered that these "toys" actually served a special training purpose, allowing young people like them to acquire hunting-related skills: such as hand-eye coordination, muscle strength, and flexibility. Toys involving bows and arrows were particularly popular.
This "buzzer" toy featured a star-shaped piece of carved wood with two holes drilled in the middle. A string was passed through the holes, and the other end of the string was tied as a handle. When pulled, the wooden piece in the middle would wind up. This winding action created great tension in the string, which could be released by pulling the handles apart; the resistance generated by the spinning wood was significant, making students feel like they were pulling a bow, developing the skills and strength of the Native Americans who once lived there.
．How it works
Establishing the "Maker" project in the second-grade curriculum provides a more meaningful connection to this field trip. This year marks the first prototype testing of the "Lenape Cultural Artifacts" project, and we are delighted to share it with Ultimaker and 3D printing users here.
As a computer science art teacher (and parent), my goals include a lot of hands-on making—encouraging children to find viable methods using craft techniques and simple materials. I hope students have the courage to try, and enjoy the process of calculation, prototyping, and iteration. When they encounter difficulties in their studies in the future, this can help them find the connection between future science and engineering activities and practical problem-solving methods; these projects are all based on the development of art, design, and engineering.
．First Lesson
I brought some photos for each student to comment on; with plenty of toys and photos, it was easy to understand the materials Native Americans used to make these items and their purpose. We didn't have antlers, bones, shells, or wood to make spinners—but I had a way to make them without blueprints.
I showed how artists overlap multiple different simple shapes to draw complex shapes—so they could draw a hexagon first and then add triangles to make a hexagram, allowing students to create their own shape combinations. Students could copy these geometric shapes, cut them out on paper, and then glue them together to form thick paper stacks.
I could rotate the Ultimaker Original + on the screen and show the shapes printed by the 3D printer. The students made a connection between the shapes they created and 3D printing, and saw that we could use PLA—a common material around us—to replace parts made of wood or bone.
．Second Lesson
The computer teacher later met with the same group of students and taught them basic iPad skills and how to use Doodle3D; they drew shapes on the iPad that could be used as spinners and exported STL files. Within a few weeks, adults 3D printed these creations at the appropriate scale, eliminating the step of gluing components together.
．Third Lesson
Finally, I brought strings, small sticks, and each student's 3D printed "buzzer" to class; assembly was tricky. Students of this age already had many ways to quickly thread and tie knots around sticks, and they had to patiently adjust or repair their tools, but the students helped each other; their final reactions were mostly positive, keeping this project popular!
It's exciting to see the age range of those exposed to 3D printing getting younger, and we are delighted to see the education sector continuously expanding the latest technologies; if your project is underway but you don't have a 3D printer, you can refer to our website now, or we also provide high-quality printing services. All the latest news will be shared on our fan page, so stay tuned!
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Original Article Link: https://ultimaker.com/en/blog/52521-a-3d-printing-unit-inspired-by-toys-created-by-lenape-native-americans