Comstock Park — Fourth-grader Molly Wiers carefully goes back and forth with the pen, following the lines of a paper template with the goal of building a pair of glasses, not out of paper but out of plastic.
That’s because the pen Molly is using is not a standard ink pen, but a 3D one that uses plastic filaments to create objects. It is similar to the material used in 3D printers but at much less cost to the school.
“3D printers can be expensive but I know students want to try 3D printing,” said Pine Island STEM teacher Olivia Bender. “The goal is not only to give students a chance to try 3D printing, but also to learn about other technology that they have never been able to get their hands on before.
“It also puts the ‘a’ of art into science, technology, engineering, art and math.”
Bender said she applied for a grant from Comstock Park Public Schools to purchase 12 of the pens, called 3Doodler Flow Pens, at around $47 each. Bender said the goal was to get enough for a whole classroom to be able to use them.
Before the holidays, the price dropped by $10 so Bender was able to purchase the pens and extra filament packages.
The 3D Learning Curve
The 3D pen works similar to a glue gun, where you insert the filament into the back of the pen. A heating element in the pen warms the filament so that it comes out as liquid through the nozzle when a student presses the trigger.
“I like how it just comes out easy,” Molly said as she worked on her glasses. “It is way easier than a hot-glue gun.”
The plastic filament cooled quickly, enabling Molly to touch it a few seconds after it came out of the pen.
Bender said learning how to use the 3D pens has been tougher than she thought. So as she builds her own skill with them, she decided that instead of having a class project with the pens, she would give individual students the chance to purchase time to use them through the Pine Island school store.
The 3D pen opportunity has been popular with the students. Fourth-grader Cristal Avila was there when Bender first got the pens and has come back a couple of times to experiment with them. She too was working on making glasses, testing out how she could change colors.
Cristal likes the pens because they are not hot while she is using them and that you can make a lot of different things with them.
“I thought it would be a lot of fun to make something that you could try on and play with,” Cristal said.
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