This project served as a sort of master's thesis for my work within the Master's of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program at Michigan State University. What originally started as disappointment in having two years worth of in-person experience with the Overseas Summer Cohort cancelled due to COVID ended up becoming a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend my summer living in Galway, Ireland and collaborating with all sorts of different educations to create something new that fused multiple sets of expertise.
For this project, I worked closely with the NUIG Makerspace, the NUIG Zoology and Marine Biology Museum, the Galway Atlantaquaria, and my instructors and classmates within the MAET program. With the support and insight of all of those diverse groups, I was able to develop a set of (free!) 3D printing materials that, when assembled, can be used for a variety of hands-on lessons on fish anatomy and adaptations. Feel free to use, remix, and create with these resources! If you have any questions or if you use the lessons and would be willing to tell me about it, please contact me! |
Watch It!
See a demonstration of how this project works! This resource has been kid-tested and approved.
Build It!
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Click the download button to download my 3D printing files on Thingiverse!
Click the gears to access assembly instructions!
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Teach It!
All resources for this activity are free and open for teachers to remix and innovate from (with attribution). Use these resources as a jumping-off point and create the fish of your dreams!
Anatomy Guide
This document contains a guide to all of the different anatomical pieces in the 3D printed set, complete with their implications for adaptations and some examples of fish that have each feature.
This guide can be used in conjunction with any lesson to help students interpret the models that they are using. |
Activity Guide
This activity guide contains 5 different activities that can be taught using this 3D printed set. These activities include:
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Read It!
First, I met with the education staff of the Galway Atlantaquaria to assess their needs and to brainstorm ideas for activities we could develop together. We settled upon trying to scan and 3D print different fish jaws for use in public education.
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Then, I met with professionals within the NUIG Makerspace and the NUIG Zoology and Marine Biology museum to determine what resources I would have at my disposal to create my activity.
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I spent a good week or so trying various photogrammetry methods on some shark jaws. I learned a lot of photogrammetry skills, but determined the project would need a new direction
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After running into trouble with photogrammetry, I pivoted my project and designed set of 3D printed fish that have mix-and-match body parts.
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Now that my design was finished, I spent some time reflecting, lesson developing, and photographing some cool fish.
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