4th Grade Parade Floats
Our local high school is going to put on a parade this summer, so the fourth graders at Trevvett Elementary have been tasked with designing the float for their school. They asked me to help them develop prototypes, and then they would vote on the best one to actually build. I decided to show them Tinkercad because they could create 3-D models of their float ideas and print them on the 3-D printer. First, we discussed parades and floats they had seen before. What made a float memorable? How do you think they were constructed? I showed them this slideshow with sample floats for inspiration. The theme for our school’s float is “Creativity,” one of the HLP categories we have been focusing on this year. How do these sample floats showcase creativity in their materials and design? Next, we went to Tinkercad and I explained how to use the tools, modify the 3-D shapes, and make holes and text. They have been learning about solid geometric figures in Math (SOL4.11), so we identified the various shapes as we used them. After the students designed their floats, they took screenshots of them, and shared them in a Schoology gallery. You can see some of their designs here.