I told my students I would bring my KNK 3D printer, the Klic-N-Print 3D, in at the end of the semester so that they could each have a scaled 3D model of their term projects. To introduce the concept, and as a team building exercise, I created these penny mortars (launchers). I gave them the pieces (and some extras just for laughs – cackle, cackle) in a brown bag without instructions. They competed for “1st team done assembling” and “longest penny pitch”. It was quite a bit of fun!

In a few weeks, I will have built penny catapults with several more pieces for the teams. They’ll have to walk through the same steps and we’ll see how much better they are at teamwork by then.

I downloaded the shared file, converted it, saved it to my memory card, and printed it on the KNP3D five times. Simple as can be! This is the test model. For the students I printed the penny mortar in black, red, blue, green, and bright green. There are many more colors to choose from. There is even glow-in-the-dark filament and I have a few halloween designs I’ll be trying out soon….I’m having too much fun!

The material (PLA) is made from corn and is biodegradable. It makes it easy to use indoors, and makes it environmentally friendly. I just love the KNP3D!