Students Use Technology to Bring Classroom Studies to Life

St. Mark’s Campus fifth-grade students recently brought their studies on Native American culture to life thanks to virtual reality (VR) and 3D printing. After learning about long houses, tepees, and pueblo homes built by Cherokee and other tribes, they utilized VR goggles to explore around and inside dwellings. David Sandlin, Innovation Instructor, facilitated discussion by asking students what they thought the dwellings were made of, and if materials indicated hot vs cold climate and nomadic vs permanent settlements.

After this activity, students were divided into groups for a Jigsaw learning project. Groups were assigned different chapters from their social studies text and were tasked with using computers to develop realistic three-dimensional prototypes for dwellings from their assigned section. Complete renderings created in Tinkercad were synched with a 3D printer to bring models to life in a tangible form. 

“It is fascinating to watch how this cross-curriculum effort adds to students’ excitement about what they are learning,” said Katie Perkins, Fifth Grade Instructor. “Instead of simply reading a textbook, they can explore and bring what they see in VR to fruition.”