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Star Shades

Lampshades that project stars onto walls and ceilings have been around for a while, but they have seen a huge spike in popularity with the arrival of mainstream 3D printing. By carefully placing star shaped voids within a lampshade, you can design your own constellations or recreate the night sky in your bedroom! In this lesson, students will research the life cycle of stars and the origin of the 88 modern constellations before designing their own star shade that casts their chosen constellation onto a wall or ceiling.

Subjects: Design and TechnologyComputingArt and DesignMathematicsPhysics
Years | Grades: 9th Grade | 13-14 years10th Grade | 14-15 years11th Grade | 15-16 years
Duration: Lesson 1: 90 minutes Print Time: 10 to 12 hours

Objectives

Know the life cycle of a main sequence star
Design and measure with precision
Demonstrate how to align objects
Employ tolerances and offsets
Understand and demonstrate an awareness of how light travel and interacts with objects
Design a lampshade that projects a constellation

Tools and equipment

Lamp/Ceiling rose with E27 fitting (E26 for US / E14 for EU small format)
A traditional or small globe style bulb to fit the lamp fitting
Strong torch/flashlight and a dark room
Sample printed demo plate and star shade
Oven glove or similar
Internet-enabled computer and TinkerCAD®
Paper pad and pencil
Printed lesson resources

Skill requirements

To participate in the lesson, students should be able to:

Use TinkerCAD, Fusion 360 or similar CAD software at an intermediate level
Be comfortable using DeeControl software including adjusting print settings
Use the BE3D eDee 3D printer

3D models overview

Total print time 24 hours 15 minutes
Total filament 44.1 m
Additional non-printable components
Printed all at once

GENERIC SHADE

17 hours
40 m

CONNECTOR BARS

1 hour 15 minutes
1.1 m

E27 RING

1 hour 15 minutes
2 m

Note: Values are calculated for one set of models.

Lesson resources

Lesson plan
Example Star Shade and demo plate
Worksheet
Walkthrough
Presentation
3D models
3D print instructions
Curriculum alignment

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