Instructor Directions
Project Description | |
| Name of Project | 3D Printing The Bill of Rights |
| Subject Area | American History: Founding Principles, Civics and Economics |
| Targeted Standards | FP.C&G.2.3 - Evaluate the U.S. Constitution as a “living Constitution” in terms of how the words in the Constitution and Bill of Rights have been interpreted and applied throughout their existence (e.g., precedents, rule of law, Stare decisis, judicial review, supremacy, equal protections, “establishment clause,” symbolic speech, due process, right to privacy, etc.).FP.C&G.3.4 - Explain how individual rights are protected by varieties of law (e.g., Bill of Rights, Supreme Court decisions, constitutional law, criminal law, civil law, tort, administrative law, statutory law and international law, etc.). |
| Driving Question / Problem / Activator | How can students activate higher-order thinking skills and creatively engage with the Bill of Rights to create meaningful learning experiences? |
| Project Summary | Students will work individually or in pairs to design 3D-printed visual representations of one or more individual rights found in the Bill of Rights. |
| Estimated Time | 90 Minutes (Approximately 30 minutes planning, 60 minutes work time) |
| Materials / Resources (including link to slideshow if available) |
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| Tags | United States Constitution, Constitutional Rights, Individual Rights, Freedoms, Amendments, The Bill of Rights, Civics and Economics |
Project Outline | |
| Ask | How can students use higher-order thinking skills to visualize and then create symbols representing intangible individual rights found in the Bill of Rights? |
| Imagine | Imagine a symbol or icon representing each of the individual rights found in the Bill of Rights. (For one student-created example, see the Sample Picture below, which uses text and a magnifying glass shape to represent searches.) |
| Plan | Start by asking students to examine the text of the Bill of Rights (available online, at https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript ) and have students list the individual rights they find in the Bill of Rights.Assign each student or student pair one individual right, or allow students to choose. Feel free to customize, but here are examples of some individual rights you might consider:
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| Create | Show students how to access the TinkerCad online design software https://www.tinkercad.com/, and create a free account if needed. Guidance for using TinkerCad is available online, including on the TinkerCad website and at https://www.tinkercad.com/learn/designs .Provide each student or student pair with at least one internet-connected device. If student teams have more than one device available, they can share access to a project through TinkerCad.Before beginning work on TinkerCad, ask each student team to use a scrap sheet of paper to draw and agree upon a workable basic design for their 3D printing project. It is recommended that a teacher approve each plan as workable before students start work. Make sure the base of each project will be structurally sound.Allow students sufficient time to plan, design, and improve their 3-D printed symbols. |
| Improve | Feel free to adapt and customize this lesson. |
| Closure / Student Reflections | It may take several days for all 3D printed projects to print.Once all 3D projects are printed, allow each student group to present their work to the class. Discuss with students the individual rights and freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights, and how each group’s creative project relates to the right(s) it represents. This might be a good time to administer the Post-Test Evaluation (link below).Display all group projects in the classroom for the remainder of the class, as a visual reminder of the students’ learning. |
| Possible Modifications / Extensions | You might wish to narrow the scope of the lesson to focus on only a few key amendments, or broaden the scope of the lesson to include other rights found in the United States Constitution. |
Evaluation (Pre/Post)
Links to Google Forms
Pretest Link: https://forms.gle/ENp98nKZA3z5CL6n6
Post-test Link: https://forms.gle/ENp98nKZA3z5CL6n6
Credits
Thank you to Moore County Schools Digital Integration Facilitator Will Herring for sharing this project idea. Thank you to Digital Integration Facilitator Will Allred for assisting students with this project.
Additional Resources / Help for teaching this lesson
The National Archives, The Text of the Bill of Rights - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript
The National Archives, High-Resolution Image of the Original Bill of Rights - catalog.archives.gov/id/1408042
The National Archives, Modern Language Summary of the Bill of Rights - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights/what-does-it-say
Sample Picture
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