Teacher’s Questions for ‘Print’ almost anything

Science

Before reading:

1. How is sculpting in clay and marble similar to adding and subtracting, respectively?
2. If you owned a bakery, would it be cheaper and easier to bake many loaves of bread early each morning, or to bake a single loaf each time a customer placed an order throughout the day? Explain your answer.

During reading:

1. Briefly explain how three-dimensional printers create solid objects.
2. What sorts of “inks” do 3-D printers use?
3. How old is the personal computer industry?
4. What role can a 3-D scanner play in copying solid objects?
5. Why is 3-D printing being called the “next Industrial Revolution?”
6. What is additive manufacturing?
7. Why does 3-D printing build up objects layer by layer?
8. Explain sintering.
9. How does Ibrahim Ozbolat keep his cell “inks” alive during printing?
10. List some of the uses for 3-D printing in exploring space.

After reading:

1. Sculpting a loaf of bread from clay… creating a drip castle on the beach… can you think of another analogy for 3-D printing?
2. What would be some of the advantages of using 3-D printing to manufacture clothes?
3. Name some objects you probably cannot make using a 3-D printer.
4. If you had your own 3-D printer, what are some things you would like to make?

Social Studies

1. Should people be able to make whatever they want at home using 3-D printing technology? Why or why not?
2. Beginning in the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing moved out of homes and small workshops and into factories. Goods could now be mass manufactured. Some think 3-D printing could reverse that trend. Provide some examples of objects it would make sense to make in small numbers at home, as opposed to in large numbers at a factory.