Denver Discovery students watch the school’s 3D printer in action.

In a collaboration between their science and math classes, sixth- and seventh-graders from Denver Discovery designed hurricane-resistant buildings and compost bins and presented their models at the school’s annual expo nights in mid-November.

To design each of these projects, the math and science classes collaborated. For example, to design compost bins, the seventh-graders studied ecosystems and abiotic organisms in science. In math, they studied proportions and scaling to create the blueprints in an online software program. They then printed their designs on the school’s new 3D printer.

The winning compost bin design

Attendees at the seventh-graders’ event voted on the best compost bin design, which will be made into a real compost bin for the school’s garden. Meredith Rigsby had the winning design. Her pentagon-shaped bin will be made of recycled plastic and re-purposed wood with two mesh sides so the compost will easily come out when it is finished. The bin will also have a sliding door to easily put green and brown matter inside. The underside of the bin has a tray to collect the finished compost.

“The kids were all super passionate about it. We were really surprised to see how many of them incorporated school spirit with the DDS logo. It was cool to see us raise the bar and them rise above it,” says math teacher, Abby White.

Some groups focused mainly on functionality. “Our design has rotators inside to mix the compost,” one group said. Others focused on aesthetic appeal, like a turtle-shaped bin made by a group that loves turtles. “Except for me,” added one member of the group, “I woke up one day and said turtles aren’t that great.”

[do action=”fp-lightbox”]Click here to view more photos of the expo night.[/do] (Photos submitted by Kristen Atwood, principal DDS.)