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Nets of 3D Shapes
aspex Tabs is an easy 3D modeling software to make NETS of
3D Shapes.
NETS of 3D Shapes are
what you get when you take 3D shapes like a cube, a cone or a prism, then
unfold the shape and flatten it out. The flattened shape, or NET, can then be
copied, folded and glued to
make the original 3D shape. NETS of Shapes would be almost impossible to make into a physical 3D
model, so tabs are added to the faces of each net to help stick them
together. Hence the name 'aspex Tabs', the MST stands for Math, Science
and Technology. |
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In aspex
Tabs MST the NETS of 3D Shapes can
be displayed and then printed out to make 3D paper models. NETS can be
rotated and moved to better fit the paper and different NET
permutations can be displayed for shapes like the Tetrahedron, Hexahedron,
Octahedron and Cuboid shapes.
All the shape nets
can be printed onto paper or
card, cut, folded and glued to make 3D paper models. A
Saturn V rocket can be made from cylinder shapes for example, or a new package for after dinner mints
could be made from cuboid shapes.
Here are a couple of examples of the Nets of shapes available in aspex Tabs. |
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3D Shape NetsAll the nets in
Tabs can be rotated, scaled, duplicated and moved around to best fit the
paper. Here are some examples of the 3D Shape NETS you can make in Tabs. |
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Cuboid Net |
...another Cuboid Net |
more Cuboid Nets can be generated. |
Regular Prism Net |
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Irregular Prism Net |
Cone Net |
Frustum of Cone Net |
Cylinder Net |
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Frustum of Pyramid Net |
Pyramid Net |
Wedge Net |
Solid of Rotation Net |
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Sphere Net |
Icosahedron Net |
Dodecahedron Net |
Octahedron Net
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More Octahedron Nets |
Tetrahedron Net |
Tetrahedron Net |
Transition Piece Net |
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Once the class has learned how to draw a cube with tabs,
the design process can be advanced by displaying the NET or
‘development’. The NET of the cube will appear and you can move it into
position, rotate it and place it using the mouse. Drawing the 3D
shape, viewing and rotating it and then displaying its NET completes the
BASIC cycle which applies to all shapes.
One can then move on to making more complicated models by combining 3D
shapes together to form new shapes. Take this 3D model of a church, the model
was made by drawing, manipulating
and combining a cube, a square based pyramid, and a pentagonal prism, to
look like the church. The faces of all the 3D shapes in the model were
then rendered with images imported in to the software.
The Nets of the shapes in the
model, cube net, prism net and pyramid net were printed out
individually, then cut, folded and glued to produce the real 3D model.
Tabs is really good at this, it is an excellent educational software to
have in the school kitbag for bringing easy 3D modeling to all the kids
in the classroom! |
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"Today their task was to design a Rocket
System using 3 shapes, a cylinder, funnel and a cone."
"It was fun, the students were all successful, and not one
rocket looked like another!"
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