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Easy 3D Modeling Software
aspex Tabs
MST is an easy 3D modeling software for
drawing 3d shapes, printing out the NETS of the shapes and making 3d
paper models.
"We purchased a site license for Tabs for our middle school
and we LOVE it! Students and teachers alike have found it easy to use, intuitive
and accurate. Oh, it's really fun, too! Also, it fits in beautifully
with our computer curriculum as the 3D modeling component." aspex Tabs
MST is an easy 3D modeling software for
drawing 3d shapes, printing out the
NETS of the shapes and making 3d
paper models. Although the software was designed for older school children, elementary and primary schools have embraced the software with enthusiasm too! Tabs
MST educational software
meets a real need in the classroom and demonstrates to children how useful a computer is when it comes to
designing and manufacturing a product.
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3D Shape and Paper Modeler.
"What I like most about this software is the
ability for students of all ages to create, design, model and build
their ideas."
And it is great
fun for making paper models at home too! Tabs MST
educational software enables children to design and
manufacture models from 3D shapes
like a cube, a cone, prism, pyramid etc to make boxes and simple models like buildings
and space rockets. It gives children a hands on ‘design and make’
experience, a simplified taste of what is presently happening in the world
of industry and commerce.
Cultivating Skills
When a group of youngsters come together to plan a design
project, they form a team, co-operate, communicate and work with one another.
They may need to research information from the local environment, books, the
internet and other sources. In the design process they call on a variety of
skills: language skills, thinking skills, social skills, hand and eye
co-ordination, artistic skills, ICT skills and mathematical skills.
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| Schools can assist children to learn and practise all these skills from an early
age. Educational software like the ‘easy 3D modeling software' tabs MST
opens childrens eyes to computers can be used to design and
manufacture a product. Tabs MST enables children to design models using simple 3D shapes,
it gives them a hands on ‘design and make’ experience stimulating and growing
the skills they need to succeed throughout their working life. |
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Nets of Castle to print and build.
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3D Modeling
Tabs MST easy 3D modeling software is for children
to design 3D models on the computer. It
is popular in many upper primary and secondary schools because it makes
design into a fun activity as well as an educational one.
"…my pupils are making boxes for their projects at the moment. the
work looks good, the software is great."
Children design a 3D model on the computer and choose how to colour its
surfaces. Next they print the ‘NETS of the Shapes’, which print out with
tabs added. The tabs are there so you can fold and glue the net into a
3D paper model.
Having mastered the simple technique of designing and making 3D shapes
like cuboids, cones, and cylinders, children can start to combine them
together to make more complex 3D models.
This easy 3D modeling software puts real modeling power into the hands of the
child, giving the potential to make simple things like boxes for
packaging, and more complicated items like a house or a fun model like a
borg cube space ship, the
sky’s the limit!
The experience of designing 3D shapes on the computer and manufacturing a
model from paper is an easy way into discussing related issues like the
cost of manufacture, the kind of packaging which appeals to customers,
and green issues like minimizing the environmental impact of
manufacturing models.
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Castle made from Irregular Prisms. |
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“…my pupils are making boxes for their projects at the
moment.
The work looks good, the software is
great…..”
P.M. |
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3D Modeling Overview
The idea of tabs easy 3D modeling software is that you design a 3D model on the
computer screen using simple geometric shapes. The model can be viewed from any
angle or distance and tabs can ‘unfold’ it and print it as a modeling net ready
to be folded and assembled into a real-world paper model..
Tabs provides a number of simple geometric shapes, cuboid,
cylinder, cone prism, pyramid, sphere, wedge and frustum shapes to choose from.
Select the shape you want to draw in the ‘edit’ window with a click of the
mouse.
The shape is shown instantly as a 3D model. You can color
it, move it around, rotate it, view it from any angle and adjust its size and
shape.
The next stage is to actually build the shape you have drawn. First you position
the unfolded NET of the shapes, then print it, cut it out and construct a 3D
paper
model using scissors and glue. 3D Modeling in Education
Learning in the area of design and technology and math needs a practical basis;
investigating, evaluating, calculating, designing and doing. While children are familiar with wordprocessors, spreadsheets and databases, using tabs enables them to encounter
the computer as a 3D design and manufacturing tool as well. It is an easy 3D modeling
software
for primary and secondary school classrooms and is used widely in both Design
and Technology and Mathematics classes.
It is wise to start designing with something very simple. A first project could
consist of just two shapes, a cuboid and a wedge, to build a farmhouse. Another
idea might be to build a cuboid and a cylinder of similar dimensions and then
compare how much sand they will hold.
Tabs educational software fulfils various functions in the curriculum, and manufacturing the perfect 3D model is
not usually the main objective! Tabs was not designed for making very sophisticated
models, rather, it is an easy 3D modeling software which has proved to
be accessible to a large number of students.
Students have used this 3D modeling software in a space project to design a
rocket ship, a new box design for Bassetts confectionary, a model of the city
centre in Michigan, the empire states building, and many more, with all the
models being printed out as nets and then made into 3D paper models.
Becta, the british government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective
and innovative use of technology throughout learning, commented " The software
is perfect for use at Key 2, 3 and 4….. it addresses an important area for
teachers wishing to implement Net modelling into their curriculum." Tabs easy 3D modeling software allows pupils to model ideas quickly on the computer.
D. R. Thompson, a teacher at Hounsdown School, uses this educational
software in the classroom and reports.
"tabs 3D modeling software greatly assists in the teaching of 2D and 3D concepts. Younger pupils are
impressed by the software’s ability to view in 3D and generate Nets of the
shapes. We use tabs at KS3, year 8 & 9 (12 –15 year olds) and also with the GCSE
courses at key 4 product design". One of Mr Thompsons students made this
amazing 3D model of a car using the tabs
software.
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Cognitive and Practical SkillsTabs can help to integrate the use
of IT into a wider design or mathematics project. When children use tabs to make
a simple 3D design, the process employs and refines a broad range of cognitive
and practical skills such
as:
Reasoning Thinking about and discussing a design, arguing through problems, exercising oral skills.
Understanding and InterpretingInterpreting other people’s ideas, verbal or written, to establish potential
solutions.
Manual DexterityDrawing initial ideas and using tabs to experiment with them. Using the mouse
to manipulate 3D shapes on the computer, and making the design, which involves cutting, folding and glueing the chosen material.
Spatial AwarenessVisualising how shapes exist in 3D space in relation to the 2D plan view.
Young children are using tabs very successfully to make simple 3D models from
just one or two 3D shapes; such as
a church building or a tissue box. In the process they become familiar with cuboids and
wedges, they learn about Nets of the shapes and how 3D shapes look when flattened out, and
they see
how folded Nets can be used to make the 3D shape.
Children start to recognise these 3D shapes as being already present in everyday
objects, as for instance, a table is a series of cuboid shapes joined together.
One primary school is using tabs in a home design project. Secondary pupils
bring a greater level of understanding to tabs and produce accordingly more
sophisticated models.
Nets ModelingA design is built using simple geometric shapes which are ‘unfolded’ on the
computer screen and displayed as NETS. The NETS can be moved around on-screen by
the pupil and organised in the optimum way to prevent wastage of the paper or
card when the design is printed out for building.
Some schools use coloring pencils or paints to decorate the model and younger
students have produced some surprisingly innovative work with just a few simple
shapes.
Design SkillsTabs provides a medium to help pupils develop skills in designing and building. Children generate ideas for 3D designs, taking into account the end user and the
purpose of what they are designing. They think through and clarify these ideas,
develop criteria and discuss how they are going to set about achieving the final
product.
Math SkillsChildren are exposed to real math concepts in a practical way when they are
drawing and manipulating shapes to create 3D objects. Tabs easy 3D modeling
software develops
an understanding of geometry as pupils experiment with an manipulate 3D
shapes.
Some math features of tabs commonly exploited include: Using a grid to
help positioning 3D shapes, adding dimensions, rotating shapes to new angles in the x, y and z axis.
Comparing the perspective and orthographic views and analysing the
orthographic projection including both
the 1st angle and 3rd angle projection.
Tabs develops spatial concepts as pupils manipulate and move shapes and children improve their math vocabulary and concepts by recording and analysing
tabs models, they see how they fit together and how the development of the Nets
of the shapes form solid shapes.
Children arrange Nets by moving and rotating to best fit the paper to be
printed, they can investigate a simple shape by calculating its surface area,
volume, the length of its perimeter. They discover the number of sides, lines of
symmetry, corners, angles, etc.
Whatever the design and however simple or complicated it is, the student will
follow a similar design process, from the initial idea to the finished design.
Manufacturing the perfect model is not usually the objective; tabs easy 3D
modeling software was not
designed for making very sophisticated models, rather, it is a
simple, functional, educational software to provide a taste of how computers and IT are used
to design and make things in the commercial world.
Examples of designs made by the students in various schools include: Hubble
Telescope, Camera & Tripod, Saturn V Rocket, Can Crusher, Pen, Cup, City Scape,
Table & Chair, Razor, and many, many more.
This 3D modeling is fun! |
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“…my pupils are making boxes for
their projects at the moment. The work looks good, the software is
great…..”
P.M.
"It is inspired software which meets a real need in the
classroom."
A.W. |
