Use 3D Printing in Your Class

A post shared by Thomas Hammerlund (@thomashammerlund) on Feb 8, 2017 at 4:49pm PST

While a story is a good way to hook students onto a topic, sometimes you need a little more. Sometimes, it helps to see where the hip bone connects to the thigh bone, or where exactly the iron rod pierced a man's skull.

One day our IB Psychology Teacher came to me with a request to print the above skull for her class. They were studying Phineas Gage and thought it would give students a better idea of the accident and show them exactly what occurred. 

As the model shows, it was a horrific accident, but Phineas survived:

"

Phineas P. Gage (1823 – May 21, 1860) was an American railroad construction foreman remembered for his improbable survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, and for that injury's reported effects on his personality and behavior over the remaining twelve years of his life‍—‌effects sufficiently profound (for a time at least) that friends saw him as "no longer Gage." Wikipedia

We are very privileged to have a 3D printer available on campus that can be used to create models or other visuals for your class too. Please see me if you would like a model made for your class.