Make a Bowling Alley
Students combine 2D technical drawing with 3D modelling and 3D printing to create a bowling alley - available to subscribers of The PrintLab Classroom
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In this 3 part lesson, students will design and 3D print their own bowling alley! By watching a teacher presentation, they will become familiar with the rules of bowling and the calculations required to score games. Students will go on to learn about scale and ratios in a student workbook, before creating a scale drawing of a bowling lane. Finally, they will design and 3D print a marble ramp and bowling pins to be used in a class bowling tournament!
Subject Areas
The lesson can be incorporated into the study of maths, physics, art and design, design technology and computing. The material can be adapted for ages 9-15. The curriculum is aligned to NGSS, CCSS and UK National Curriculum standards. A comprehensive list of standards met is included in the lesson platform.


In this project students will:
develop a mathematical understanding of how to score bowling games
interpret numerical data to create a scale drawing of a bowling alley
use 3D modelling software to design a marble ramp
use 3D printing to manufacture a marble ramp
analyse and test the performance of their marble ramp and suggest improvements to the design
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