Chess Anyone?

Ninth graders in Ms. Laura Green’s Design and Drawing for Production class at North Shore High School learned not only how to play chess but how to create their own chess set pieces! The ninth graders included: Athanasios Alafogiannis, Jackson Bachner, Sabrina Bordonaro, Liam Brady, Nicholas DiStefano, Garret J. Gates, Johnny Giertl, Daniel Lenney, Michael Malhotra, Laura Peck, Justin B. Rosen, Thomas Sebetic, Michael Temidis, and Gus Vasilakis. Ms. Green said, “I wanted to challenge my students with a lesson that pushes their creativity and problem-solving skills. I came up with the task to design and 3D print a chess piece and include items commonly found in a hardware store.”

The students in her class were placed in teams of two. They began to build/create their chess set utilizing a bin of bolts, nuts, washers and other fasteners. But, that’s not all! After the students created their chess sets, students in Ms. Green’s class had to do the following procedures:

1. Each person had to create ONE new part that was 3D printed for each of the chess pieces.
* Example: create a new part for the pawn that’s NOT a part in the bin.

2. The students also had to complete hand drawings that included the following:
Front view of the entire chess pieces on graphic paper
Front view transferred to velum paper
Front view of the new 3D printed part with dimensions

In addition, Ms. Green’s students worked on Computer Drawings of the chess pieces that consisted of:
1. .ipt (part files)
2. .iam (assembly files)
3. .ipn (presentation file)
4. .idw (computer drawing file) with dimensions
5. .idw of entire project = plus balloons and part list etc.

Upon completion, the students needed to create a chess move checkmate video simulation of their pieces on the computer using an .IPN presentation file.
Ms. Green concluded by saying, “Within the project is a foundation of expertise that my students will continue to build on, including a variety of CAD features skills, as well as operating a 3D printer to bring their designs to life.”

High School Principal, Eric Contreras said, this work is impressive.

“The students engaged in an activity that integrates design engineering, 3D printing, and creative play and strategy. The multimodal process and product in this learning activity mirrors the college and workspace environments that student will encounter in years to come.”

During the last week of May 2021, the ninth graders were able to engage in the exciting game of chess, one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide in homes, parks, clubs, online, and in tournaments. Congratulations to all of Ms. Green’s students on completing this educational and fun lesson! Checkmate!