3D Printing in Calculus Class

I’m looking forward to exploring 3D printing in Calculus class this year.  We don’t have a printer in our classroom (yet!), but some students have enough experience and access to work on modest projects outside of class.

Here’s a print of an interesting surface in xyz-coordinate space.

It’s always exciting to find a new way to represent or experience a mathematical idea, and physical representations can be especially powerful.

And perhaps more importantly, 3D printing gives students an opportunity to use mathematics to create.  Mathematics is a creative endeavor, and whatever helps promote this idea will ultimately help change attitudes about math.