by Pat Hough, Technology Integration Director

During the 4th Grade Artifacts unit, students studied traditional Native American totem poles in their Digital Skills class. After looking at photos and videos of actual totem poles and discussing their meaning, each student made a sketch of a totem figure. The students worked in pairs and combined elements of each of their sketched totems to create a composite totem design. Working with their partners, they then created 3D models of their totems using a computer-aided design platform called Tinkercad. When the models were done, we printed each totem using ISB’s 3D printer, and then glued several together to create totem poles. The students were delighted to see the finished product!