At M3D we believe that additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is going to revolutionize the way things are made. We want to be at the forefront of making the Star Trek Replicator a real thing. To that end, our educational material is all about teaching students how 3D printing works in the life cycle of taking an idea and making it a reality. We believe 3D printing is the shop class of 2020 and as such will grow students' passion for education.

Our lesson plans are broken down by grade level and by subject, focusing on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). We believe every subject area can benefit from having 3D printers in the classroom. 3D printers add a visual and tactile component to lessons which helps enrich the learning experience. For example, printing out gears and designing a gear train allows engineering students to better understand CAD, gear boxes, and drive trains while math students can use the same gears to calculate gear ratios and torque changes. These students get to watch the parts as they are printing, touch the parts as they assemble them, and validate their equations by interacting with the running gear box. All the while gaining knowledge about technology that is transforming the way things are made across the world.

Our lesson plans were designed for the classroom, to be completed by students working in small groups of 2-5 students. Each group would have a printer, a laptop with a USB and access to an outlet. We feel that this approach allows each student to get the most our of each lesson.

Lastly, our lesson plans are building up to something. The advanced area of the lesson plan section is a complete encyclopedia of 3D printing knowledge that can be used to augment the K-12 lesson plans or be assembled into a college level course on ideation, design, and how 3D printing fits into the future of manufacturing.