Friday, November 25, 2016

Hangout with Mr. S

Learning About Microns with Mr. S (guest class blog)

This afternoon we connected with a parent expert in our class who works with machinery to produce metal works. As an mechanical engineer, he had lots of teach us about design and product production.

With our 3D printing project, we keep seeing the word "micron" and wondered what it's all about. Mr. S was in our classroom for conferences, noticed the word on the board, and mentioned that he could help us out. Very cool! Connecting with experts in the real world is so valuable for expanding our learning and making it more memorable.

What are Microns? 
Microns are a very fine unit of linear of measurement.
1 micron = millionth of a meter
1000 microns = 1mm
1 human hair =40-80 microns 

At his workplace, measurements have to be perfect to get exact results for parts and products for customers. For example, they have printed landing gear for aerospace designs!

Mr. S showed us the gauge they use to measure microns. Since it is measuring units so small, you need to be very careful when using it. 

He took us on a tour of the shop and showed us a metal Eiffel Tower being trimmed by the machine. It is about 0.5m tall.

It was very helpful for us to 'hangout' with Mr. S today and we are now connecting our learning about microns with our 3D printer. 

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