Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week – View and Print Museum Artifacts in 3D

It doesn’t replace the experience of being inside the museum, but The British Museum’s 3D objects collection and X 3D from Smithsonian gives students the chance to see some artifacts in more than a flat 2D view.

Smithsonian X 3D (SIx3D) offers a neat way for students to learn about artifacts from the Smithsonian museums. The site is the result of a collaboration between Autodesk and the Smithsonian Institution. More than 50 artifacts are currently featured on Smithsonian X 3D. The artifacts can be viewed as 3D models that you can virtually manipulate. Many of the artifacts have accompanying fact sheets through which you can learn about the artifact’s history and significance.

The British Museum collection on Sketchfab contains 216 3D models of artifacts in The British Museum’s collections. You can view these models in 3D in your web browser or in a virtual reality viewer. (To view the models in your browser your browser needs to support WebGL, you can test your browser here). If you have a 3D printer, you can print the models yourself by downloading the corresponding files from Sketchfab. You can also embed the models into a webpage.

Here are this week’s most popular posts from FreeTech4Teachers.com:
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4. A Virtual Amusement Park About Molecules
5. A TED-Ed Lesson on the Bill of Rights
6. View and Print in 3D More Than 200 Objects from The British Museum
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I’m offering three online professional development courses in August. Join me for a few hours in August and you’ll gain new skills and ideas to use in your classroom this fall.