POULSBO — One of the most unique ornaments this year is made by elementary school students using the same technology used to manufacture parts on the International Space Station.

Poulsbo Elementary School fifth-grade students are selling custom-designed 3D printed holiday ornaments for $10 each at the school to raise money for class materials and their end-of-the-year trip to Fort Flagler State Park.

It takes three rolls of filament to create 100 ornaments. Hundreds of intricate layers of filament are layered for each, taking nearly three hours to print four of them. The 2016 tree bobble featuring an orca whale is just one example of the various projects Poulsbo Elementary’s 3D printer can create — with a little imagination from students, that is.

Fifth-graders Maura Bascom, Kylie Craig, Mariah Parker and Alyssa Peaslee sold eight ornaments the morning of Dec. 5.

The Dremel Idea Builder 3D Printer, purchased in April with funds raised by last year’s ASB, provides a technological outlet for students’ creativity.

“When students watch their classroom pieces printed, it creates heightened engagement and opportunities to discuss new technologies and how they are changing our world,” technology specialist teacher Laura Kessler said.

It is an engaging enterprise, indeed. The school received the printer with only five weeks left in the 2015-16 school year; before school was out for summer, fifth-graders learned how to use “Tinkercad,” an online 3D design program, and printed a chess set.

“Some of the detail the kids came up with, I would have never thought of,” Kessler said as she held up a piece of a queen in a fluffed dress and a knight shaped like a horse. The set is available for students to use in the classroom or during recess.

“The community was very excited about the 3D printed chess set, so I printed a copy for the PTSA auction this Friday,” she said. “If grant money comes from the PTSA, the printer can be used to create items for fundraising as well.”

This year, Kessler created spinning tops for the kindergarten classes’ lessons on motion; designed a 10 frame for unifix cubes to demonstrate units of quantity and measurement; and created chains for the hopscotch board on the playground.

“I talked to our behavior teacher about printing keychains that can be used as prizes for Positive Behavior Intervention System assemblies,” she said. “I also hope to do some after school 3D print clubs.”

To engage girls in technology, Kessler has designed and printed 3D necklaces and hopes to offer an after-school 3D jewelry making program later this year.

“Students are so excited about this,” she said. “My goal is once they get to middle and high school, they have a strong foundation for the concepts to empower future engineers. I’m really trying to build the enthusiasm, confidence and creativity. They have the power to make anything inside their minds.”

Here are other ways to 3D printer is being used as an educational tool.

Second- and third-graders are learning how the 3D printer works and will write letters in MS Word explaining the printer’s capabilities and how it functions. “I am printing small squares with orcas on them to send in their letters and we will be mailing them through the USPS,” Kessler said. “We will discuss how technology has changed communication since the USPS began.”

Fourth-graders will complete a science project using the 3D printer. Fifth-graders will begin their project in January, researching an art piece for a PowerPoint or poster presentation, and will replicate part of the art piece using the 3D printer. Students will study Nathan Sawaya’s “The Art of Brick,” which Kessler hopes will inspire the students to use objects found at home to create a display for their poster and the 3D printed piece.

“The project will focus on translating a 2D object to 3D, while further understanding the purpose of art in society and the connection between art and technology,” she said. “I want them to leave here empowered to make, do, whatever they can dream up. I have high expectations for that.”

To purchase a Poulsbo Elementary School 2016 holiday ornament, visit the main office between 9 – 9:20 a.m.