Designing The Future: How To Teach STEAM With The New Jewelry Project

Modern education requires practical application. Combining STEM or STEAM principles with creative design helps students understand complex concepts through hands-on experience. The New Jewelry project offers a structured approach to this exact type of learning. By designing rings, bracelets and pendants, students explore industrial design while developing critical technical skills.

This step-by-step guide helps K-12 educators, homeschooling parents and STEAM enthusiasts facilitate a jewelry design project using SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids.

Materials And Software Needed

To complete this project, you need a few basic resources:

• A computer or tablet with internet access
• A free account on SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids
• A 3D printer (optional but recommended for physical models)
• A standard color printer for 2D renderings

Step-By-Step Instructions

This project guides students through the engineering process of building functional and aesthetically pleasing jewelry.

 

Phase One: Brainstorming With “Consider This”

Start by discussing how companies use industrial, commercial and fashion designers to create products. Ask students about famous jewelry pieces they know, the materials used to make them and what makes their shapes unique. You can prompt them with items from popular movies, championship rings or achievement medals. This preparation gives them a clear design mission before they open the software.

 

Phase Two: Modeling In Shape It

Students begin their engineering process in the Shape It app. This digital tool functions like modeling clay. It allows users to push, pull and stretch shapes into complex forms.

To start, students need to launch a blank workspace and build their jewelry using basic shapes like boxes, cones and cylinders.

  Phase Three: Decorating In Style It

Once students complete the physical structure of their jewelry, they move to the Style It app. Here, they apply colors, textures and details to their models. The app provides several tools for this process:

• Bucket: Fills entire shapes or individual patches with a solid color quickly.
• Paint: Allows students to apply specific colors directly onto shapes using different brush sizes.
• Stickers: Adds detailed elements to the shapes.
• Scene: Places the jewelry into a background environment. We recommend using the Store scene to show how the new jewelry might look in a department store.

 

Phase Four: Exporting In Print It

The final technical step involves the Print It app. For environments with access to 3D printers, students can export their designs as STL files for manufacturing. If you do not have a 3D printer, students can still export 2D images or specialized cube prints that they can fold into physical objects.

Tips For Success

Keep these practical troubleshooting tips in mind to help students get the most out of their design experience:

• Encourage patience: 3D modeling takes time and requires trial and error. Remind students that many new creations need changes over time. Evolving their initial idea makes the final product better.
• Build with simple grouped shapes: Instead of trying to mold one complex piece out of a single block, show students how to group smaller shapes together to form an overall design.
• Adjust scale before printing: The included jewelry models do not default to a specific physical size. If you plan to 3D print the items, ensure you adjust the scale in your 3D printing software so the ring or bracelet fits the student perfectly.

Start Creating Today

The New Jewelry project supports Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) by focusing on the design, test and refine learning cycle. Students act as real designers, solving problems while expressing their creativity.

We encourage you to try the app with your classroom or at home. Log in, start designing and share your students’ creations with our community. Visit [Insert URL] to begin shaping the future of design today.

Access the Full Lesson and More

This article offers just a glimpse of what the Living in Space lesson provides. The complete lesson plan – along with many other classroom-ready activities – is available through the SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids Classroom platform.

👉 Create a free Classroom account to access the full lesson, educator resources, and a growing library of activities designed to inspire young learners to create, invent, and shape their futures.

Because when students design something of their own, learning becomes personal and unforgettable.

To get started with your class, visit https://www.swappsforkids.com/educators/ and register for a free account.

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