R stands for 3D printed bath toys

Imagine having a four year old decide your college course grade. Michigan Tech students experienced that kind of critique today when they made 3D printed bath toys.

This week Mrs. Jarvis' four-year-old preschool class had the opportunity to learn about the letter R. R stands for rain, which means the students had a lesson on the water system.

"The book I read them today was about why things float and it was based on the work of Archimedes. But it was just a fun book of how ‘is it going to float or is it going to sink’?" said Karen Jarvis, Teacher and Co-Director at Michigan Tech Preschool.

To help teach the lesson, first year Michigan Tech engineering students made 3D printed bath toys.

"We thought it would be a great tie into what we were doing to see if they would float or sink,” explained Jarvis.

Now, it wasn't just fun and games at Michigan Tech Preschool today, what the class didn't know is they were deciding someone's grade.

"Our criteria for design was they had to float and they had to be self-righting, and they had to have an ascetic appeal to preschoolers- that would be judged by a panel of experts,” said Michigan Tech Senior Lecturer, Michelle Jarvie – Eggart.

Students decided their favorite then created a bar graph to determine the best bath toy.

When asking the students the best part about the bath toys, one four-year-old had this to say:

“They float.”