Landform Library for Educators

Model Overview & Print Notes

Summary This project is intended to build up a library of landforms that can be used for teaching earth science. I'm using Terrain2STL by Thatcher Chamberlin. This easy to use app uses converts terrain from Google Maps into STL files. The files were then cleaned up and modified in Meshmixer and Tinkercad. Models are not all to the same scale. More attractive models can be printed by expanding the z-axis by 2X, if you don't mind the distortion. http://jthatch.com/terrain2stl/ Short Description of Models Glaciated Terrain Matterhorn - excellent example of a horn, in Swiss Alps U-Shaped Valley - shows glacial erosion, from Glacier National Park in Montana Garden Wall Arete - Glacier National Park in Montana Electric Peak cirque - Gallatin range in Montana Miscellaneous Uluru / Ayers Rock - sandstone landmark in Australia Sugar Loaf - granite mountain near Rio de Janiero, Brazil Denali - highest peak in US, formerly Mt. McKinley Table Mountain - plateau near Cape Town, South Africa Meteor Crater - also known as Barrington Crater, meteorite impact crater in Arizona Green River - nice example of meandering river and oxbow in Utah Marakei Atoll - coral atoll in Pacific Wake Island Atoll - coral atoll in Pacific Grand Teton - fault block mountain in Wyoming Volcanoes Mauna Kea - Hawaiian shield volcano Mauna Loa - Hawaiian shield volcano Mt. St. Helens - stratovalcano in Washington, erupted in 1980, post eruption recovery of ecosystem has been extensively studied Mayon - "perfect cone" stratovalcano in Philippines Mt. Fuji - stratovolcano, beloved symbol of Japan Mt. Etna - very active stratovolcano in Sicily Vesuvius - stratovolcano, buried Pompeii in AD 79 Paricutin - dormant cinder cone in Mexico, famous for rapid and well documented rise in a corn field in 1943 Mt Shasta - stratovolcano in Northern California Nevado del Ruiz - stratovolcano in Colombia Pinatubo - active stratovolcano in Philippines, massive eruption in 1991 Thera / Santorini - caldera in Mediterranean, remains of Thera eruption blamed for fall of Minoan civilization Tambora - active stratovolcano in Indonesia, massive eruption in 1815 blamed for causing "year without a summer." Arenal - active stratovolcano in Costa Rica Kilimanjaro - dormant stratovolcano in Tanzania Popocatepetl - active stratovolcano in Mexico Krakatoa - remains of massive 1883 eruption Pelee - active stratovolcano on island of Martinique, deadly eruption in 1902 Mt. Rainier - active stratovolcano in Washington, could bury Seattle in mud if it erupts Crater Lake - caldera lake in Oregon Montserrat - Caribbean island, home to Soufriere Hills volcano, subject of excellent crisis management lesson plan http://www.juicygeography.co.uk/montserrat.htm Cotopaxi - active stratovolcano in Ecuador Mount Merapi - active stratovolcano in Indonesia Diamond Head - Oahu, Hawaii Pitons - Saint Lucia, volcanic plugs (necks) Project: 3D Print Terrain Objective This project is intended to create 3D models of landforms for use in the earth science classroom. Models can be used as examples during instruction. They can also be used for assessment. For example show a student a landform and ask them to explain how it might have been formed. Audience This project was made for use in middle school (grades 6 - 8), but could be useful for all ages. Preparation This project uses the free web based app Terrain2STL and the free downloadable program Meshmixer. http://jthatch.com/terrain2stl/ http://www.meshmixer.com/ You can use Tinkercad instead of Meshmixer, but that requires a bit more work to get printable models. The method using Tinkercad is expained here http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1316498 Steps Choose a landform that you want to print. Terrain2STL can't print terrain at high northern and southern latitudes (Norway, for example). It also won't work well on small landforms (Devil's Tower, for example). You will get the best results with terrain with a lot of relief, such as mountains. Go to Terrain2STL http://jthatch.com/terrain2stl/ and find the landform. Switch to Satellite view to see the terrain. Terrain2STL doesn't have a search function so it might be helpful to have Google Maps open to help you find landmarks. Click on Center to View to open a red box that outlines the area that will be turned into a printable STL file. Use the Box Size slider to adjust the box size so that it will cover the entire piece of terrain you want to print. Click and drag the box into position covering the target terrain. Click on Create STL File and then Download to download the STL file of the terrain. The file name will be the latitude and longitude of the terrain. Open Meshmixer and import the STL file. Use Edit --> Make Solid to close up any holes and Edit --> Plane Cut to trim off extra parts around and under the landform Export the file as an STL file and load in your slicer software, such as Cura. Usually your landform will look better if you stretch the height (z-direction) by 1.5X or 2X. This can also reveal subtle details that would otherwise be missed. Results Completed models are included here.