Introduction: Puzzle Molecular Modeling Kit

By
About: Incorporating Maker education in high school physics and science classes IG: ciencia_with_mo

Many students struggle with Chemistry because it starts as an abstract subject. Subatomic particles like electrons and protons are too small to see, yet they are fundamental to understanding the behavior of compounds and bulk materials. Once acclimated to the patterns in the Periodic Table, Chemistry is a lot like solving a straightforward puzzle. The Puzzle Molecular Modeling Kit serves as a bridge between theoretical knowledge and practical understanding, making the invisible aspects of chemistry—such as valence electrons, electron configuration, and ionic bonding—visible and tangible.

We presented our model at the North Carolina Science Teacher Conference on November 2nd, 2023.

Supplies

Select Materials of Your Choice

  • Colored Printer Paper (see Cricut Machine)
  • Laminated Printer Paper (see Cricut Machine)
  • 1/8th inch Baltic Birch Plywood (see Laser Cutter)
  • (available from MakerStop.com at $1.75 per board)
  • Corrugated Cardboard (see Laser Cutter)

For Cricut Machine

  • SVG Files for Cricut (/puzzle_molecular_modeling_kit/Cricut_SVG)
  • Colored A4 printer paper or Construction Paper
  • Cricut Machine
  • Laminating Sheets (optional)
  • Laminator (optional)

For Laser Cutting

  • Packed SVG files (/puzzle_molecular_model_kit/packed)
  • Puzzle Quantity Spreadsheet
  • Laser cutter
  • Clonedsvg.jsx (optional)
  • Fine-grit sandpaper (optional)
  • Non-oil-based Paints such as Acrylic (optional)

Corrugated cardboard and construction paper are also possible 2D materials. However, these materials are more flammable and require more active supervision. Proceed with caution depending on your laser cutter experience and your ventilation system.


Step 1: Cricut Machine

Requirements

This project requires having a Cricut Machine and Cricut Design Space installed for your operating system.

Start From File

  1. Download the SVG files of each puzzle (/puzzle_molecular_modeling_kit/Cricut/Cricut_SVG).
  2. Import SVG into Cricut Project
  3. Flatten the components
  4. Select Make It
  5. Project copies (make as many copies per sheet as you want)
  6. Print copies in the material of choice
  7. Select the material of choice for Cricut machine
  8. Load paper/laminated paper onto the machine.
  9. Remove puzzle pieces from sheet.
  10. Iterate steps for each puzzle type.

Step 2: Lasercut Puzzle Pieces

File & Material Preparation

  1. Download the provided SVG and PDF files, designed to maximize the number of puzzle pieces on a 12x12 inch board.*
  2. (Optional, Wood) Treat the plywood by sanding it with fine-grit sandpaper and painting it to your desired color.
  3. (Optional, Cardboard) Glue colored construction paper over cardboard to differentiate pieces. Wait

Lasercutting (Settings May Vary)

This project requires text engraving (low power, high frequency) and cutting out shapes (high power, low frequency). The following laser-cutting settings were for a 65-watt Voss (LS1420), your settings may vary depending on your laser and material.

  1. Exhibit Caution: Use a laser cutter only in a well-ventilated area and ensure active supervision when working with flammable materials like cardboard or paper. If painting or treating wood with paint, do not use oil-based paints as they are flammable.
  2. Prepare Files: Open your SVG or PDF file on your laser-cutting software of choice. In the following example, we used Lightburn and specified that red vectors were for cutting and black vectors were for engraving.
  3. Wood
  4. Engraved Text: Frequency of 4 inches per second, 20% power.
  5. Cut shapes: Frequency of 0.5 inches per second, 95% power.
  6. Estimated Time: 10 minutes per sheet.
  7. Corrugated Cardboard
  8. Cut Shapes: Frequency of 2.8 inches per second, 50% power.
  9. Engraved Text: Frequency of 4 inches per second, 10% power.
  10. Estimated Time: 8 minutes per sheet.


*to create a file of specific dimensions with packed puzzle pieces, refer to Step 3: Creating Packed Puzzle SVGs in the instructions.

† For 20 sheets of plywood, sanding added 30 minutes of labor, and painting added 2 hours of labor (by one individual).

Step 3: Lesson Plan

Step 4: Creating Packed Puzzle Files for Different Dimension Material (Optional)

To create an SVG file of packed puzzle pieces for a different size medium, you may do the following steps on Adobe Illustrator:

  1. Open the CloneSVG.jsx file in a text editor.
  2. Modify the artboard dimensions by changing the following lines:
  3. var artboardWidth = X * 72; // Change to your desired height in inches , note that there are 72 pixels per inch.
  4. var artboardHeight = Y * 72; // Change to your desired width in inches.
  5. Save the jsx file.
  6. Place the SVG file of a single puzzle piece in an artboard.
  7. Run the script in Adobe Illustrator via Scripts > Other Scripts > CloneSVG.jsx. The script will pack the puzzle pieces to fit your designated dimensions, then delete the original SVG.

*Note: Process one SVG puzzle piece at a time.