Self-Watering Planter

pinshape

This is a two-part self-watering planter, each piece measuring 50 mm tall and 100 mm wide. Together, they form a 100 mm cube. The bottom part is filled with water, while the top piece uses cotton strings to draw water from the bottom piece into the soil of the top piece. This project aims to teach students about how plants grow. More Planters: Bird House Planter Self-Watering Planter 2 Self-Watering Planter 3 Voronoi Planter Find me on: How I Designed This I used Autodesk Fusion 360 as my design software. I designed the bottom piece first, drawing a 100 mm square and extruding it 50 mm. I then shelled it 5 mm inwards. Next, I made a sketch at the top and extruded it to make a rim. I added a new component and made a 50 mm tall square on top of the last piece. I extruded a square inside the piece and used a circular pattern sketch to create the holes. Finally, I used a Voronoi sketch generator plugin to create the voronoi patterning on the bottom piece. Custom Section Project: Self-Watering Voronoi Planter Overview: The objective of this project is to introduce students to botany and hydroponics. Students will also learn about capillary action. This project is intended for elementary and middle school students in a science or biology class, but anyone can participate. No prior knowledge or skill is required. Lesson: After printing the self-watering planter, demonstrate how it works. Tie cotton strings to the holes in the top piece, ensuring they reach the bottom of the planter. Wet the strings and fill the bottom piece halfway. Fill the top piece with soil, plant seeds, and water the soil. Capillary action in the string will replenish the soil with water. Place the planters by the window sill and let the seeds germinate while teaching students about germination and photosynthesis. The type of plant seeds to use is up to you. Duration: The lab duration is as long as it takes for the seeds to germinate and grow, plus the time it takes to print the planter. It will take a few weeks but requires minimal work. Rubric and Assessment: How students are graded is up to the instructor. I recommend grading them on the health of their plant plus a quiz on what they were taught.