STEM Merit Badges

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STEM Merit Badges are the perfect way to recognize students' participation in STEM camps, workshops and demonstrations that spark their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers. 3D printed STEM merit badges make great takeaways and provide a tangible prompt for students to imagine themselves as scientists, engineers, programmers, designers and inventors. These STEM merit badges were awarded to hundreds of students in the summer of 2013 and are designed to match different grade level programs. Each team in a grade level program received badges printed in distinct colors. The hurricane badges went to students participating in the natural disasters program, while the fish badges went to those in the biological adaptations program. The rocket badge was awarded to students in the robotics/rockets program. To create these STEM merit badges, vector clipart images were opened in Inkscape and the STEM letters were rotated and sized over the image. The text was then converted into a path using the Path--Objects to Path command. The clipart and letters were combined using the Path--Union command. The file was saved as an SVG and imported into Tinkercad. The badges were printed on a Printbot in PLA with a 0.2mm layer height, making them durable and long-lasting.