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TURTLE SANDBOX
Lesson for beginners • Time to complete: 45-90 mins
Lesson Plan :
Build 3D shapes, add materials,
and (most important!), have fun
while creating a Turtle Sandbox
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5 Intro to SketchUp for Schools
page
outline
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, students will learn how to use the following SketchUp tools:
At the completion of this lesson, students should feel comfortable with the following on their own:
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Using SketchUp for Schools’ navigation tools to move around the model
Drawing circles and cylinders
Adding color and texture with SketchUp’s material library
pan
orbit
zoom
select
eraser
push/pull
circle
paint
offset
move
views
scale
K-12 Standards
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ISTE | Standards for Educators
Learner
Facilitator
Common Core Standards
Geometry
>> Reason with shapes and their attributes
Measurement & Data
>> Describe and compare measurable attributes
Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning.
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Educators facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students.
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Intro to SketchUp for Schools
5 minutes
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Saving Files
Getting Access
Before we get started, let’s go through some of the basics together.
1 Go to https://edu.sketchup.com/app
2 Sign in with the Google or Microsoft email address provided by your school.
Note: If you have trouble logging in, check with your administrator that your school or district has installed SketchUp for Schools (Instructions for Google & Microsoft Admins)
Before you build your first model, go to your Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive and create a new folder.
Give your folder a name.
Whenever you start a new model, it’s a good idea to save your file first. Click on the folder icon on the top left, then click ‘Save As.’
Give your model a name, then press ‘OK.’
Next, you’ll be asked to save your model to a folder in your Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive. Click on the folder you just created, then click ‘Select.’
If you’ve done everything correctly, you’ll see your file name in the top left corner along with a ‘Saved’ message.
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PRO TIP #1
Save often!
If you get into the habit of saving your work, you’ll be less likely to lose any progress if class ends and you close your laptop.
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The Scale Figure
Every time you open a new model in SketchUp for Schools, you will see Temple Grandin's scale figure. Temple’s job is to give us a sense of the size of the objects we draw in our model.
For example, Temple is 5’9”. If we draw a 3 foot cube next to her, the cube will be about half her height.
Drawing a Cube
Let’s test it: let’s draw a 3 foot cube next to Temple.
Select the rectangle tool from the menu on the left.
Click once on the ground near Temple’s feet to set one corner of your cube.
Without clicking again, move your mouse anywhere on the screen, then type
“ 3’, 3’ ”, then hit ‘enter’.
Select the push/pull tool from the menu on the left.
Click once on the face you just drew. Without clicking again, move your mouse to make your cube 3D.
Type “ 3’ ”, then hit ‘enter’ to complete your cube.
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B
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Click
here
3’
3’
Click this face
3’
3’
3’
Rectangle tool
Push/Pull tool
PRO TIP # 2
Unless otherwise specified, a click in SketchUp is executed as “click and release.”
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Navigation Tools
One of the most important things to learn in 3D modeling is how to move around in your model window. Click the orbit tool from the menu on the left to expand all the navigation tools.
The Zoom Window tool allows you to select an area of your model to view closer. Click on the Zoom Window tool, then left click-hold-drag your mouse to highlight an area of your model.
The Zoom Extents tool allows you to see all the geometry in your model.
Click on the Zoom Extents tool and everything in your model will come into view.
The Pan tool allows you to move your model across your screen.
Click on the Pan tool, then left click-hold-drag your mouse from side to side in the model window.
Mouse shortcut: hold down the scroll wheel, then hold down the shift key at the same time. Move your mouse in any direction to pan.
pan
The Orbit tool allows you to rotate around your model.
Click on the Orbit tool, then left click-hold-drag your mouse from side to side in the model window.
Mouse shortcut: hold down the scroll wheel to activate the Orbit tool, then move your mouse in any direction to orbit.
orbit
The Zoom tool allows you to look closer at the details in your model.
Click on the Zoom tool, then left click-hold-drag your mouse up and down in the model window.
Mouse shortcut: use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out.
zoom
zoom window
zoom extents
PRO TIP #3
We recommend using a mouse with a scroll wheel when modeling in SketchUp. Using a trackpad is totally possible, but not as fun.
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The Instructor Panel
Open the ‘Instructor’ from the SketchUp panels for help with understanding how to use any of SketchUp’s tools.
The way it works: click on a tool with the instructor panel open and you will see a description of the tool and a step-by-step guide on how to use it.
Line tool
Instructor
That’s it for the intro.
You’re ready to get started on modeling!
step-by-step tutorial:
Turtle Sandbox
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You’re logged in at edu.sketchup.com/app with the Google account provided by your school.
You’ve setup at least one folder in Google Drive for your SketchUp models
You are super excited about making your first Turtle Sandbox!
pre-flight checklist
Here’s a breakdown of the steps required to complete this lesson plan:
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Draw the Turtle’s body
First things first: save your file!
Now we can start drawing your turtle sandbox! Click the rectangle tool from the menu on the left to expand all the drawing tools. Then, select the circle tool.
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Circle
tool
�Rectangle tool
Bring your mouse to the point where the red, blue, and green lines meet. Each line is called an axis, and the point at which they meet is called the origin.
B
Click once on the origin, then move your mouse along the green axis to start your circle. Click again on the green axis to complete your circle.
C
�first click here
�then click here
Uh Oh!
Did you mess up?
No worries! Just click the undo button on the bottom left of your screen to go back. Command/control +z works, too.
undo
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Add legs and a head
Click on the ‘Views’ panel on the right, then select the top view.
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Views
�Top view
Select the circle tool
Click once at the very top of your circle. Drag your mouse along the edge of the circle until you reach the next endpoint (you will see the word “Endpoint” once you hover over it), then click again to complete your circle.
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Repeat step B at the right, bottom, and left sides of your big circle.
Your turtle now has four legs.
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�first click here
�then click here
For the head, find an endpoint on the edge of the big circle (the body) that is right in the middle of two smaller circles (the legs), then click once. To complete the head, click again on the edge of one of the smaller circles.
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legs
head
�first click here
�then click here
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Click the push/pull tool from the menu on the left to expand all the tools in the flyout. Then, select the offset tool.
Offset
tool
�Push/Pull tool
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Create the outline for the sandbox walls
Select the eraser tool from the menu on the left.
Click once on a line to delete it. You want to delete all of the lines from the smaller circles (the legs) that are inside the biggest circle (the body).
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Zoom in and erase all the lines inside the head as well.
Tip: check out this page for info on how to zoom.
B
C
Move your mouse anywhere inside the turtle’s body, then click once to start the offset. Click again to set the offset.
Tip: In this step, you are setting the thickness of your sandbox walls. Make sure your offset lines aren’t too far (super-thick walls) or too close (super-thin walls) to the original lines.
Don’t forget about the undo tool if you need to try again!
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�first click anywhere inside the body
�then click to set the wall thickness
erase these
lines, too
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First, orbit to a 3D view
Then, click the offset tool from the menu on the left to expand all the tools in the flyout. Select the push/pull tool.
Tip: check out this page for more info on orbiting.
Push/Pull
tool
�Offset tool
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Go from 2D to 3D
Select the eraser tool from the menu on the left.
We are going to make our sandbox walls 3-Dimensional! First, let’s erase the lines inside the turtle’s legs (highlighted in red in the image).
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B
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Click anywhere on the sandbox walls to make your model 3D. Click again to set the height of your sandbox walls.
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�Click on this surface
To match the height of the head with the height of the walls, click once on the head, then click again on the top of the sandbox walls.
first click
here
then click here
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The materials panel will automatically open on the right side and a few default colors will appear. Click the magnifying glass to browse the material library, then click on ‘Colors’. Search for your favorite color for your turtle sandbox and click on it.
Paint tool
Browse
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Add colors
Select the paint tool from the menu on the left.
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B
Click on all the faces that you want colored.
Tip: make sure to orbit around your model to get the faces on the back and bottom, too. Check out this page for more info on orbiting.
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Go back to the materials library and look for the category ‘Landscaping, Fencing and Vegetation’. Select a material for your sand, then click on the surface inside your turtle’s belly.
This looks like sand
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Type “SketchUp for Schools beachball” in the search window. Click on the beach ball created by SketchUp, then click inside your sandbox to place the beachball.
Components
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Explore the 3D Warehouse
Now that your sandbox is complete, let’s jazz it up with some fun models from SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse.
First, click the ‘Components’ panel on the right.
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B
If the beachball is too big for your sandbox, click the move tool from the menu on the left to expand all the tools in the flyout. Then, select the scale tool.
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Select the beach ball, then click on one of the corner grips to scale it. Click again to set the size of your beachball.
Scale tool
click here to scale
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Make your turtle sandbox your own by adding colors and more models from SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse!
That’s it, you’re done! Have fun with your new SketchUp skills and look out for more tutorials from SketchUp.