3D printing a map of the Wairau Valley

I have spent part of this year learning to create 3D prints of areas my students study.  My key focus so far has been creating a 3D model of our own region.  The reason for this is twofold.

1.  To work out how it is done
2. To provide us with a possible teaching/learning tool for Level 3 NCEA Geography

my first attempt was pretty rubbish.  My school laptop didn’t have the processing capacity for a very detailed model and I messed up the file when I moved it to the printer on a pen drive (I think).  The resulting map was messy and grainy.

But the model worked…….sort of

My most recent attempt this week was much better.  I used a computer with much more grunt to create the model and that meant more detail on the landforms.  Also I exaggerated the heights of the hilly areas on the digital model to make them more obvious on the model.  I also made it 3 times bigger.

I was much much happier with this one.  But will it help my students learn?