Newly licensed from OSAPAC is:

• Tabs Plus 3

Remember the old Tabs+? Well, this version has been updated with all kinds of new functionality as images and documents are developed in three dimensions.

Above and beyond the regular licensing while includes teacher takehome, this software also has student borrowing rights.

OSAPAC Announces TABS+ Upgrade
BY ROSS ISENEGGER
Ross_Isenegger@osapac.org

Each year, the Ministry of Education negotiates upgrades to some of the software licensed for publicly funded schools. In fact, on the OSAPAC survey (see www.osapac.org) there is a place for educators to indicate which upgrades would be most important to them. The most recent upgrade is to TABS+.

What does TABS+ do? TABS+ allows students to design 3D models and then build them out of concrete materials. A search of curriculum expectations related to TABS+ at www.osapac.org yields expectations from the grades 4 through 8 Mathematics document. Teachers of Science and Technology will also be interested the program, as it will give students an early experience with CAD, without all of the difficulty associated with learning industry-standard packages.

TABS+ allows for the construction of standard 3D shapes easily, as well as some interesting specialpurpose shapes, such as gears. As shapes are created, students see both a 2D view and a 3D view, which can be easily manipulated to see the construction from any angle. Right-click on a shape and its dimensions can be viewed or edited. In addition its volume and the details of its calculation are available. Once the computer drawing is created, a 2D net can be printed and used to create the physical model. Observing the relationships between the various representations of the object will increase a student’s spatial sense.

Student Projects
We have all seen student projects involving the creation of scale models in projects addressing topics from Pioneers to Bridge Building. TABS+ can be used to make this kind of project even more successful. Students can think more intentionally about the scale desired, design the models with TABS+, print the nets, construct the solid and decorate it and finally assemble all of the solids and other parts of their project together. The Knowledge Tree website (http://www.knowledgetree.ca/products/
design_and_technology_and_geometry/tabs_3d_modeling_and_making/) has links to some samples. To find the model of the Mississauga Civic Centre, follow the link to Screenshots, Set 2. There are also samples posted by Vincent Massey P.S. in Ottawa at http://www.ocdsb.edu.on.ca/vmasweb/tabs.htm. Teachers familiar with the earlier ministry-licensed version of TABS+, will notice vast improvements in the shapes available, in the methods to display those shapes, in the ability to manipulate them and in the ability to be much more intentional about their measurements.

Breaking New Ground
Teacher take-home rights have been a standard with ministry-licensed software recently, but the license for this new version of TABS+ allows for student take-home rights. Students can be given a CD to install at home and then will be able to complete both regular and enrichment work there. In summary, TABS+ is an easy-to-use design program, which can be an integral part of students’ modeling projects. Students can even take it home to do their work.

Article reprinted with permission of the author and the original appears on the OSAPAC website.

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