I’m taking 40 students to Fiji. Some say I’m crazy. Some say I’m the luckiest person in the world. I’ll go with the latter. Part of our program will include coral restoration projects and snorkelling. Students will potentially use video and images of marine life for projects we are doing including plant studies and dichotomous keys.

I decided to bring a GoPro on the trip, but I struggled to find a way to have it usefully attached during snorkelling. After much consideration I realized that someone else must have had this same problem – no company is making a snorkel mask adapter yet.

On thingiverse.com I found this snorkel adapter for the GoPro.  After 3D printing it, I shared pictures of it with my students and as it turns out three of them are bringing GoPro cameras as well and so I printed a few extras.

In school, I believe the purpose and benefit of having a 3D printer is for the design and critical thinking aspect. Students can design, innovate and adapt current designs based on their knowledge of something. This printing of  GoPro mounts required none of that. We simply printed someone else’s design. However, it sure is going to help my students learn biology in Fiji. So, while it may not be the ultimate goal, it sure is a great side effect of having a 3D printer at your disposal. Simply print off parts as needed.