MAB material (Base Ten Blocks)

The goal of this project is to visually aid children with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, while also helping teachers by making the material magnetic for easier, one handed handeling. 

This project does not teach modeling or printer skills, but rather shows the possibilities and opportunities of 3d printing to a very young audience. 

I teach second grade here in Belgium (age 7-8). At the beginning of the schoolyear, children can perform addition and subtraction to 20. In second grade we teach this up to 100, also with multiplication and addition. It is a crucial step in math education, and it's very important that the children learn the correct algorithm, visualization and steps. 

The units of ten and the “old” units of one show an arrow. When this arrow point at the board, the part will always snap together, no matter how. The “new” units of one shows an “X” on the bottom. 

A single unit of one contains:

• Eight 6mmx3mm magnets (the old “one” blocks contain just 5 6mmx3mm magnets)
• One 8mmx3mm magnet

A single unit of ten contains:

• Ten 6mmx3mm magnets
• Two 5mmx2mm magnets

A single sign of multiples of ten contains:

• One 5mmx2mm magnets

A full set with (with upgraded “one” blocks) consist of:

• 20 units of one blocks
• 10 units of ten blocks
• 10 signs with the multiples of ten

So, the total amount of magnets is:

• 260 6mmx3mm magnets
• 20 8mmx3mm magnets
• 30 5mmx2mm magnets

The difference between old and new “one blocks” is that the old ones have magnets on one axis, the new ones on two axis. They are exactly the same size and compatible with each other. 

I know this is quite the BOM. However, the ease and comfort of using this set as a teacher is beyond any other I've ever tried. Everything keeps together nice and tidy because of the magnets, and the material can be used one handed, with or without a schoolboard. 

After the initial build, these blocks can be used in all math lessons throughout the schoolyear. 

Please consult the following Wikipedia article and your own teaching manual:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_ten_block

If you would like source files or modify these part for any size magnets, here is the build in TinkerCAD:

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/6Y0pOiZORWZ-mab-materiaal