Meeting Abstract
Engaging the public and successfully articulating complex ideas about our scientific research are essential for promoting public awareness and support of science. The growing popularity of 3D-printers and CT- scanning have opened new avenues for engaging the public with biodiversity research. Large-scale digitization efforts of museum specimens such as oVert are making 3D models of real specimens widely available via online platforms such as MorphoSource. These models, especially those of skeletons, easily lend themselves to creative outreach opportunities, such as puzzle making. Puzzles are easy to approach, provide hands-on experience, and can demonstrate complex problems in an engaging way. Here we present our process for developing 3D skeletal puzzles from the specimens available at the Florida Museum of Natural History. We explore a selection of specimens, reconstruction practices using VG Studio Max 3.2, printer types, plastic types, coloring, and attachment mechanisms. These newly created puzzles were created for the purpose of presenting easily identifiable homologous structures to the public in hands-on learning activities. Puzzles can be made more complex or simple depending on the learning objectives and the audience. Educators, students, and the general public can freely download these 3D files for printing at home or in the classroom.
