Students love to create cool things that they can show off to others. They enjoy when they have direct control over what they learn and when it involves creating tangible products that engage them and allow them to compete with their friends. Sketchup is very much like that. You might compare it to the "cardboard box," scissors, crayon, and glue of your childhood that allowed you to unleash the full potential of your imagination. Even better, with the vast community of Sketchup users, plugins, and tutorial material. Students really are learning a professional-grade 3D modelling tool that will allow them to visualize, create, and problem solve in any content area or job. Imagine how enaged students would be if you allowed them to create their owned themed automobile ( examples: Zombie Death Machine, Ultimate Food Truck, End Of The World Ark On Wheels, etc.). You might even consider pairing this activity with other content areas by designing a building or object out of a story your are reading or from a famous historical event. Even science and math standards can be addresed as students build to scale and proportion and if they incorporate sketchy physics plugins which apply physical laws to the model. The screencast above walks students through how to create a simple automobile in Sketchup.