Using Animations to Apply Knowledge

Creating animations is a great way for students to apply their knowledge and demonstrate understanding. It also allows students to develop problem solving and decision making skills while being creative and having fun.  I have included a few links to sites to give ideas and a table to show how animations can be used across subject areas.


I Create to Educate

Great student sample I particularly like to animated diagram of the heart.


Sam Animation


Klutz: great ideas for stop motion animation


Animate Clay


RollerMache


Animation for education

Using Animations Across Subject Areas

English

• Demonstrate knowledge of the genre and audience

• Create a Book trailer as an alternative to a book report

• Interpret myths and legends

• Interpret a poem or nursery rhyme through animation

• Create a persuasive animation by focusing on environmental issues

• Bring characters from a novel or play to life by adding them to an animation

• Write a story and adapt to an animation

• Using foam letters to spell words

• Using magnetic words to create sentences

• Use new vocabulary words in context

• Create an advertisement

Maths

• Demonstrate understanding of fractions and percentages

• Display number equations

• Create shapes

• Demonstrate understanding of percentages

• Demonstrate understanding of time

• Create animated graphs

• Use lego blocks for counting

Science

• Demonstrate phases of the moon

• Life Cycles

• Solids, liquids and gases

• Forms of energy

• create a sun safe animation

• Growth of a plant

• Circulatory system

• Digestive system

• Demonstrate a volcanic eruption or earthquake

• Time-lapse video of plant growing, weather changing and melting

• Show understanding of laws of physics

• Show the position and movement of planets in our solar system

• Demonstrate understanding of magnets

SOSE

• Indigenous dreamtime stories

• Re-enact events in history

• Environmental sustainability

• Travel around a map

• Natural Disasters

• Languages Stroke order of script writing

• Characters speaking in the target language

• Create an animation depicting a culture

Art

• Demonstrate colour theory

• Bring an art work to life

• Demonstrate understanding of the elements and principle of design

• Document the creation of an artwork from beginning to end

• Create animation exploring art movements e.g. Surrealism

Music

• Create music tracks for animations

• Demonstrate how to write music

• Demonstrate music theory

Home Economics

• Demonstrate procedures and safety

• Create the illusion that a meal made itself by taking images during the preparing and cooking process.

• Nutrition

The Changing World - Show World

There are many sites now which convert data into visual forms. This site called SHOW world displays a range of data in a visual form using the map of the world. Instead of land mass, the size of each country will represent the data for that subject. This can be the stimulus for class discussions or research activities.


Categories include:

People: Demographics, Causes of Death, Education, Health, Religion

Planet: Animal Resources, Crop Resources, Energy, Environment, Metals and Minerals, Natural Disasters

Business: Economy, Global Brands, Industry, Technology, Transport

Politics: Government, Law and Order, Migration, War & Conflict, Aid

Living: Food & Dining, Travel, Sports, Media

http://show.mappingworlds.com/world/

Travel Back in Time with Interactive Timelines

One of the things I like about the internet, is it allows resources to become interactive. There are many interactive timelines which are available now, which provide an engaging way to look at history. Teachers can use them on Interactive whiteboards and they can cater for a range of subject areas. Students can explore on their own, find information for a research task or search for items similar to a scavenger hunt.


Conflict History

One in particular is called Conflict History. This site provides a timeline of the conflicts around the world throughout history. The site also provides a map of the world linking the countries involved in the conflict. There is information provided on each conflict provided by Wikipedia. This is a great resource for History and Geography. The scary thing is to see how many conflicts are documented in the 2000s.

British Library Interactive Timeline

Here is another great interactive timeline which can be used across many subject areas such as Ancient and Modern History, English, Science, Art and Music. The site is called the British Library interactive timeline. It allows you to explore collection items chronologically, from medieval times to the present day.


It includes a diverse range of resources divided into the following categories:

• Politics, power and rebellion
• Literature, Music and Entertainment
• Everyday
• Sacred texts
• Medicine, Science and Technology

Once you have chosen the category and the item you can explore further by viewing the image, video or transcript. You can print or download the information as a pdf file.

Here are a few Interactive timelines more worth looking at:



British History

NASA Historical Timeline

Sea Monsters a Prehistoric Adventure

Benjamin Franklin’s Interactive Timeline

Timeline of Google

Australian Screen interactive Timeline

Warhol Interactive Timeline

This site gives information about Andy Warhol and the major events in the world during the 1920s – 1960s.

Interactive Timelines for Art History

Smart History

Art History

Timeline of European Painters

Jimmi Rocks, Under the Sea Adventures

I have been busy finding a collection of Virtual World Games.  There are many to choose from and there are now games which are designed specifically for kids and have educational components.

Here is one I found interesting it is called Jimmi Rocks, Under the Sea Adventures.

 http://www.jimirock.com/

This site focuses on the Underwater theme and allows students to navigate and explore within a virtual world.  Students can learn facts about sea animals, create art, play games, communicate with others and earn points to decorate their own underwater world. 

Parents or teachers register and they then have the option to :

* Accept and Request Buddies

* Limit time on Games

* Set Safe or Open Chat

* Monitor Child's Activities

There is a free option which can be upgraded to a paid mebership.

 

This site provides opportunities to develop literacy skills, creativity, decision making and to develop knowledge about sea creatures and the world in which they live.

There are different places to visit and in each place is a book which you can read and are given options to select to continue the story.

This is the list of activities students can engage in.

Choose and design an underwater character.

Learn about Sea Creatures.

Paint a Sea Scape

Learn about sea creatures a Sea School

Visit Dive Sites

Answer a quiz about the dive sites

Write a message to be sent in a bottle.

This site would be great for primary school students and possibly lower secondary.  It is excellent if you are working with underwater themes.  It addresses subject areas such as science, art and SOSE.

Learn about Habitats with Zoo Tycoon

Zoo Tycoon

The other day, I asked my daughter what she was doing at school and she said she was learning about different habitats.  She asked me questions about different animals and where they live.  During the holidays we had played  Zoo Tycoon 2 together, so I used aspects of the game to explain different environments in which animals live.  It then occurred to me how great this game would be for learning about habitats.


Zoo Tycoon is a PC game and has many different versions such as African Adventure, Extinct Animals, Marine Mania and Endangered Species.  Within the game you can select animals and then create the correct environment for them including food and shelter. The game allows a bird’s eye view and a ground view. You can also take photos to put into an album.  The graphics are very realistic.

It is a Tycoon game so other aspects of the zoo are important such as facilities, maintenance and profit.  This game can be used as stimulus for many different activities such as art, science, sose, it also includes elements to develop literacy and numeracy skills, and most of all it is fun to play!

Choose a location on the globe to build your Zoo.

Select the type of environment and the relevant animals appear.

Biome Modification

Alter the environment to suit the animal using the Biome brush.  It will create the correct environmet for the animals.  You can then select the correct food and shelter.

Get close up views of animals and take photos.

Information is given on each animal.

http://zootycoon.com/Products/default.htm

Zoopedia

Read about different animals.

My Culture Quest

My Culture Quest is a fun, interactive site which explores different cultures and countries. You choose a character and then start travelling the world visiting museums and galleries. Each place visited offers information about an artwork or cultural item. Students need to read the information and then answer a multiple choice question correctly in order to collect the item and create their own exhibition.

Once in the game, a world map is provided with highlighted points. Click on the point to travel to the destination. Your character will travel via air balloon.

You are given 12 days to collect as many items as you can. You probably won’t get all the items in this time allowing students to play the game several times without being bored as they explore new places.

One drawback however, there is no point to visit in Australia!

This site provides a great way for students to learn about art, history, countries, cultures, religion and maps. It also encourages the development of comprehension and reading skills. The site allows you to download flash cards with quiz questions to help students remember the information. These cards could also be used for further activities.

Students could do the following activities:
· find the countries using google maps
· find famous landmarks from the country
· research the flag
· write a travel journal of their journeys and document the items they collect.
· make a passport documenting places of their travels
· research countries visited
· research art items and art techniques mentioned.
· make a quiz or board game based on collecting items as you answer questions correctly.

Epals

http://www.epals.com/

Epals is a great website which allows you to make connections with classrooms around the world. It is a free service where you can create accounts for teachers and students. It is managed by teachers and administrators. All interactions are policy managed by school districts and teachers, including emails, blogs, and forums, and can be monitored and filtered according to any standard.

What I like about it is that students' emails go to the teacher first for approval which makes it possible to filter and monitor communications. The site offers many different projects including a schoolblog.

Students are motivated to write emails as their desire to communicate is increased. Their literacy skills are improved as they plan and edit their emails before they send them. The use of proper sentences and no abbreviations are emphasised.

The site offers collaborative projects you can particpate in your you can liaise with a teacher of a class and create your own project or simply use it as a form of communication.

By connecting with a class in another country, many other activities can follow such as looking at Google Maps and finding the school. Looking at the culture and language of the other country.

Shidonni

Shidonni is a great site which I have been using at home and in the classroom. It is fun, engaging and allows students to be creative. The site provides online drawing tools for the participant to create their own animated characters, the world in which they live and the food they eat. These drawing tools are increased as the student participates in games and complete challenges.

It also allows students to send pictures and messages to friends they have added, send a character around the world and create an online book using their own characters they have created.

The site offers a free option and a Shidonni Pro option. The free option does have limits. Students can create up to three worlds.

I ask students to produce a Screencast of their world which they can save and share with others. A Sreencast is a video capture of the desktop. This also allows me to assess their work. The site I have been using for this is Screen-o-matic. It is easy to use and does not require download or installation.

There are many applications for Shidonni in the classroom. The site also provides resources for teachers. I have outlined a few suggestions for using Shidonni in the classroom.

WORLDS:

Their Own World

Students design a world which is about them. It could be set in their favourite place, or looking at their house. It can include drawings of themselves, family members, friends and pets. Students can fill the fridge up with their favourite food. The teacher could create a world for students from the class. Students can send a picture of themselves to the teacher creating a world with all the students represented. Students could also share pictures of themselves to each other in the class. This is a great task for the beginning of the school year to get to know your students.

Subjects: Art, SOSE.

Countries

Students can design a world based on a country. You may be working on a country or culture in class or allow students to choose their own. This task could accompany a research assignment. The task could ask students to draw a flagpole and draw the flag of the country. Draw a famous landmark from the country; also include housing and plant life which are relevant. Depending on the task students could then include people in appropriate dress and animals native to the country. The fridge could also be full of food native to the county as well.

Subjects: Art, LOTE, SOSE, Geography

Underwater

Set a task which focuses on marine life. You might provide a list of specific creatures for students to create or each student could be given a sea creature to draw and then send it to their classmates so they all have a collection. As students create their own creature they can research information about it such as the environment it lives in, its life cycle and food it eats.

Subjects: Art, Science, Marine Studies, SOSE

Back in Time

Set a task where students create a world based on a period of time in history. Again this could coincide with a research assignment or unit of work. You may focus on one period of time or students could choose their own. The world can include buildings relevant to the era and people wearing the relevant clothes.
Here are some suggestions:
Ancient Rome
Ancient Greece
Ancient Egypt
Stone Age
Medieval
Dinosaurs
Shakespearean time

Subjects: Art, History, SOSE, English

Future World
You could set the task for students to imagine the world in which they live in the future. You could pose the following questions:

What will we live in?
What will we be wearing?
Will there be animals?
What food will we be eating?
What has happened to the environment?

Subjects: Art, Science, SOSE, English

Out of Space

Students could create images of our galaxy, planet or make up their own. They might imagine life on a different planet. What does life look like on this planet? Students can include space ships and rockets.

Subject: Art, Science.

Living Environments

You can set a task where students explore a living environment, such as dessert, rainforest, bushland, beach or swamp. Look at landform, plant life, animal life within these environments.

Subjects: Art, Science

Fantasy World

This world is limited by the students’ imagination. Creatures may include robots, monsters, alien life forms or dragons.

Subject: Art

PASSPORT:

Ask students to send one of their characters away using the passport feature. Students can do a screencapture of the passport. The site will indicate countries the character has visited. This could lead into a research assignment.

BOOK:

The book feature could be incorporated into any of the above tasks. It could be used to create a story using the theme and characters of the world or it could be used as an assignment or reference book.