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Procedures for Teachers is divided into two sections:
Prep -- Preparing for the Lesson.
Steps -- Conducting the Lesson.
Materials:
- Traditional art materials (markers, pencils, paper, etc.) that can be scanned into the computer.
- Tracing paper.
- Flip books that show basic principles of frame-by-frame animation.
Computer Resources:
Each student (or pair of students, if animations are to be completed jointly) will need at least one computer with Internet access to complete this lesson. While many configurations will work, we recommend:
-- Modem: 28.8 Kbps or faster.
-- Browser: Netscape Navigator 3.0 or above or Internet Explorer 3.0 or
above.
-- Macintosh computer: System 7.0 or above and at least 16 MB of RAM.
-- IBM-compatible computer: 386 or higher processor with at least 16 MB
of RAM, running Windows 3.1. Or, a 486/66 or Pentium with at least 16 MB of
RAM, running Windows 95.
Additional Hardware: A scanner that will allow students to create electronic images of hand-drawn art work.
Additional Software: Appropriate scanner software. The lesson also requires the use of GifConverter (Mac) or Paint Shop
Pro, version 3.11 (PC), to convert the images to the GIF format before incorporating
them into GifBuilder (Mac) or GIF Movie Gear (PC) for the final animation. (See
Bookmarks to find links to download free versions of both of these programs.)
For more information, visit What You Need to Get Connected in wNetSchool's Internet Primer.
Bookmarks:
The following sites should be bookmarked:
 Download.com
http://www.download.com
This site lists Web pages with links for downloading both GifBuilder and GifConverter.
Shareware.com
http://www.shareware.com
This site lists Web pages with links for downloading GifBuilder, GifConverter, GIF Movie Gear, and Paint Shop Pro. Note: Paint Shop Pro version 3.11 can be downloaded for free; later versions must be purchased.
Traditional and Computer Graphics Animation
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5297/index.html
This is an important animation site to view with your students. View an animation of a person walking, produced as a QuickTime movie. See the wNetSchool Primer for information on viewing video in your browser.
Creating Dynamic Web Sites
http://webreference.com/content/dynamic/chap4.html
This site is a great reference for creating animated GIFs, and provides information on more advanced topics, such as using Shockwave and Macromedia Director.
Let's Get Moving! The Animation Tutorial
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/9830/animating/animate.htm
A tutorial for beginning animators created by professional animators.
Buoyancy Force
http://www.explorescience.com/floatlog.htm
This site uses Shockwave, and allows students to set the mass of a log, radius of a log, and so on, to see how the buoyancy of the log is affected. The Shockwave Plug-in (http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/) is needed to view this interactive animation.
Physics of Diving
http://www.uwsports.ycg.com/reference_library/noaa/section_02/subsection_03.html
This site explains the Archimedes principle.
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There are three lessons in Buoyancy and the Archimedes Principle:
Lesson I: Introducing the Project (1-2 class periods).
Lesson II: Designing the Animation (2-3 class periods).
Lesson III: Scanning and Compiling the Animation (3-4 class periods).
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Lesson I: Introducing the Project (1-2 class periods).
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This project is designed to supplement a unit on buoyancy that would normally be covered in a physical science class. This would be a good lesson for a team-teaching project. Introduce the project and provide students with background information about scientific principles of buoyancy. Describe the famous "eureka" story of how Archimedes was asked by the king to determine if his crown was pure gold or not. According to legend, Archimedes got into a bath, and
some of the water overflowed. He jumped out of the bath and ran naked through the streets of Athens
shouting "Eureka!" because he realized the principle that bears his name. According to the Archimedes principle: "A body immersed in a liquid, either wholly or partially, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by the body." He then tested the material of the king's crown by seeing if it displaced the same amount of water as pure gold.
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Introduce the project and give students a quick overview of the use of animation and visualization in scientific research. Animations can be used in science to illustrate phenomena undetectable to the human eye, such as black holes or cell division; to illustrate something difficult to describe accurately with words, such as a lunar eclipse; or to synthesize cumbersome data into easily accessible visual aids.
If you have a computer with a projector and Internet access, or are hooked up to a large monitor, show the class several of the bookmarked animations. Students can also be required to visit the computer lab or library to explore the sites themselves. Distribute the Student Pathway, in Organizers for Students, when students view the animations. Show students some flip-books to introduce the idea that persistence of vision makes animation possible. Ask students to bring in books or other visuals that pertain to animation in general. Discuss with students how frame-by-frame animation works. Any resources (film, video, print) available to quickly relate to students how successive, sequential movement of frames creates the illusion of continuous movement would be helpful.
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Explain that each student (or pair of students, depending on student-to-computer ratio, time, and other logistical constraints) is to complete an animation illustrating an instance of buoyancy (e.g., scuba diving, submarines, hot air balloons). Students will animate their hand drawings, which can be viewed on any computer with a Web browser. The animations may even be posted on the school Web site (optional).
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Distribute the Assignment Sheet, in Organizers for Students. Students should view bookmarked sites to learn about buoyancy. They should then decide which buoyancy principle they want to animate.
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Lesson II: Designing the Animation (2-3 class periods).
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Distribute the Storyboard Design Sheet, in Organizers for Students. Students should sketch the key frames of their animation, adding more frame boxes if necessary. They should use the lines next to the storyboard boxes to explain their sketches. Students will be drawing the final frames of the animation. They should use the storyboard design sheet to help figure out how they will get from the beginning to the end of the animation. You should check the storyboards for scientific accuracy before students begin creating the animation.
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Lesson III: Scanning and Compiling the Animation (3-4 class periods).
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After you have approved each student's Storyboard Design Sheet, students can start to draw the first individual frame. Students should place a piece of tracing paper over the first drawing. They should trace the part of the animation that will remain the same and make slight alterations to the parts in motion. Add a new piece of tracing paper for each new frame of the animation.
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Students should scan the first frame into the computer. They will need to save this frame as a file and name it. Hint: Frames should be named in the same sequential order that the animation will eventually follow (e.g., Float1, Float2, Float3). Continue scanning the rest of images until all the frames are named.
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When students finish making and saving all of their frames, they will need to convert their files to the Gif format. Using GifConverter or Paint Shop Pro, students can open and convert each file one frame at a time. Using GifBuilder or GIF Movie Gear, the students then assemble the frames into their proper sequence.
If you will be using the Mac-based GifBuilder, tell your students that it is important to remember that the files (frames) can be sequenced in any order. Frames can even be used more
than once in the final sequence. Students will simply need to copy the
specified frame or frames and paste them into the appropriate part of the
animation sequence. Also, tell students that they should try playing
around with the static and dynamic transition filters in the "Effects"
menu.
After the frames are assembled in GifBuilder or GIF MovieGear, they should be saved as an animated GIF file. This file can then be dragged into a Web browser and the animation can be viewed.
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If your school has access to a server, your students' work can be
displayed on the school's Web site. If a color printer is available, students
can print the separate frames and assemble them into a flip-book. To add to
the number of frames, print each frame at least twice and repeat each frame in
the flip-book. This will make the flip-book more effective.
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Submit a Comment: We invite your comments and suggestions based on how you used the lesson in your classroom.
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