Topic-
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| Students learn about the elements of the Periodic Table and create
an animation to represent one of the elements. |
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Content-
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| Chemistry, animation, elements |
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Objectives-
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Explore the periodic table of elements and discuss the concept of
chemical compounds.
Evaluate the chemical makeup of one element.
Learn what animations are and how they're created.
Learn how to use animation software.
Create a short animation representing one element on the periodic
table. |
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Materials and Aids-
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an animation software program, such as Serifs DrawPlus. Serif provides
all educational users with several online resources, as well as a
CD of lesson suggestions, worksheets, and other materials. Most programs
provide tutorials to get you going quickly.
Your own example animation. Creating your own animation will enable
you to give better support to students when they create theirs and
will provide demonstration material to use during the main lesson
activity.
a storyboard template for each student; or provide students with a
sheet of paper with squares or cells to help them plan their designs.
Periodic Table videos, |
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Procedures/Methods-
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A. Introduction-
Introduce students to the periodic table of elements and discuss
the concept of chemical compounds. A fantastic site to really get
kids excited about this topic is The Periodic Table of Videos. Assign,
or have students choose, an element or compound and evaluate its chemical
makeup or equation. Discuss the basic characteristics of elements
and compounds. What do they do? What reactions do they have when mixed
with other elements?
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B. Development-
| Play your demonstration animation several times (on a computer screen
or projected onto a screen). Explain that in animation, action is
an illusion in which still drawings appear to move. Examine your animation
frame-by-frame and ask them to spot the changes from one frame to
another, e.g., the main character moved his foot up or down, the color
changed, or something was deleted. Ask students if they can guess
what element or compound you have illustrated. Ask them what idea
or concept they believe the animation is trying to communicate. |
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C. Practice-
Ask students to consider how they might illustrate and animate the
elements and compounds they've chosen. This could be an in-class brainstorming
session, a homework assignment, or both. A main character, such as
a stick-figure drawing, animal or other image, would work best to
tell a story in the animation.
For example, a basic animation of nitrous oxide, commonly known as
laughing gas due to the exhilarating effects of inhaling it, could
show an animated figure of the compounds symbol, N20, and send the
words nitrous oxide" bouncing around the computer screen followed
by the words ha, ha" popping up against a solid or multicolored background. |
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Checking for understanding-
| Students' grades should be based on their ability to understand
and communicate the concepts of the lesson's content; on whether they
use correct terminology to discuss the subject matter; and on whether
they have shown movement in their animation. |
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