February 2010 Discover.ed
Book your field trip today and experience
ANIMATION featuring Cartoon Network!
This body-on exhibit, 'Planning the Action', shoots 14 consecutive photos to create an animation.
Enter the exciting and visually rich world of ANIMATION, a highly interactive traveling exhibition that brings together art, math, science and technology. Visitors will explore the process of animation surrounded by colorful, larger-than-life graphics of popular cartoon and animation characters from Cartoon Network. In this stimulating and fun environment, your students will delight in bringing their own creations to life as they experiment with storyboarding, character design, drawing techniques, movement, timing, filming and sound. A variety of animation tools and techniques will be explored, including cartoon drawings, visual effects, cel layering, computer animation, stop-motion and time-lapse technologies.
This topic is extremely popular with kids of all ages and has proven to be a powerful and effective tool for engaging and teaching math and science concepts such as perception, illusion, apparent motion, geometry, ratios, patterns and measurement.
This makes ANIMATION ideal for school groups!
Quick Facts and Resources about ANIMATION:
- ANIMATION features 25 different exhibits focused on 6 thematic areas.
- Several exhibit areas feature digital slide shows so your students can learn about the skills and training needed for a career in animation.
- ANIMATION draws from a number of math and science principles including physics, geometry and the physiology of human perception and vision.
- Animators plot out a character’s path of action on a grid, use ratios to create scale in environments and utilize physics to create realistic movements. The amount of science and math that goes into animation will fascinate your students.
- Fun Animation Facts
- The Laws of Cartoon Physics
- Cartoon Network
Your class can explore the process of animation from concept to finished product- from storyboarding, character design and drawing techniques to movement, timing, filming and sound. Larger than life graphics of Cartoon Network characters give the exhibit a colorful background.
Animation, featuring Cartoon Network comes complete with its own Exhibit Guide for use within the exhibit and back in the classroom.
ANIMATION Activity – Thaumatrope
Materials:
- 2 pieces of card stock or note cards
- Markers or crayons
- Straw or coffee stirrer
- Stapler
Procedure:
- Draw one picture on one card, and a second on another card. Make a pair of pictures that go together (a fish on one and a fish bowl on the other, or a bird on one and a bird cage on the other).
- Place the straw between the cards with the drawings outward.
- Staple the straw in place in two spots.
- Hold the straw of the Thaumatrope in the palm of your hands.
- Begin to rub your palms together as fast as you can, making the thaumatrope flip back and forth.
- Look again at the two pictures. What do you observe?
The Science:
Scientists in the 19th Century believed that the human eye held onto flashing images slightly longer than they were visible and blended them into a moving image. They used this “persistence of vision” theory to explain how animation worked. However, in the early 20th Century, scientists discovered that, while our eyes may sometimes hold onto images, this does not create a motion effect. Although you may still see it mentioned in the popular press, science no longer supports the idea of persistence of vision.
All animation works because of an illusion called apparent motion. The effect is created when a series of still images flashes quickly in front of your eyes, with a break in between each image. Your brain blends the still images together, creating an illusion of motion called apparent motion.
February Happenings:
Black History Month
February 9th -12th
Celebrate Black History Month in the Science Studio! Learn about Benjamin Banneker, noted mathematician and astronomer, and Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space. Then, create you own map of the stars!
Olympics
February 13th and 14th
Win a science gold medal as we celebrate the Olympics! By traveling through our science challenge stations, your child will discover the champion inside. Best of all, they will get to design their own victory medal.
National Engineering Week
February 16th – 21st
Build big and test your design skills in Science Studio all week long. Invited guest experts will offer their engineering expertise, as visitors will explore compression, tension and torsion to create sky-high structures.
Creative Workshop With Children’s Illustrator, Cyd Moore
In Science Studio, 1-2:00pm
Children's Book Illustrator, Cyd Moore
Children’s illustrator, Cyd Moore, delights kids with spontaneous drawings of wild creatures! Cyd illustrated I Love You Stinky Face, Granny’s Dragon and Willow, to name just a few. As a natural storyteller, her hilarious southern adventures have the audience laughing and LISTENING. After experiencing a day with Cyd, everyone is inspired to live their lives with a bit more passion! Copies of I Love You Stinky Face and Alice and Greta will be available for purchase in Science 2 Go!
Attention Preschool and Kindergarten Teachers!
Imagination Station has the program for you! Each day at 11:00 am in KIDSPACE Little Science Studio, trained Imagination Station offer Science Story Time. It is a great opportunity for your tots to explore the connection between literature and science with a fun story and an exciting activity to complement what was read
February 2-7: Dinosaurs
Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton
Create a ‘shoe’seratops and share a story about your dinosaur.
February 9-14: Valentine’s Celebration
Love, Splat by Rob Scotton
Children make their own handprint flowers to share.
February 16-21: Musical Instruments
Zimani’s Drum by Melinda Lilly
Play a tambourine of your own creation.
February 23-28: Wind Watchers
Close Your Eyes by Kate Banks
Make a wind bag and explore the powerful force of the wind.
March 2-7: Let It Snow
Why Won’t Winter Go? by Lissa McLaughlin
Experiment with Insta-Snow, and compare it to the real stuff.
