Animations

=Animations in Science Education= The use of Java, Flash, Claymation and other animation applications has allowed science educators to use animation as a tool to help students gain a greater conceptual understanding.
 * Animation** is the [|optical illusion] of [|motion] created by the consecutive display of images of static elements. In film and video production, this refers to techniques by which each frame of a [|film] is produced individually. These frames may be generated by computers, or by photographing a drawn or painted image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model unit (see [|claymation] and [|stop motion]), and then photographing the result with a special [|animation camera]. When the frames are strung together and the resulting film is viewed, there is an illusion of continuous movement due to the phenomenon [|persistence of vision]. Generating such a film tends to be very labour intensive and tedious, though the development of [|computer animation] has greatly sped up the process. (Source: Wikipedia)

PMI on Animations in Science Education: Plus: Adding movement, colour and sometimes sound to your lesson is always an improvement. Students enjoys most animations - seem to be motivating and research indicates that they generally improve conceptual understanding as long as they are not delivered as stand alone items. Minus: Some animations seem to be simplified versions and therefore often carry potential misconceptions. Interesting: Huge growth area in children's entertainment and education

Probably the most famous example of science animations is brainpop and brainpop junior. These very clear 3 to 5 minutes animations explain hundreds of scientific concepts. Here is a sample - http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078600499/student_view0/brainpop_movies.html About 30 for free - if you want the others you will need to subscribe to the official site - www.brainpop.com (I have been a member for since 2006 - it is money well spent for your school) media type="custom" key="835071" Brainpop's Ad on You Tube media type="custom" key="835073" Other Free Samples on Brainpop: http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Software+Resources/Software+applications+available/BrainPOP+flash+movies.htm http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0511/quickflicks/

Science Animations: Tips from Ian Torrie (NZ educator) - this is an excellent resource - Science Interactives and Animations Collection - http://science.nhmccd.edu/Biol/animatio.htm IT Scotland - http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/resources/science/index.asp

Biology Animations: Biol 1406 biology animations - http://science.nhmccd.edu/biol/bio1int.htm Cell Biology Animations - http://www.johnkyrk.com/ and the Virtual Cell Animation - http://vcell.ndsu.nodak.edu/animations/ McGraw Hill Animations - http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072437316/120060/ravenanimation.html Biological Animations - http://www.stolaf.edu/people/giannini/biological%20anamations.html

Chemistry Animations: 2D and 3D modelling in organic chemistry - [] Collection of various chemistry animations - http://www.klte.hu/~lenteg/animate.html Raymond Chang's Text animations - http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/chemistry/essentialchemistry/flash/flash.mhtml General, Organic and Biochemical Animations - http://ull.chemistry.uakron.edu/genobc/animations/index.html Oklahoma University http://dwb4.unl.edu/ChemAnime/index.htm Norton Resources - look for the tutorial links - http://www.wwnorton.com/college/chemistry/gilbert/overview/ch1.htm Physics Animations: Flash Animations for Physics - http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/Flash/ Applets and Shockwave Animations - http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/curric/stage6/phys/physapplets.html Flash Physics - http://www.cs.sbcc.cc.ca.us/~physics/flash/

Earth Science Animations: RESGI Animations - http://webs.cmich.edu/resgi/topics.asp?mc=Other%20Resource%20Links&ca=95&cad=Earth%20Science%20Animations Geology 101 - http://www.geo.wvu.edu/~donovan/geol101/animationindex-mh.htm Alphabetised Animations - http://geography.cst.cmich.edu/Franc1M/Animations/animation_list_posted.htm Geosciences Animation - http://esminfo.prenhall.com/science/geoanimations/