February 13, 2012 – SciVis II€¦ · Web viewWe will enter this game as individuals and we will use “Game Maker” to create our STEM Game. After reading about the basics of

May 24, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – What sorts of things are going to appear on the SVII Final that we haven’t spent a lot of time working on in class?

Focus Activity – Make sure you have in YOUR possession an e-copy of the “Total Review” practice test questions found at:

I:\2011-2012\Eckart - Class Info\SciVis II Info

And that you are 100% clear with the exam schedule below:

1st Period Exam – Tuesday, May 292nd Period Exam – Thursday, May 313rd Period Exam – Friday, June 14th Period Exam – Wednesday, May 30

Class Work:

I will be calling you up to my desk to look at your grade. You should be working on your SciVis Video Project and/or Web Page today.

May 21 - 23, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – What is the Final Exam Schedule and format for SciVis II?

Focus Activity – Please take the practice exam found at:

8347913641If you did not have ALL four note packets last week, please show them to me today.

1st Period Exam – Tuesday, May 292nd Period Exam – Thursday, May 313rd Period Exam – Friday, June 14th Period Exam – Wednesday, May 30

Class Work:

I will be calling you up to my desk to look at your grade. You should be working on your SciVis Video Project and/or Web Page today.


Essential Questions – What is the Final Exam Schedule and format for SciVis II?

Focus Activity – Please work on your Video Projects and/or your Web Page Projects today. They are both due by the end of next week.Schedule for the Day (Friday, May 17)First Period – 8:40 – 9:35Second Period – 9:40 – 10:30Fourth Period – 10:35 – 11:30Third Period – 11:35 – 12:45--------First Lunch – 11:35 – 12:00--------Second Lunch – 12:05 – 12:30

If you did not have ALL four note packets yesterday, please show them to me today.

Class Work:

I will be calling you up to my desk to look at your grade. You should be working on your SciVis Video Project today.


Essential Questions – How will your performance on your SciVis Project affect your final grade?

Focus Activity – We will start your Unit C exam in 10 minutes. I will be doing a notebook check to look at ALL 4 Note Packets for SciVis II during the test. Please have them ALL out where I can see them.

8347912882Class Work:

I will be calling you up to my desk to look at your grade. You should be working on your SciVis Video Project today.

May 15 – 16, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – How can you create a simple web-based Electronic Portfolio using basic html tags?

Focus Activity – Work on your projects for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, we are going to work on html coding

Class Work:

We will have an exam on Unit C on Thursday of this week. We will review the Unit C notes after working on our projects for 30 minutes.

May 11 & 14, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – How can you look at the html code for any (most) web pages?

Focus Activity – Work on your projects.

We will have an exam on Unit C on Thursday of this week. We will review the Unit C notes after working on our projects for 30 minutes.

Develop plan for an informative, entertaining, and creative SciVis Video production that includes the following elements:

Science-based Topic Story Board 2 – 3 Minutes Length Minimum of 3 – 3dsMax Animations (min 5

seconds each) Final Product rendered in Premiere Pro as

*.avi Use of video/audio transitions and keyframes

as needed Minimum of 1:30 voice-over narration

Citation of all sources of information in closing credits (Wikipedia doesn’t qualify as a “source” for THIS project)


Essential Questions – What needs to be TODAY to wrap up your airplane wing project?

Focus Activity – WORK ON YOUR PROJECTS

Class Work –We are going to go down and work with Mr. Harrison for the last time today. Please take a moment to individually thank him for ONE thing that you enjoyed about the airplane project.


Essential Questions – What are HTML Tags and how can we develop a basic understanding of them?

Focus Activity – WORK ON YOUR PROJECTS

Class Work –WORK ON YOUR PROJECTS



Focus Activity – Please finish your Unit C Notes today. I will come around and check the notes at the end of class.

Class Work – After finishing the notes, WORK ON YOUR PROJECTS

May 3 - 7, 2012 – SciVis II


Focus Activity – Pick up a copy of the Unit C notes, put your name on the cover, and begin working on filling in the blanks. Please complete pages 1 – 12 today.


Science-based Topic (by Wed 4/11) Story Board (by Mon 4/16) 2 – 3 Minutes Length Minimum of 3 – 3dsMax Animations (min 5





90% Project Peer Review on May 1, 2012

April 30 - May 2, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – What’s up w/ Unit C in SciVis II?

Focus Activity – Work on your projects!!

Please submit a “10-point” outline for your project in the next 30 minutes.




*.avi

Use of video/audio transitions and keyframes as needed

Minimum of 1:30 voice-over narrationCitation of all sources of information in closing credits (Wikipedia doesn’t qualify as a “source” for THIS project)


April 27, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – How can you change frame rates and adjust the total number of frames in your animations?

Focus Activity –

o Please take a few mintues to study for your quiz

8347912453What needs to be done by May 1 to satisfy the needs for the 90% Peer Review?


April 25 - 26, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – How can you change frame rates and adjust the total number of frames in your animations?

Focus Activity –

o Please work on Unit D notes to prepare for Friday’s Quiz

We will have a quiz on the Unit D Notes THIS

FRIDAY – April 27



Essential Questions – Why would you want to tile an image while creating a texture map?

Focus Activity – Please open 3dsMax and then come to the middle table to talk.o Please work on Unit D notes to prepare

for Friday’s Quiz EXTRA CREDIT !!! – Tuesday, April 24

from 6pm – 8pm at Atkins HS – STEM Career Fair!

We will have a quiz on the Unit D Notes THIS FRIDAY – April 27




Focus Activity – Please open 3dsMax and put a wood floor texture on the box/plane that you placed underneath your “classic lighting layout” objects last week. After adding the texture, add a UVW Map modifier and adjust the tiling/etc. to make the texture look REALISTIC. I also want you to add a bump map to this texture to make it look “super-realistic.”

EXTRA CREDIT !!! – Tuesday, April 24 from 6pm – 8pm at Atkins HS – STEM Career Fair!

We will have a quiz on the Unit D Notes THIS FRIDAY – April 27




Focus Activity – Please spend five minutes reviewing for your Simple Machines Test.


We will have a quiz on Simple Machines (Unit E) this FRIDAY.

8347912267 90% Project Peer Review on May 1, 2012


Essential Questions – What is “Ground School” and why should you care?

Focus Activity – Please log on to the computer, open 3dsMax, and then take out your Unit E notes and come to the middle table. We will do a quick review of Simple Machines for our quiz tomorrow.

There will be “Ground School” in my room after school today with Mr. Harrison.




April 17 & 18, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – What’s going on with Unit D?

Focus Activity – Please log on to the computer, take out your Unit D Notes, and come to the middle table. We are going to discuss Unit D for a few minutes and then I will ask you to work on your projects.




Essential Questions – What’s going on with Unit D?

Focus Activity – Please pick up a copy of the Unit D notes and PUT YOUR NAME ON THE FRONT COVER.

Please go back to the Daily Plan from last week that spelled out the requirements for our 2 – 3 Minute Video Project. You have a story board due by the end of class. Please work on this project today.

We need to take TWO surveys today. Please be as honest as you can on these surveys.


Essential Questions – How can we make a simple conceptual model in 3dsMax of the wing section we are working on?

Focus Activity – Please open the following 3dsMax file:

I:\2011-2012\Eckart - Class Info\Airplane Wing.max

Use the Mirror/Clone/Array Tools and try to see how close you can get to this picture:

Class Work – Work with Mr. Harrison &


Essential Questions – What can we learn about simple machines while working on the Airplane Project with Mr. Harrison?

Focus Activity – Please take out your Unit E notes and keep them out when we go downstairs to work with Mr. Harrison.

Open your Teapot 3dsMax file from the other day. I want you to add and animate a “melt” modifier to the “Parent” teapot, a “twist” modifier to the “Big Child” teapot, and a “ripple” modifier to the “Little Child” teapot.

Save this new file as “Teapot Modifiers” in YOUR student folder.

Class Work – Work with Mr. Harrison &








Essential Questions – How can we incorporate the use of hierarchy systems into our animations?

Focus Activity – Please log on and open up the “Take SciVis Test” web page. We will take our GelElectro test and then go downstairs to work with Mr. Harrison.

8347911975Class Work – Work with Mr. Harrison &




*.avi


Minimum of 1:30 voice-over narration Citation of all sources of information in

closing credits (Wikipedia doesn’t qualify as a “source” for THIS project)


Essential Questions – What will you need to know about Gel Electrophoresis to succeed on tomorrow’s quiz?

Focus Activity – Please review your Gel Electro notes for a few minutes and then we will talk about tomorrow’s quiz.

Class Work – GEL Electrophoresis Quiz – Wednesday this week




*.avi


Minimum of 1:30 voice-over narration Citation of all sources of information in

closing credits (Wikipedia doesn’t qualify as a “source” for THIS project)


Essential Questions – What does our 4th Quarter Schedule look like for SciVis II (for Seniors & Non-Seniors)?

Focus Activity – Please log on and open up the work that you completed on March 25 – 29 when I was not here.

Class Work – Review schedule for remainder of School Year and discuss Final Exam/25%/No Exemptions/Etc.

Finish I:\2011-2012\Eckart - Class Info\3ds Max Tutorials and Info\Exploding Tank Intro – GDE.doc

GEL Electrophoresis Quiz – Wednesday this week

March 29, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – What is the easiest way to get started in 3dsMax?

Focus Activity – Please open the following file:

I:\2011-2012\Eckart - Class Info\3ds Max Tutorials and Info\Exploding Tank Intro – GDE.doc

Class Work – Please follow the instructions on the above MSWord document and create your first 3dsMax animation. SAVE YOUR WORK TO: I:\Students\YourLastName\ExplodingTank.max.

Learning 3dsMax is very much a “team effort” if we really want to make serious progress. So, if you get stuck, please ask a neighbor for help. If you are so proficient that you have time to complete the above work before class is over, then you may begin working on the 10 problems from Unit 2 in this folder:I:\2011-2012\Eckart - Class Info\3ds Max Tutorials and Info\Green Book Models


Essential Questions – What needs to be done to wrap up this 3rd quarter of the school year?

Focus Activity – Take out your Unit E Notes & let me take a look at them.

Class Work– Please work on your Gel Electrophoresis & Simple Machines notes in Unit E (pages 18 – 40). These notes can be found both on my I: drive AND my web page. I will check both of the these as separate assignments when I get back on Wednesday. We will have a quiz on Gel Electrophoresis on THURSDAY of THIS Week. You will also be required to complete any other missed quizzes from this quarter by THURSDAY of THIS week – the last day of the quarter.

March 26 - 27, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – What will make a successful event this morning w/ the USCG Helicopter? What are my expectations for next week when I am not here on Monday & Tuesday?

Focus Activity – Take out your Unit E Notes & get ready to rock ‘n roll! I am out for two days with our Atkins TSA team.

Class Work– Please work on your Gel Electrophoresis & Simple Machines notes in Unit E (pages 18 – 40). These notes can be found both on my I: drive AND my web page. I will check both of the these as separate assignments when I get back on Wednesday. We will have a quiz on Gel Electrophoresis on THURSDAY of THIS Week. You will also be required to complete any other missed quizzes from this quarter by THURSDAY of THIS week – the last day of the quarter.


Essential Questions – What will make a successful event this morning w/ the USCG Helicopter? What are my expectations for next week when I am not here on Monday & Tuesday?

Focus Activity – Please keep your things packed up – as soon as I take attendance we are going to walk down to the football field for the 9:00 a.m. helicopter landing. PLEASE THINK OF A FEW GOOD QUESTIONS FOR THE PILOTS!!!!

Class Work – Please work on your Gel Electrophoresis notes in Unit E. We will have a quiz on Gel Electrophoresis next TUESDAY


Essential Questions – How can you look at and “like” our Atkins Grand Engineering Challenge Contest Videos?

Focus Activity – Please visit this site and watch your videos!

http://www.schooltube.com/channel/usasef/

Class Work – We will be working with Mr. Harrison in a few minutes!

Until then, please work on your Gel Electrophoresis notes in Unit E. We will have a quiz on Gel Electrophoresis next TUESDAY

http://www.schooltube.com/channel/usasef/

On March 19 & 21, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – How are we going to win this VIDEO CONTEST in 3 days or less?

Focus Activity – Log on and let’s make the best video we can on a VERY short time line…the contest ends on WEDNESDAY at MIDNIGHT!

Class Work – http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2012festival/contests/kavli-video-contest (Hint – ENGINEER THE TOOLS OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY is the topic that will allow you to focus your video on “the airplane project”)

Basic Contest Criteria – Storyboard, 30 seconds minimum, Opening & Closing Credits, Background Music, Video Transitions, Voice-Over Narration, Related to “Grand Challenges of Engineering” theme.

Homework – N/A

http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2012festival/contests/kavli-video-contest


March 14 - 16, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – How will we move from constructing small-scale castings from plaster molds into airplane structures?

Focus Activity – Do NOT log on to your computers. Please come to the middle tables and I will select a few of you to present your MS PowerPoint slides on the web pages Mr. Harrison asked us to look at last week.

Class Work – We will go down to the lab to work with Mr. Harrison after we watch a few presentations. Please be extra-considerate when watching/listening/learning/working this week. Mr. Harrison is here on his own time because he is passionate about helping you discover some potential new career paths.

http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2012festival/contests/kavli-video-contest (Hint – ENGINEER THE TOOLS OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY is the topic that will allow you to focus your video on “the airplane project”)




Homework – N/A


Essential Questions – What will we work on w/ Mr. Harrison later this week?

Focus Activity – Please take out your Unit E Notes and do your last-minute review. We will take the test in 10 minutes.

Class Activities – WORK ON YOUR VIDEO CONTEST SUBMITTAL

TEST ID - 8347911264



Homework – N/A




Essential Questions – What will tomorrow’s exam on Plate Tectonics look like (and what will our week look like)?

Focus Activity – Please take out your Unit E Notes and we will meet in the middle of the room in 15 minutes.

Class Activities – THIS IS THE LAST DAY OF CLASS TIME FOR THE STEM GAME CHALLENGE!http://www.stemchallenge.org/quickregister/Default.aspx?Class=380


Homework – Plate Tectonics Quiz on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 (Pages 11 – 17 of Unit E Notes)



March 8 – 9, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – What do we need to do in order to submit our STEM Game Design Challenge work?

Focus Activity – Start the WRAP-UP process on your STEM Game. It may not be perfect or even close to finished. But, if you don’t enter/submit your work then you are guaranteed to lose. So, ENTER it by March 12. We will talk about the details during class.

Class Activities – WORK ON YOUR STEM GAME, Talk about SCIENCE OLYMPIAD & helping out this p.m.http://www.stemchallenge.org/quickregister/Default.aspx?Class=380


Homework – Plate Tectonics Quiz on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 (Pages 11 – 17 of Unit E Notes)




Essential Questions – What’s up w/ Leadership W-S and why should we care?

Focus Activity – Today we will host four business leaders from the W-S community. They will be working with us on an “Elevator Speech” and marketing your own “Brand.” Please give them your undivided attention as this may be the most valuable lesson we have all year!

Class Activities – This PowerPoint is due at the BEGINNING OF CLASS tomorrow. Please save your work in the I:\Drive.

Homework – PPT – Will be presented tomorrow in class.


Essential Questions – Why do you want to be sure that your Power Points that were due LAST week are in 100% tip-top shape by tomorrow?

Focus Activity – I will ask a few of you, at random, to present your power points, which were assigned on 3/1, tomorrow during class. For the sake of clarity, I am repeating the entire assignment below. If you are already done with ALL 12 slides, then consider yourself in good standing and go ahead and work on your STEM Game Challenge, 3dsMax, etc.

Mr. Harrison has asked that you visit these four web pages:

http://www.krsuper2.com/intro_sec1_004.html http://www.krsuper2.com/intro_sec1_005.html http://www.krsuper2.com/intro_sec1_006.html http://www.n56ml.com/swings.html

Take your time and see if you can try to dissect/understand the main points from each of the pages. Your assignment today is to create a PowerPoint slide show that consists of THREE SLIDES for each web page (total of 12 Slides).

I am not allowing you much room to summarize the voluminous information in these web pages. So, your job is to ID the MAIN points, summarize them, and include a few pictures where appropriate. Remember, when doing PowerPoint slides, sentence fragments are allowed/encouraged and try to stick to 6

http://www.n56ml.com/swings.html

http://www.krsuper2.com/intro_sec1_006.html



bullets per slide with 6 words per bullet. If you write much more than that, you will lose your audience!


Homework – PPT – Will be presented tomorrow in class.


Essential Questions – Why do we have to take a SciVis II “PreTest”?

Focus Activity – Please open the following web-link to take today’s exam – I:\2011-2012\Eckart - Class Info\Take SciVis Exam. I will give you the test code after I take attendance. After opening the link, take 4 minutes and review your notes for today’s exam on Unit E pages 1 – 10.

8343810881 – Cell Bio

734384626 - PreTest

Class Activities – Show me your PowerPoints from yesterday!

Homework – N/A


Essential Questions – What is “Vacuum Bagging” as it relates to the Airplane Build Project and why will you LOVE IT (compared to the hand-layup of fiberglass we did last week)?

Focus Activity – Our quiz will be postponed until tomorrow:FRIDAY – QUIZ on pages 1 – 10 of UNIT E

For today, Mr. Harrison has asked that you visit these four web pages:


http://www.krsuper2.com/intro_sec1_005.html http://www.krsuper2.com/intro_sec1_006.html http://www.n56ml.com/swings.html

Take your time and see if you can try to dissect/understand the main points from each of the pages. Your assignment today is to create a PowerPoint slide show that consists of THREE SLIDES for each web page (total of 12 Slides).

I am not allowing you much room to summarize the voluminous information in these web pages. So, your job is to ID the MAIN points, summarize them, and include a few pictures where appropriate. Remember, when doing PowerPoint slides, sentence fragments are allowed/encouraged and try to stick to 6 bullets per slide with 6 words per bullet. If you write much more than that, you will lose your audience!

http://www.n56ml.com/swings.html





Homework – YOUR TEST WILL BE TOMORROW!!!!!

February 27 - 29, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – Why is it so essential that we start tackling Unit E (Advanced SciVis) right NOW?

Focus Activity – Please take out your Unit E note packet and start working on Pages 1 – 16 of the “fill-in-the-blanks.”

THURSDAY – QUIZ on pages 1 – 10 of UNIT E

Class Activities – Mr. Harrison is in Alabama for two weeks. We need to balance the “Airplane Project” with the “STEM Game Challenge” with the “SciVis Curriculum.” I think ALL of these are wonderful endeavors and we need to find a balance between all three. Today we will discuss how to dissect the Unit E notes in the most efficient manner.

Homework – N/A


Essential Questions – What are we going to work on with Mr. Harrison this week to learn about the strength of materials?

Focus Activity – Please work on your gaming projects and other “open” items for 15 minutes and then we will go downstairs and work on our project with Mr. Harrison.

Class Activities – We will go downstairs today and look at the results of last week’s pouring/molding activity. We will be making a number of other “test beams” of different materials to learn about strength vs. weight ratios by doing destructive testing!

Homework – N/A

February 22, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – What are we going to work on with Mr. Harrison this week to learn about the strength of materials?

EQ #2 – Who are our Special Guests today?

Focus Activity – Please open the following web-link to take today’s exam – I:\2011-2012\Eckart - Class Info\Take SciVis Exam. I will give you the test code after I take attendance. After opening the link, take 4 minutes and review your notes for today’s exam.

8347910552

Class Activities – We will go downstairs today and look at the results of last week’s pouring/molding activity. We will be making a number of other “test beams” of different materials to learn about strength vs. weight ratios by doing destructive testing!

Homework – N/A


Essential Questions – Which pages in Unit B will be covered on tomorrow’s Exam?

Focus Activity – Please open your Unit B notes and review them for a few minutes. We will have a test tomorrow morning to cover pages 9 – 12 in your Note Packet.

Class Activities – We have today to work on our gaming projects. Mr. Harrison will be back on campus on Wed – Fri of this week and will be in Alabama next week. So let’s use today to get A LOT of SciVis work completed.

Homework – Study for Unit B Exam!!


Essential Questions – What are our “weeks with Mr. Harrison” going to look like?

Focus Activity – On weeks like this when Mr. Harrison is here working with us, I want your focus activity each day to be a 7 minute journal/sketching exercise to summarize the work we did the previous day w/ Mr. Harrison. Put this in your SciVis Notebook, which I will grade next week.

Class Activities – We will go downstairs to 305 after you wrap up your focus activity.

Homework – BRING BACK SIGNED FIELD TRIP FORMS!! BRING YOUR LUNCH!!! WEAR YOUR SMOD!!


Essential Questions – What makes composite materials technology so vital to the growth of the Experimental Aircraft Association?

Focus Activity – Please visit this web page:

http://www.societyofrobots.com/materials_carbonfiber.shtml

and answer these questions in your SciVis notebook:

What does “Strength-to-weight ratio” mean? In which “directions” is carbon fiber very strong? In which “direction” is carbon fiber weak? What is the advantage of carbon fiber’s non-metallic

nature? What kinds of tools are needed to work with carbon fiber? How do you get carbon fiber “into” the desired shapes or

patterns?

Class Activities – Go back and DO/FINISH all of the Daily Plan work from last week.

Homework – BRING BACK SIGNED FIELD TRIP FORMS!!

http://www.societyofrobots.com/materials_carbonfiber.shtml


Essential Questions – What do SciVis II assessments “look like?”

Focus Activity – Please come to the middle of the room and bring your Unit A/B Note Packets. We will have a Unit B quiz on Wednesday and I want to do a review with you. I also want to go over each of the assignments from the last two weeks and make sure you understand my expectations.

Class Activities – Go back and DO/FINISH all of the Daily Plan work from last week.

Pick up a copy of the Unit E/F notes and put them in your SciVis notebooks.

Homework – BRING BACK SIGNED FIELD TRIP FORMS!!


Essential Questions – What can we learn by looking at the “History of Game Design”?

Focus Activity – Students – I will be here this afternoon to teach my 3rd Block class and I will start going through your I:/Drive folders during my planning period. Please make sure you have done all of the assigned work during my absence. I have HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN all the work that I will count as for a grade. I will not ask for anything that was not written down right here in my Daily Plans AND I will check EVERY assignment I put in these plans. If you got behind – it’s time to catch up!

For today, please go to my “Classroom Documents” tab on my web page and open up and review a new document I saved called “On Game Design – Career Guide.” This is some light reading about the history of game design. It is 20 pages long and I am NOT asking you to read every single word. What I AM asking is that you use Adobe Illustrator (a wonderful Vector Graphic 2D Software) to create a timeline of the modern video game. Use the highlights from the article and use whatever timeline style you like. Adobe Illustrator can be frustrating at first, and then, when you get the hang of it, it can be your BEST friend. To find Illustrator just go to your “Start” menu and look for the Adobe CS folder (Creative Suite). Illustrator is in that folder. I have some great tutorials on my I:\ drive.

Spend some time on this today (it will be due on Friday) and please make sure that you have completed the other work I assigned. Thanks so much for your cooperation and all this work is getting you “ahead of the curve” for the class. Once I return, we will get into 3dsMax and GameMaker as we try to win this contest.

Once you are done w/ your timeline and all the other work I have assigned, let’s get back to CREATING a game that will win the STEM Challenge Contest!!


Essential Questions – What will the “theme” of your video game be? What is the plot/storyline?

Focus Activity – Please draft a two paragraph outline describing the theme/plot/storyline/and basic character sketch for a STEM-Related game that meets the criteria of the http://www.stemchallenge.org/Contest.

I want one of you to win this contest and the only way to win is make sure we meet all the contest specifications – one of which is that the game MUST have a STEM theme. So, brainstorm for a few minutes and come up w/ some ideas. I would really like for you to consider the possibility of creating a game related to one of the four main areas of science study for this course:

Cell Biology Gel Electrophoresis Plate Tectonics Simple Machines

I will stop short of mandating that you choose one of these areas. But I will say that choosing one of these four will make your SciVis II life easier later in the quarter b/c you will already be familiar with the content.

Please SAVE your writing in YOUR I:\ Drive folder so I can check it upon my return.

http://www.stemchallenge.org/

After you finish this work, please go ahead and finish ALL of your note packets (which should just mean finishing Unit A). When I return, I will check that ALL of Units A – C are completed.

If you get ALL of the above finished (Plus all the work from the previous Daily Plans), go ahead and keep plugging away on the Game Maker tutorials. http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials has more tutorials including platform and maze games. I don’t know if the WSFCS web-blocker will keep you locked out of this site or not. Try it. If it doesn’t work, I will bring the tutorials with me. Once you’ve tackled the tutorials, let’s get to work on YOUR game that could win YOU a new laptop computer!!!

I will be back at school on Tuesday to start checking work, so please make sure you bring ALL your SciVis materials to class (including the 3-ring binder & tabs as detailed in “Course Info & Expectations).

http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials

February 2 & 3, 2012 – SciVis I

Essential Questions – What’s the plan with Mr. Harrison and “the Airplane Project?”

Focus Activity – Mr. Harrison will be on-campus Today and Tomorrow (Thur/Fri). Please go down to 305 as directed by the sub and have an open mind towards this project. I believe it will be a tremendous learning opportunity for all of us and I think you will like it.

PLEASE – remember, safety first in ALL aspects of your work in 305. There will be tools and materials that you must be careful with. If Mr. Moats, Hamilton, or Harrison ask you to do something – PLEASE listen .


Essential Questions – What’s the plan with Mr. Harrison and “the Airplane Project?”

Focus Activity – Again, thanks for navigating to the “Classroom Documents” tab > “SciVis II – Daily Plans.doc” section of my web page. I will be home all of this week with my wife and our new baby, so it is key that you continue to be self-sufficient by thoroughly READING and DOING the Daily Plan each day.

If you DID NOT finish working on your note packets yesterday, remember that I want ALL of Units B and C completed (blanks filled in). You can get full copies of the notes from my web page (yes, in the Classroom Documents tab). I will check these notes and your SciVis Notebook when I return next week. Yes, the instructions on how to “build” your SciVis Notebook are in the same place www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/Page/20238(and in your Course Info & Expectations handout)

Class Activities – I believe Mr. Harrison is coming back to Atkins on Thursday and Friday of this week. In general, we will work with him a little every two weeks. The goals of our work with him are to:

Learn about aerospace science Learn about aerospace construction materials Learn about experimental aircraft

http://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/Page/20238

Get a lot of hands-on-time building an actual airplane

I’m not exactly sure what you guys worked on with him last Friday, but in order for you to show up “informed” for tomorrow’s session, please answer the following questions in an MS Word Doc and save the doc in YOUR I drive folder and call it “YOUR LAST NAME_Airplane Project Prep Work.doc”

What is the Experimental Aircraft Association, when was it founded, and how many members does it have?

What are the “requirements” for an airplane to be categorized as “Experimental?

What makes the “EAA AirVenture Oshkosh” one of the world’s greatest airshow spectacles? Please answer this question in a paragraph format after spending 15 minutes or so browsing the AirVenture web page. It is chock-full of cool stuff and information.

What makes Burt Rutan such an icon in the world of experimental aircraft? Please provide a 5-bullett summary of Rutan’s most significant achievements (consider googling “Scaled Composites” in addition to Burt Rutan).

What are the basic performance parameters (g-load, top speed, cruising speed, ceiling (how high can it fly), etc.) of the KR-2 that Mr. Harrison is going to work on? (http://www.fly-kr.com/index.html)

Spend a few minutes browsing the http://flycorvair.com/ web page. The Corvair was an automobile produced by General Motors in the 1960’s. What are the basic engine specifications for a Corviar-powered airplane (# cylinders and orientation, Horsepower, Torque, fuel flow rate (GPH)?)

http://flycorvair.com/

http://www.fly-kr.com/index.html

http://www.howstuffworks.com/iron.htm - please write a 1 paragraph summary of the information you find on this EXCELLENT web page about iron and iron casting.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/aluminum.htm - please write a 1 paragraph summary of the primary DIFFERENCES between aluminum and steel/iron based on the information you find on this EXCELLENT web page.

Please complete this work TODAY so that when Mr. Harrison is here tomorrow and Friday, you can fully participate in the discussion. Again, there is NO NEED to print your MS Word doc, just DO the work and SAVE it in your I drive.

I think our work with Mr. Harrison this Winter/Spring will be a very unique effort that you will remember for a long time. Have an open mind and ask A LOT of questions. The time he shares with us is very valuable and it will open the doors to many, many potential career paths that might interest you.

Homework – Make sure you come to class with your SciVis Notebook set up the way I explained in my Course Info & Expectations. Also, make sure Unit B and C notes are complete. I will be back sometime next week and will check these things first.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/aluminum.htm

http://www.howstuffworks.com/iron.htm

January 31, 2012 – SciVis II

Essential Questions – Why isn’t my “Contact Me” assignment from last Friday (1/27) getting done (by the vast majority of you)?


I have had a total of SIX people from ALL of my classes that did the “Contact Me” assignment from last Friday. Obviously, we have some kind of failure to communicate. At this point, I think I need to shift gears and figure out where the failure is coming from.

Let’s try this – Would you please use the “Contact Me” tab on my web page to answer these questions for me?

How do you access my Daily Plans each day (this will be true EVEN when I am back in the classroom)?

What do you do with the Daily Plan file once you open it each day?

If you use the scroll tool on the far right side of the screen in my Daily Plan file, what will you find “under” today’s Daily Plan?

If you miss a class or get behind in your work, how do you find out what your makeup work consists of?

Is there something I could be doing to make the process of “getting assignments to you” easier?

Class Activities – Please take out your Note Packets (Units A – C) and fill in ALL of the blanks for Units B and C. You can find all the master copies of the notes on my web page under “Classroom Documents.” Once you have finished the notes, please go back and finish ALL of the work I have given you since last Tuesday. Just scroll to the bottom of this document and work your way back up. Read and DO the work.

Once you are done with that, please tackle the next GameMaker tutorial that you have not completed and make sure you are saving ALL of your games to YOUR I:\ Drive folder.

Thanks for your cooperation and I know this would have been easier if I had a chance to work with you for more than one day this semester.

Homework – Visit http://students.autodesk.com/ and check out some freebies

http://students.autodesk.com/


Essential Questions – What’s up with Mr. Harrison and the “Airplane Project”?


I did not know that Mr. Harrison was coming by last week to start talking about “The Airplane Project” with you. I think that is going to be a GREAT experience where you will learn about flight, piloting, aerodynamics, structural materials, and how to build a real airplane. Be flexible and open and I assure you that Mr. Harrison will be presenting some great opportunities for us and we will see him every couple of weeks for the entire semester.

At the same time, it appears that we got off-track last week b/c I posted a 1/26 Daily Plan that never really got done. So, let’s back up and call today a “Catch Up Day” for both you and Mr. Hager, the sub. Will someone please check with Mr. Hager that he has access to the same Daily Plan that you do? If he does not, will ONE person please print this out for him?

Class Activities – Go back and DO/FINISH all of the Daily Plan work from last week. There were very few people that finished the “Contact Me” assignment from the Friday D.P (Kameron, Ivan, Shadae, Chris) – so will those folks please help any classmates that can’t figure it out (Kameron, please help Saroya)? Also, will one of you please review the Thursday D.P. with Mr. Hager so you can have a class discussion about my “Course Info & Expectations” handout?

So, in a nutshell, just go back and start on Day 1 and make sure you have done ALL the work for EACH day of last week. Once you have, please press on with your GameMaker tutorials and then tomorrow I will ask you to submit a “Game Theme” proposal to me.

Homework – Visit http://students.autodesk.com/ and check out some freebies

http://students.autodesk.com/


Essential Questions – What are the basic elements of a “successful” video game?

Focus Activity – Thanks for navigating to the “Classroom Documents” tab > “SciVis II – Daily Plans.doc” section of my web page. It is VERY important that you understand this is YOUR responsibility – whether you are present or absent. One of my least favorite things to hear from students is “I didn’t know I had to do that work because I was absent….” Please read/DO the daily plan every day and go back and scan (SCROLL DOWN) the old ones on occasion to ensure you have not missed anything.

Today is the actual “Due Date” for ALL of the paperwork I gave you on Day 1. I know the sub probably checked most of you off on that yesterday. If you still owed me one or two items, please submit them today.

Did you find any cool links on my web page yesterday? Do you know how I keep my page up-to-date? I have YOU provide me links to good content. So, today I want you to do a google search for “elements of a great video game” or “game maker video game tips” or something similar.

Class Activities – I want you to use the “Contact Me” tab on my web page today to share with me 3 things:

1. How did the Course Info/Expectations discussion go yesterday and what are the FOUR tabs that I have asked you to set up in your SciVis notebook?

2. Based on your research during the focus activity or prior knowledge, what are the TOP 5 elements of a great video game?

3. Please give me the URL of three good web pages that you visited during the focus activity. I want to build a new tab or two on my page to deal with Game Design and I can’t do it without your help. Please give me the address of the BEST sites you visited.

I am sitting at the hospital waiting for the “Contact Me” emails to roll in and I will grade them from here. PLEASE do not view this as “optional,” I want to see each one of you answer these questions in the “Contact Me” tab.

After completing this, please go back to the Game Maker tutorials that you have been working on. I want each of you to progress through the first three or four tutorials by early next week. Have fun and learn something.

My goal for next week is for each of you to brainstorm some ideas for a game that will WIN the STEM Game Design Challenge. I will have you work on games with the following “themes” (yes – I am tricking you into learning Unit E)

Cell Biology Gel Electrophoresis Plate Tectonics

Simple Machines

Homework – It’s Friday…. You don’t have any homework. At the same time, if you really want to “get good” at the software in my class, the best way is to do some work at home. So, if you have a computer that can handle it, please download Game Maker Lite (http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/windows) at home and keep working on the software.

http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/windows


Essential Questions – What are my basic expectations for you to be successful in this course?

Focus Activity – Congratulations again!!! If you are reading this, you have found my webpage, navigated to the “Classroom Documents” tab, and opened up “SciVis II – Daily Plans.doc” My expectation is that you will do this EVERY Day and also READ and DO the Daily Plans for any days that you are absent. It is YOUR responsibility to complete ANY/ALL work that you miss.

Again, please sit at the same computer as yesterday.

My wife gave birth to a baby boy yesterday afternoon, so I will be out for a little while helping out around the house. I will continue to post your work to the Daily Plans from afar. Thanks for being model students for my sub!!

Today, I want you to allow the substitute teacher to put some 100’s in my Grade Book for your work. He will call you up and ask you to show him the Unit B notes from yesterday, collect your Student Info Sheet, Computer Use Rules sheet (if SIGNED on both sides), and clip off the back part of the Course Info/Expectations Sheet that you READ and SIGNED with your parents.

While he is calling students up for these EASY 100’s, your job is to BROWSE my ENTIRE Web Page. I have some good stuff

in there and I am always on the prowl for new links. If you have a good one that should become part of my page, please tell me!

Class Activities – Please take 20 minutes and browse my entire web page. Yes, it really should take you at least that long to stumble through my site and some of the great hyperlinks I have set up. In particular, please make sure you spend time looking at “Higher Education in SciVis,” and “Career Paths.” I have links to some great companies and colleges where you could pursue this field of study. If you find dead/bad links – please report them to me. The best way to contact me right now is via the “Contact Me” tab on my web page!

At some point in this class period, I want all of you to come to the middle of the room, as directed by the sub. When you do this, I want you to allow the sub to lead a discussion about my Course Info/Expectations. We ALL need to make sure we understand my policies for this classroom. Binders, making up late work, how much are tests worth, etc., etc. – it’s ALL in there and you are SIGNING that you read it. So, let’s at least read it together for a few minutes.

After these other things have been completed, please continue to work on your GameMaker tutorials and think of what you might make a “STEM Game” look like. I KNOW that cool, fun, and educational game is going to win someone a laptop this Spring. Why can’t it be US?

Homework – Take home Course Information and Expectations AND SciVis Tech Rules hand outs. Get them signed (front AND back) where applicable.

Both papers are due back to me, SIGNED, No Later Than Friday, January 27, 2012.


Essential Questions – How will we “take notes” in Scientific Visualization this semester?

Focus Activity – Congratulations!!! If you are reading this, you have found my webpage, navigated to the “Classroom Documents” tab, and opened up “SciVis II – Daily Plans.doc” If you missed class yesterday, please pick up one copy each of the following:

Student Information Sheet Course Information and Expectations SciVis Computer Use Rules SciVis II Syllabus (& stapled note packets A – C)

Please go to the SAME computer you sat at yesterday (and continue to use this same computer all semester unless otherwise directed). Please take out your SciVis II Syllabus/Note Packet. I would like for you to open the “SciVis II – Class Notes.doc” file from the same webpage as the Daily Plans. This document contains ALL the notes we will need for this entire class!

To get started today, please browse around this document for a few minutes to get a feel for how it’s set up. Then, go to “UNIT B:

Advanced Tools of Visualization” and work on filling in the blanks in your copy of the notes. I want you to complete pages 1 – 4 of Unit B. Once you do so, please show them to the substitute teacher.

Class Activities –

Let’s revisit the contest site:


As I mentioned yesterday – I want someone from Atkins to WIN THIS CONTEST. Your game MUST have a “STEM Theme” and I will help you with this when I get back. For now – in your SciVis notebook, spend four minutes coming up with TEN different brainstormed ideas for a “STEM Game Theme.” WRITE THESE DOWN and show them to the substitute teacher and he will sign you off.

Re-read yesterday’s Daily Plan on how to access GameMaker. If you didn’t finish your first game (using the tutorial), then please pick up where you left off. If you did, just roll on to the 2nd Tutorial (Scrolling Shooters) and follow EACH INSTRUCTION.

SAVE your work in I:\2011-2012\Students drive folder as “My First Game Maker Game.”





Essential Questions – What is “Scientific Visualization” all about & how will SciVis II be different than SciVis I?

Focus Activity – Please pick up one copy each of the following:

Student Information Sheet Course Information and Expectations SciVis Computer Use Rules SciVis II Syllabus (& stapled note packets A – C)

Please choose a seat in the middle of the room and begin quietly filling in the Student Information Sheet on your desk (BOTH sides). Take your time and print as clearly as you can. This form will help me be a better instructor by letting me know a little bit about you.

Class Activities – After completing the Student Info Sheet, please do likewise with the Computer Use Rules and Course Info & Expectations. All of these are double sided and a few of them require signatures (yours and your parents). Please get ALL of these sheets read, completed, and turned in to me NO LATER than FRIDAY, 1/27/2012 for your first homework grade.

For today, please KEEP all of these papers in your SciVis Notebook, which you should bring to class each day. Once you

show me completed copies of the above handouts, I would like you to log on to a computer and visit


Once there, please click on “About” and browse the site. After that, click on “High School Registration” and carefully read the rules. I would like to incorporate this national contest into our curriculum and give you a chance to win a new laptop and $2000 for our SciVis Lab. We will enter this game as individuals and we will use “Game Maker” to create our STEM Game. After reading about the basics of the contest, I want you to create your first game using the very well-written tutorial found w/in the Game Maker program.

Please open Game Maker by going to I:\2011-2012\Eckart – Class Info\GameMaker. Once there, click on the GameMaker icon and follow ALL the instructions in the right-hand panel that says “Tutorial – Your First Game.” YES, that’s right…… there are 15 pages of simple instructions in the tutorial and YES, the game is REALLY simple. This is a good chance for you to see that CREATING game content is a little more involved than just sitting down and playing. Take your time, have fun, and really get to know the Game Maker interface because this is the platform we will be using next year in our Game Design class.

One note of caution – I know Minecraft is free, fun, and a little addicting. We are NOT here to play Minecraft. Similarly, we are not here to have you take out your headphones and listen to music while tuning out on the class. Either one of these actions


will result in a “one warning and you’re out” scenario. This class can be taught 100% via textbook. Please follow all the course expectations and computer use rules and you will be fine!

SAVE your work in I:\2011-2012\Students drive folder as “My First Game Maker Game.”

