1. Teaching Details
What we emphasize: Creativity, procedure planning, logical thinking, observing ability, concentration, patience
What we emphasize: Creativity, procedure planning, logical thinking, observing ability, concentration, patience
1. Watch a "behind scenes" video from Pixar. (Get motivated!)
2. Brief introduction of Alice3 interface (Simulation window, code area, Function tab, Procedure Tab...)
3. Demonstration of setting up scene, use "functions" and "procedures" to manipulate the 3D object.
4. First try for students: what can be done to an object and what is the result? - translational movement, rotation about different axis (joints) and some basic tips about animating different classes of objects.
To avoid endless scene-setup or shallow works, the concept of LEGO Mindstorm will be borrowed, in which a construction guide is provided for the students to follow in the beginning. They will get the "sense" of 3D programming in the "copying" and "modifying" process and after doing this for once or twice, they will be able to create animations independently.
A piece of walking cycle code in Alice3:
(The following code is the first version, a better version is used among the students now)
Problem solving - Find a Method for Animation
I will not waste too much time in teaching the things which are available in every beginner tutorial online, for example how to add a
bird, how to resize it and put it in a desired position and orientation. Normally children learn those things very fast.
By the way, I have seen a lot of Alice examples in youtube, in which figures moving around the scene without any leg movement and saying something in dialog bubbles. They are not bad animations, particularly for young learners and beginners, but with the time we could definitely do more to make the animations look more interesting - For example, a walking man should move his left and right legs alternatively while he moves from one point to another.
To animate a walking man, I used a walking-frames image from the internet. The animation code could be derived from those frames (Do you know time-lapse animation?).
In Alice3 the animation code of one-cycle-walk can be semantically described as:
LOOP SART
Sequential do:
Parallel do: Rotate left hip, Rotate left knee, whole body move forward
Parallel do: Rotate left knee, Rotate right hip, whole body move forward
Parallel do: Rotate left hip, Rotate right hip, Rotate right knee, whole body move forward
Paralle do: Rotate left hip, rotate left knee, rotate right hip, whole body move forward
Parallel do: Rotate left hip, rotate left knee, rotate right hip, whole body move forward
LOOP END
To make the man walk more than one cycle, I add a "Loop" to the code above.
The students will be encouraged to find out their own methods. (We got some stop-motion apps, maybe we could get some frames from a student dancing and animate it?)
Besides Animation, What Else will the Children learn?
Students will learn some basic knowledge of object-oriented programming language. In Alice3 they will learn to understand the difference between procedure and function and use them both in their coding. The concept of class and object will also be introduced.
3. Environment introduction
By the way, I have seen a lot of Alice examples in youtube, in which figures moving around the scene without any leg movement and saying something in dialog bubbles. They are not bad animations, particularly for young learners and beginners, but with the time we could definitely do more to make the animations look more interesting - For example, a walking man should move his left and right legs alternatively while he moves from one point to another.
To animate a walking man, I used a walking-frames image from the internet. The animation code could be derived from those frames (Do you know time-lapse animation?).
In Alice3 the animation code of one-cycle-walk can be semantically described as:
LOOP SART
Sequential do:
Parallel do: Rotate left hip, Rotate left knee, whole body move forward
Parallel do: Rotate left knee, Rotate right hip, whole body move forward
Parallel do: Rotate left hip, Rotate right hip, Rotate right knee, whole body move forward
Paralle do: Rotate left hip, rotate left knee, rotate right hip, whole body move forward
Parallel do: Rotate left hip, rotate left knee, rotate right hip, whole body move forward
LOOP END
To make the man walk more than one cycle, I add a "Loop" to the code above.
The students will be encouraged to find out their own methods. (We got some stop-motion apps, maybe we could get some frames from a student dancing and animate it?)
Besides Animation, What Else will the Children learn?
Students will learn some basic knowledge of object-oriented programming language. In Alice3 they will learn to understand the difference between procedure and function and use them both in their coding. The concept of class and object will also be introduced.
3. Environment introduction
Alice is an free innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation or generating an interactive game for young programmers. It can be used as an educational tool which leads a way into object-oriented programming for students aged 10 or above.
In Alice's interactive interface, students can drag and drop graphic tiles, which are the program statements, to create a program. Alice3 also allows students to see how their animation programs run immediately, enabling an easy understanding of animation programming.
In Alice's interactive interface, students can drag and drop graphic tiles, which are the program statements, to create a program. Alice3 also allows students to see how their animation programs run immediately, enabling an easy understanding of animation programming.
