Tesni Stephen

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C E   &   A D V O C A C Y

Stop Motion Videos for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Overview: In this unit, the students of this Exceptional Education science class will learn about the concept of interdependence, as seen in both ecosystems and their classroom and school communities. Students will move from learning about systems as a whole, to their individual responsibility within these systems, and finally to advocating for the health of the system. We will look at artists that address systems, advocate for environmental issues, and utilize stop motion animation. Our exemplar artists will be OK GO, Maya Lin, Susie Ganch, and Hiroshi Fuji. Students will work in groups to create a stop motion video which illustrates what happens when one part of a healthy system is taken away or altered. These videos will specifically address human threats to the biggest watershed in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Big Idea: Interdependence  

a. Key Concepts: Relationships, Responsibility, Advocacy

b. Essential Questions:

1. How do we all depend on each other in a system or community? What happens when you alter someone or something?

2. What is my part in our system or community? Why am I important?

3. How can communication help raise awareness? How does advocacy work to improve our communities or systems?

Rationale: Last semester, students learned about cause and effect in the context of kindness. This unit will continue these emphases by focusing on the concept of cause and effect in systems, as well as the importance of healthy relationships. Within ecosystems, every animal has its niche and the abiotic and biotic factors are dependent on one another. Students will create stop-motion videos that illustrate the interdependence of parts in an ecosystem, advocating for conservation within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. During the process of creating these videos in small groups, every person has a job or niche within their system. This will allow students to learn about the overarching concept of ecosystems, and how systems are made up of individual parts. Finally, they will focus specifically on the concept of a watershed and what they can do to advocate for its preservation and conservation.

Target Student Group: 11/12/13-year-old 6th & 7th graders; urban inner city middle school, Exceptional Education Science class (8 students)

Cultural Responsiveness: Within the classroom, Mrs. Valentine and Mrs. Fuller emphasize the importance of seeing one another as members of a family. This unit builds on that foundation and emphasizes working together as a team, acknowledging each other’s strengths, showing respect for one another, and making a difference in our community. The class consists of different ages and abilities, and everyone brings their own talents to the table. Working together to create the advocacy videos will help students appreciate each other and contribute to a healthy classroom atmosphere.

Specific Unit Objectives: Students will communicate their understanding of interdependence within ecosystems and advocate for their environment by creating stop motion videos within groups that specifically address human threats to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. By creating backgrounds out of marbled paper and found objects, building characters out of sculpey, and developing storyboards, they will engage in each step of the filming process, while simultaneously learning about interdependence, the three types of ecosystems, and conservation.

Lesson 1- Introduction to Ecosystems and Interdependence

Objective: We will start by introducing ourselves once more and explain that we will be at Binford Middle School for two weeks teaching about science through art. Students will begin by playing a “human machine game” where each student is a working part of the “machine”. We will talk about what happens when you take one part or person out of this machine or alter it. Students will watch an OK GO video which includes a Rube Goldberg machine. We will talk about these artists and how they use the theme of interdependence. We will break down the term interdependence and what that means. In relation to this, students will be introduced to different ecosystems including terrestrial and aquatic and relate it to our own communities. In ecosystems, everything is reliant on each other, including living and nonliving organisms. We will relate this to students by talking about football or dance teams, which students have expressed interest in. Finally, we will talk about our niche within our systems and what we contribute to our communities. We will create artwork which consists of our names in bubble letters surrounded by words or symbols that express these ideas. We will show a claymation video and explain that we will be working in groups to create these videos about our ecosystem in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Our name art will be included in our title or ending slides for the videos.

Lesson 2- Watersheds & Background

Objective: We will review and solidify the concept of interdependence, with examples provided by students and teachers. After being introduced to the concept of systems and the two different types of ecosystems on day one, students will learn specifically about the aquatic ecosystem of a watershed. We will discuss why water is important and do an experiment about pollution in the watershed. Students will review the concept of interdependence and apply it to their group work; groups will be assigned for the duration of the unit. Students will observe the beauty of the watershed in Maya Lin’s work about the Chesapeake Bay. Finally, we will create our own marbleized paper using shaving cream for the backgrounds. I will emphasize that we will cut up the paper later to create our collaborative backgrounds.

Lesson 3- Chesapeake Bay & Storyboards

Objective: We will discuss the concept of cause and effect, and I will remind them of the Rube Goldberg lesson from Monday. Tesni and I will do a skit that involves cause and effect. Then, this scenario will be fleshed out into an example storyboard. The students will learn specifically about the Chesapeake Bay, as well as human threats to it by watching short videos. We will focus on conservation, water quality, and other issues affecting the bay. I will ask them what the causes and effects are in these videos. Next, the groups will receive their scenarios for their stop motion movies. The students will make storyboards within their groups that portray their situations. The scenarios will include: pesticides/fertilizer being put into the water supply, erosion, and factories dumping waste water/sewage. Actual animals from the Chesapeake bay will be included on their handouts for the storyboards. We will emphasize that they are developing the characters on Friday, so they are just focusing on the plot line, including the causes and effects involved in their scenario. Later, they can put a personal touch on their characters by making them resemble themselves in certain details.

Lesson 4- Found Object Environments for our Video Backgrounds

Objective: We will finish our storyboards, go over the production schedule for the rest of our time together, and talk about time management. We will share each group’s stories. We will look at artwork by Hiroshi Fuji and local artist Susie Ganch. We will analyze it and discuss what they are made of and why the artists may have used recycled materials to create their work. We will define advocacy as a group and recognize how art can be a tool for advocacy. We will talk about how the purpose of our videos is to raise awareness of problems in our watershed and advocate for change. We will then create found object scenes for our backgrounds. We will also discuss how the environment is not just your physical space, but also the ambiance and feeling of the space. We will talk about what our own part in creating this environment is, and why we are important. In order to finish creating by the end of class, we will talk about delegating tasks and working as a team: i.e. making different parts like the bay floor or props, etc. Students will also consider if they need to make anything for their human intervention; i.e. oxygen bubbles, dirt, pesticides, etc.  

Lesson 5- Making our Characters

Objective: Our final class before filming in the next week is to make individual characters that represent each person in the group. Students can choose any animal that resides in the Chesapeake bay and will give it physical characteristics that represent them. I will show examples. We will work with non-drying clay in order to create our characters for our stop motion movies.
 

Lesson 6- Setting the Stage for Stop-Motion

Objective: The students will review vocabulary from the previous classes, including watersheds, Chesapeake Bay, and interdependence. Students will review the concept of advocacy, by watching a skit and identifying the example of advocacy present. Students will watch the example stop-motion video by Ms. Stephen and I, identifying what we added and discovering how we filmed it. Students will watch a slow-motion version to help with understanding the making of the video. Students will watch a demo on how to create additional props and signs, as well as how to use the iPads to create titles. Finally, students will create their backgrounds, props and signs. When done with these, they will be able to start filming their titles for their stop-motion videos.

Lesson 7- Filming our stop motion movie

Objective: We will begin by practicing pronouncing advocacy and doing a snapshot about one thing people know, remember, or can draw about advocacy. We will share our thoughts. Then we will finish making our props, signs, and title page. Once we have finished our individual items, we will set up our stop motion movie station and film our titles. We will be sure to have our storyboard for our parts to organize our thoughts before we begin. I will demonstrate different techniques in movement for stop motion animation. I will also demonstrate parts of the stop motion studio app including the timer and ghost images. We will discuss interdependence once more and exhibit it through Mrs. Bleam and I making a skit of division of labor for filming: one person film, one person move, and one person get the next scene ready. We will work for the entire class, talk about Interdependence at the end, and how we all helped each other. We will also be responsible for cleaning up our sets.

Lesson 8- Finishing the Movie!

Objective: The students will review the interdependence example of the machine that they learned in the beginning of the unit. They will imagine themselves as a part of the “machine” and see how this relates to the Chesapeake Bay and their groups. Students will watch a skit of the incorrect way to make a video and identify the problematic areas of moving too fast and not communicating well. Students will then see a correct skit and learn how to slow down when filming, and how to fix problem areas in their videos. Students will finish filming their videos, and will fix any problem areas. Then, students will watch a sound demo and learn how to apply background music and sound effects. Students will choose and apply background music and sound effects. Finally, students will reflect on how they worked together and identify good examples of teamwork during class.

Lesson 9- Closure, Reflection, and Preparation for Premiere

Objective: For our last lesson, we want to reflect, review, get excited for our public premiere, and be able to talk about and be proud of our work. Students will review interdependence (both in life and in ecosystems) and advocacy (both in life and in our videos for the Chesapeake Bay watershed). We will start with a snapshot activity of drawing. We will then finish our videos by adding any necessary sounds or finishing touches. We will also create a “call to action” end in order to end our videos on a more positive note. Then we will work together to reflect on our experiences as a group working on this lengthy two week project.

Lesson 10- Premiere Party!

Objective: For our premiere we want to reflect, practice our group reflections about our videos, be able to talk about and be proud of our work, and get excited for our public premiere during class. Ms. Bleam and Ms. Stephen will talk about how to present to the public about our videos. We will delegate speaking parts and practice how we will speak. We will introduce our movies, premiere our movies, and also answer any questions from the public. Our goal is to feel proud of what we accomplished and the teamwork it took to get there, while also advocating for the Chesapeake Bay! Ms. Bleam and Ms. Stephen will also give out awards. We will then have a “gallery opening” in the back of the room with all of the artifacts of our videos on display. People are encouraged to ask the artists questions throughout.

Virginia Art SOLS

Grade 6:

6.1  The student will use, and record in a sketchbook/journal, steps of the art-making process, including brainstorming, preliminary sketching, planning, reflecting, refining, and elaborating, to create works of art.

• 6.8  The student will use modeling, assembling, or carving to create three-dimensional works of art.

• 6.11  The student will describe ways artists contribute to society through their work.

• 6.13  The student will explain the relationship between art-making processes and finished products.

• 6.17  The student will respond to questions about why artists create works of art.

Grade 7:

• 7.4  The student will communicate ideas, experiences, and narratives through the creation of works of art, using traditional and contemporary media.

• 7.9  The student will create three-dimensional works of art, using various processes to include clay hand-building techniques.

• 7.14 The student will identify subjects, themes, and symbols as they relate to meaning in works of art.

• 7.15  The student will apply processes of art criticism to evaluate works of art.

• 7.18  The student will analyze and reflect on the purposes and meaning of art.

• 7.19  The student will describe personal responses to visual qualities of works of art.

Science SOLS:

Grade 6 Living Systems:

• 6.7 The student will investigate and understand the natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems. Key concepts include

a)  the health of ecosystems and the abiotic factors of a watershed;

b)  the location and structure of Virginia’s regional watershed systems;

f)  major conservation, health, and safety issues associated with watersheds

GRADE 7:

• LS.6  The student will investigate and understand that organisms within an ecosystem are dependent on one another and on nonliving components of the environment. Key concepts include

c)  complex relationships within terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems