Category Archives: Space

May 31, 2015 · 6:55 pm

3 D Space Fun! Augmented Reality Style!

We have been having a lot of fun with our Space theme! We created this movie trailer in iMovie using the pictures we created using a green screen app called Green Screen by Do Ink and the NASA 3D Spacecraft app. We took all the pictures we created and popped them into the storyboard in the iMovie app and then worked together to add the captions! We LOVE our movie trailer. We have watched it numerous times! We hope you will watch it too!

We used the movie trailer to get our imaginations going. We brainstormed together and talked about the things we had learned about space. Then I encouraged the children to write a story about their adventure in outer space. I printed off a colour print of the picture we created for each child and added it to a writing frame. The children seemed to find it very easy to imagine themselves in the story when they saw themselves in outer space. They wrote and wrote and wrote!

The stories are amazing. I have put them up in the hallway. Please come and have a look!

I attached the movie trailer to the creative writing using the Aurasma app. The rocket ship picture is the trigger picture for our movie trailer.

If you have the Aurasma app loaded on your idevice and you follow our channel you will be able to activate the movie trailer! Our channel is called mrsantonsclass.

The stories are amazing and a lot of fun to read!

Come and take a trip with our Mountain View Astronauts!

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Filed under Augmented Reality, Aurasma, Green Screen, iPads, Space, Spacecraft 3D, Youtube

Tagged as Augmented Reality, aurasma, Creative Writing, Green Screen by Do Ink, iMovie trailer, ipads, space, Spacecraft 3D, Youtube

May 19, 2015 · 9:14 pm

Fun in Space! Using Green Screen and Augmented Reality!

We have been having a lot of fun with our new green screen app called Green Screen by Do Ink and an app I found last year called NASA Spacecraft 3D.

The NASA Spacecraft 3D app is an amazing augmented reality app! You can download a trigger image from their website, and use it to view an amazing variety of spacecraft that NASA has deployed in space over the last few decades. My favorite is the Curiosity spacecraft that went to Mars. I showed the children a few examples of the various spacecraft and then they chose one to pose with. Last year we took the pictures with the classroom for a background but this year we have green screen technology! We used our improvised green screen made of construction paper on the back of our classroom door to take the pictures this time. Now we can add an background from outer space!

We quickly were reminded that you cannot be wearing green!

When we put the picture taken with the green shirt as one of the images in the green screen app we found out that part of Celia had disappeared! She quickly put on her sweatshirt and we retook her picture!

I have downloaded a variety of images from the internet to use as our background images. The children picked the image they wanted to have in the background too! Now I have to figure out how to add videos to our green screen images!

The NASA Spacecraft 3D app is fun because not only does the trigger image allow access to a variety of spacecraft it also show them moving! It also gives a lot of information about the various spacecraft!

We will be using these images as a starting point to generate some creative writing!

It is a bit easier to imagine yourself in space when you have a picture that shows you there!

Watch for the voyages of the Starship Mountain View!

To boldly go where no child has gone before!

(Courtesy of Green Screen and augmented reality technology!)

(I love Star Trek!, Can you tell?)

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Filed under Augmented Reality, Green Screen, iPads, Space, Spacecraft 3D

Tagged as Augmented Reality, green screen, Green Screen by Do Ink, ipads, NASA stpacecraft 3D

June 12, 2014 · 7:18 am

Space Travel AR Style!

We took all the pages we had created about Space using the Strip Designer app and put them together to create a book using the Explain Everything app!

Then the students recorded the captions on each page and we saved the project to the camera roll. I uploaded the video to Youtube so we can share it with everyone.

We wrote stories about a space trip using the pictures we created using the Spacecraft 3D app. Each child choose the spacecraft that they wanted to have their picture taken with and then posed with their choice.

I took their picture within the app with the trigger activated and we used this picture as the spark to trigger some creative writing!

I also attached the space video using Aurasma to the creative writing project!

They wrote and they wrote and they wrote!

The trigger for the movie is on the cover of their project. I will send home the aura I created in Aurasma via email.

They love viewing their work augmented reality style!

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Filed under Augmented Reality, Aurasma, Comic Strip Designer, Explain Everything, Space, Spacecraft 3D, Youtube

Tagged as Augmented Reality, aurasma, explain everything, ipads

April 28, 2014 · 9:01 pm

Furry Fun Plus iPad Fun!

Last week we had a wonderful field trip to the vet clinic! We got a tour of the vet clinic and even got to listen to this dog’s heart beat!

This lovely dog let everyone listen to her heartbeat.

Sometimes two students at a time! So gentle!

This is the outfit you need to put on before you can take an x-ray of your pet! It was surprisingly heavy!

Looking at the x-rays of the animals was really interesting.

We even had one student get suited up for surgery! Can you guess who?

This teddy bear is laying on a special pad that keeps it warm during surgery!

When I asked the children to tell me their favorite part of the trip most of them said, “All of it!”

Last week the district set of iPads was delivered to our school and we have been having a great time creating books and pictures with them. We have also been practicing a variety of math and reading skills with some really neat apps.

Montesorri Words is a great app that works on spelling words. It begins with simple three and four letter words and progresses to more difficult words and crossword activities. After each correct answer the student is rewarded with an interesting animation. They love it!

We have also played Chicktionary. The students are given 8 letters and encouraged to see how many words they can create using the letters. You gain points for each word you find! We played this game with our Big Buddies on Friday! I think one group got 7200 points!

We also had some fun creating space pictures using Doodle Buddy!

Doodle Buddy is an awesome little app and we have also been using it and Strip Designer to make math stories! More on that next post! Here is a sneak peak!

$math 1$

$math book 3$

Pretty cool!

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Filed under Doodle Buddy, iPads, Space, Vet Field trip

Tagged as chicktionary, Doodle Buddy projects, ipads, montesorri words, space

April 6, 2014 · 1:29 pm

Writing to Mars and Spacecraft AR Style!

We have been having a lot of fun with a variety of apps I have found about space. This one has become a favourite! It is another Augmented Reality app called Spacecraft 3D. This is an app from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology.

You download a marker and then place the iPad over the marker and this lovely 3D image appears. The best part is that you can take your picture with it! There are 13 different spacecraft that you can view including the Curiosity and Hubble telescope!

There are animations and information about each of the spacecraft!

We had fun looking at the spacecraft and choosing which one we wanted to have a picture with. The children then posed with the image and these are some of the cool results.

We also watched this video about the Curiosity landing on Mars! The graphics are amazing and the children were completely captivated. There were some great explanations of how everything was created just for this spacecraft!

While we were learning about the Curiosity spacecraft I found a cool NASA website that focused on the Mars expeditions. There are a lot of cool links on the site including one that lets you send a postcard to the Curiosity spacecraft on Mars! Too cool! Of course, we had to send a postcard!

If you would like to send your own postcard to Mars I have added a link for the postcard site on our class WIKI page in the Science section!

Another app we have had some fun with is called Space Journey. I love this app! It lets you choose a planet and then see it in relation to its place in the solar system!

You can pick from any of the planets in our solar system and then see it in space in relation to the other planets and the sun. Of course we had to try them all!

We got a little dizzy spinning around our solar system! You can move the planet around and see what it sees around it!

We are having too much fun with all the space apps! And there are many more!

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Filed under Augmented Reality, Space

Tagged as Curiosity spacecraft, ipads, Mars, Mars Postcard, Space Journey, Spacecraft 3D

March 25, 2014 · 6:59 pm

Space Fun plus AR Math Fun!

We have been working on a space theme this month. The children have been using the iPads to create these awesome pages about space.

We have been learning about the moon and the sun. We watched a few cool videos on Brain Pop Jr. about the phases of the moon.

I downloaded some neat space images from the internet onto the camera roll of the iPads. Then I showed the children how to import the pictures from the camera roll into an app called Strip Designer. It is one of my favorite apps.

After that short demonstration I handed the iPads over to the children.

They worked as partners and chose the pictures they wanted and placed them in the cells on the page. Then, with a little help, they added a text box describing the image.

The children are fearless. They pop in and out of the camera roll, sizing and re-sizing their pictures to fit the spaces and then deciding on the various options for captions and the accompanying text with ease.

I think the product looks amazing! Grade One students can do a lot, can’t they?

We also found an really neat math app called Fetch! Lunch Rush.

It uses augmented reality in a really neat way to help the students practice their adding skills.

You need to download some pages with the number trigger images and cut them out first. The students have to help find the correct amount of sushi to complete the addition sentence.

The funny little dog talks them through the process. Several children can play at the same time. They choose the player they would like to be and then take turns solving the problems. When they aim the iPad at the correct answer the sushi rolls appear in 3 D! It keeps score and there is a bit of a time element! Very popular!

Don’t you want to play too?

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Filed under Augmented Reality, Comic Strip Designer, iPads, Math, Space

Tagged as Augmented Reality, Fetch! Lunch Rush, ipads, math, space

March 9, 2014 · 9:10 pm

Space Fun! AR Style!

We had some fun with this new app this week! It is called AR Flashcards Space. These cards are from the same company that made the Alphabet AR Flashcards. They are very cool! You need to print off the cards in color and then hold the device over the picture and the augmented reality image appears!

We have started a new theme about Space. So these cards are a fun place to start!

We also watched some of the videos Chris Hadfield made while he was at the Space Station! They are awesome! Ever wonder how astronauts sleep in space? Take a look!

My favorite is this one because I love chocolate cake!

We have been working with the Doodle Buddy app to work on some math concepts and story writing activities.

The children have been creating 100 stamp collections using the stamps. They had to choose 10 different stamps and create 10 sets of 10!

We also used the app to create one of the pages for our snowman books.

I finally broke down and bought the extra pages for the CoLAR app. Very glad I did!

This little guy is really cute! The children have to color him front and back and add his face details! It is amazing to see him pop up looking just like the drawing the children have just done!

We had a lot going on this week! We also had our first Skype call to the classroom! Will tell you more about that soon! Lots of fun!

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Filed under 100 Day, AR Flashcards Space, Augmented Reality, Chris Hadfield, Doodle Buddy, iPads, Snowman Project, Space

Tagged as AR Space Flashcards, Augmented Reality, Chris Hadfield, doodle buddy, ipads, Snowman Project

May 6, 2013 · 10:40 pm

Wacky Water Fun! Space Age Style!

Ever wonder what it would be like to eat dessert in space with zero gravity! Take a look!

Today was very special because we got to watch Chris Hadfield, our astronaut at the International Space Station sing in real time! We tried to watch the live link from the Space Station but we experienced some technical difficulties. So we got bits and pieces at a time but it was still live! Imagine that! Really cool to watch and realize that Commander Hadfield was singing with thousands of children in a live concert from space! We ended up watching the cool videos he has been creating about his experiments in space. One of the really cool ones was about that happens to water in space. Take a look!