3D School Shows

We offer an ever growing list of 3D shows, a number of which have associated workshops and digital media competitions. Each of our shows is presented live, using our own interactive 3D software... they are not films!

Clicking on the item title or the "more:" link, will take you to each shows main page. You will find information about the room requirements  to host a 3D show here.

More than 25,000 students of all ages have taken part in one of our activities.

You can also find educational resources by clicking here.

Space - the Solar System & Beyond

Gravity

GRAVITY Challenge

This is a full day activity for up to 30 students, in teams of 4 or 5. Includes the 3D Gravity show. 

Target : P7 - S3  11yrs - 14yrs 

Hands on experiments, roller coaster challenge, make a movie to explain an experiment and create an advert for the roller coaster. More:

Maxwell's Rainbow

Presenter lead realtime 3D Show.

Target : S3 - S6 

Focuses on the electromagnetic spectrum and aims to follow the journey leading Maxwell to his theory that unified Magnetism, Electricity and Light. More :

3D Shows Currently In Development :

LHC 3D : It's All Down to Gravity

A new 3D school show being developed in conjunction with Dr Pete Edwards, Durham University. Will explain the science happening at the LHC, in a way that is suitable for S2 - S4.

BTBA & What does it mean to be Human?

This new 3D show takes audience involvement even further, by using voting pads to make decisions that determine what happens next. BTBA is a Biomedical show that explains how the body works by using both real medical 3D data and simplified 3D models. The show raises a number of ethical issues that are then discussed in the follow on debate and presentations can be submitted for the digital media competition. Target P7 - S1.  More details soon.

We have 30 free days to allocate on a first come basis!

If you are interested in BTBA, and are a school located in Scotland, then please contact us as soon as possible!  

Space II : Is there Anybody Out There?

The existing space show has been great for primary schools, but, we keep being asked if we can deliver it to a secondary school audience... so this new 3D show is designed to bridge that gap. It explores our solar system and the galaxy beyond 

3D : Space, the Solar System & Beyond

Space the Solar System & Beyond

Format : 45min 3D show + Q&A

Target : P5-P7

An amazing 3D school show, that comes to you!

* Inspires and Motivates

* Covers Curriculum for Space Topic P5-7

* Only £275 per day + travel, usually 4 shows - so can be less than £2 pupil

* No buses... we come to you.

Space - The Solar System and Beyond, is a curriculum based travelling school show that is presented using Stereoscopic Projection to create an immersive 3D experience that brings the "Wow" factor into the classroom and promotes understanding of complex and abstract concepts, motivates research and self learning, and has been voted the best thing they did all year by the children that have taken part....

Our journey starts with the earth in space: why we experience day and night, the different seasons and view the moon in various phases. From there we travel deeper into our solar system, examine the planets, investigate their relative sizes, temperatures and practice memorising their names. Next we cover some key space missions including the Apollo moon landing, we join the exploration rovers on the surface of Mars and the Cassini mission to Saturn. On the last leg of our expedition we see the stars of the Milky Way as never before, as we fly through the constellations discovering millions of stars, other solar systems and end with an appreciation of the vastness of our galaxy.

Space - The Solar System and Beyond, is a 40-45 minute program and usually four shows can be provided in a school day. The number of children per show will be determined by the size of room, which must have good blackout. Most AV rooms will accommodate a minimum of 20 children plus our large 2.4m screen and stereoscopic 3D projection system. Large audiences of up to 60 can be possible where room size permits. However, we recommend that around 30 to 40 pupils, is really best.

After school sessions and special events can also be provided, ask for details.

Book now! Only £275 + travel.

This includes up to four shows within normal school hours, additional shows after hours can be added for an additional fee, contact us for information.

Details about size of room etc; can be found here.

E: bookings "at" digitallearningfoundation.org

T: 07811 445657

Space - The Solar System and Beyond, was delivered as part of the Careers Scotland Blast Off To Science Space School visits during June 2006, it was part of the Careers Scotland Science and Technology Matters programme and was presented at the 2005 HMIE Conference, Dunblane Hydro as an example of innovation in learning.

Contact us :

If you or your school would like more information or to book one of our activities, our contact information is here. We will then contact you to discuss your requirements in more detail.

3D : Maxwell's Rainbow

Maxwell's Rainbow 3D Travelling Show

As part of the James Clerk Maxwell year celebrations, the DLF were commissioned by the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation to produce an inspirational 3D show that introduces the work of Maxwell to both a general audience and S3 and above students. The show focuses on his work on the electromagnetic spectrum and aims to take the participants on the journey of discovery that lead to Maxwell's theory that unified Magnetism, Electricity and Light.

Our initial funding was for 30 days of shows in schools anywhere in Scotland. So, to help select those schools we held a digital media competition.

The results are here : What Maxwell Did For Us

The project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and over 5,000 students have seen the show. Music is by PJ Moore. The show uses the same passive stereo 3D technology that has been used to great effect in our "Space- the Solar System and Beyond" Traveling shows.

Image gallery from Edinburgh Science Festival

Image gallery from School Tour

Image gallery from Orkney Science Festival Tour

Please contact the Digital Learning Foundation if you are interested in booking this show.

Commissioned by the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation and Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund

3D : Bring them back ALIVE!

Coming Soon

This new 3D show takes audience involvement even further, by using voting pads to make decisions that determine what happens next. BTBA is a Biomedical show that explains how the body works by using both real medical 3D data and simplified 3D models. The show raises a number of ethical issues that are then discussed in the follow on debate. Multi-media presentations on the topic "What it means to be HUMAN" are then submitted for a digital media competition.

Target P7 - S1.  

Time : Double Period + competition

More details soon.

We have 20 free days to allocate on a first come basis!

If you are interested in BTBA, and are a school located in Scotland, then please contact us as soon as possible!  

Medical and technology advances will soon challenge the definition of what it means to be human, are we ready to make informed decisions?  

What The Future Holds :

Redefining Disability

Prosthetics Now :

The Future of Surgery :

Genetics :

Growing Organs  and Regeneration :

Fighting Cancer :

The Brain :

Lifestyle And Health :

Synthetic Life :

Robotics :

Modelling Life With Medical Animation :

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

LHC 3D : It's all down to Gravity!

COMING SOON

via cdsweb.cern.ch

LHC 3D : It's all down to Gravity!

A new 3D school show being developed in conjunction with Dr Pete Edwards, Durham University, that aims to explain the work that is happening at the LHC to find the Higgs Boson amongst other things. 

Will be suitable for Keystage 3 & 4 (13-16yrs).

A gallery of images from our visit to the LHC/CERN can be found here : Gallery

Funding received from the Science & Technology Facilities Council

3D Show Requirements

Requirements:

* Good Blackout!

* Seating for audience

* Tables and power for our equipment

* Large enough room for audience

Download the above layout  here :  layout

The following images are from a number of different schools, showing different arrangements of the equipment. As you can see, we are very flexible and as long as the room is dark and large enough we will be able to make it work.

Images of shows can be found here : Gallery

Our system includes the following equipment : 

3D Screen :  

2.4m x 1.8m demountable 3D screen

Projectors: 

A pair of NEC DLP projectors in a stacker and fitted with polarising filters.

Computers:

Apple MacPro with 512MB graphics card.

Apple 15" MacBook Pro.

PA System:

15" Speakers rated at 300w

Mixer

Wireless Microphones

If you have any questions about our requirements please don't hesitate to contact us.

Challenges

FilmSchool 2004

What Maxwell did for us!

Gravity Challenge

Gravity Challenge : North Ayshire

Gravity Challenge : Southern Tour

Coming Soon :

Bring them back ALIVE! : The  Big Debate

Cosmic Tours

BTBA : The Big Debate!

Coming Soon

The Big Debate

What does it mean to be HUMAN!

The follow on challenge for the Bring them back ALIVE! 3D show.

Stage : P7 - S1

The Challenge :

Nano Technology

  Centre  for Responsible Nanotechnology 

  Scientific American

  Medical Nanotec

Prosthetics

Virginia Prosthetics

iWalk

Augmentation

  MIT

  Wired 

  Gartner

Cloning

  Ethics :  actionBioScience 

Replacement Organs

  Time

  Popular Mechanics

Regenerative Medicine

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology Resources

Submission Information 

Video Resources :  

Ian Goldin

 Aimee Mullens

Aimee Mullens

John Hockenberry & Hugh Herr : Human Augmentation

 Ray Kurzweil

David Hanson : Robots that "show emotion".

Kevin Kelly : How Technology Evolves

Chris Jordan : Shocking Statistics

David Bolinsky : Animates the Cell

Alan Russell : Regenerating our bodies.

Juan Enriquez : Mindboggling Science

Synthetic Biology;

Nanotech

Robotics

Future of Medicine

The Brain

Gravity Challenge

Predict, Observe,

Hypothesise, Experiment, 

Interpret, make a movie...

The Gravity Workshop usually follows the Gravity 3D show and if all of the challenges are completed, it is a complete day of integrated activities.

Age : 11 to 14 yrs

Number : Maximum 30 students, in up to 6 teams.

Time : around 5 hours

Funding received from the Science & Technology Facilities Council

3D Show :

Gravity 3D Show : 50 mins

• Presenter lead realtime 3D Show, with voting system to enable audience interaction.
• Covers Newtonian Gravity, Life of Stars and Formation of the Universe.
• Inspires and Motivates  

This 3D show starts with a series of virtual experiments that explain the basics of Newtonian Gravity. We then cover the formation of the universe and the part that Gravity, Dark Matter and Dark Energy played, using material from the Institute of Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham. The Final part of the show looks at the Life and Death of Stars. A voting system is used throughout the show to pose questions and capture responses.

Gravity Show information here

3D Show Requirements here

Over 5,000 pupils have already enjoyed this show.

Gravity Challenge : 30 - 40 mins

Roller Coaster Challenge : 75 - 90 mins

Movie Challenge : 90 - 120 mins

Final Presentation : 30 - 40 mins

This workshop is a science based digital media challenge that includes a series of hands-on activities.

Working as teams of 4 or 5 students, they start with some simple experiments that help in understanding gravity and motion. Then, they try an build the fastest roller coaster possible with the kit provided. During these activities, they are using the DV camera as a timing and analysis tool to capture and playback slowly, to help understand what is actually happening. For many of the activities, they are asked to predict what they think will happen, compare this to what actually happened and then interpret their results.

In the Movie Challenge, they create movies to explain what they have learned, using the footage they have already captured and new footage, graphics and animations etc; The final movies are then introduced by each of the teams and shown in Final Presentation.

You will find more detailed information in the Challenge Workbook that can be downloaded here (link will be added again shortly)

Teams are named after scientists, who have made a contribution to our understanding of Gravity and its effects. Teams can also be asked to research their scientist and include this in their movie.

Teams Names : choose 6 from : Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Einstein, Hubble, Higgs, and Hawking

This workshop provides a real context for learning and promotes collaborative working, critical thinking, creativity and cross curricular links. It is essential that the teams plan ahead, share tasks, thoughts and ideas and work well together. Supports the Curriculum for Excellence.

Equipment Required :

Each team should be provided with :

DV Camera

Firewire/USB2 cable as appropriate

iBook/MacBook with iLife and iWork applications

access to additional computers with WWW and iLife and iWork applications

Team Table and chairs

Space Required for Workshops

The 3D show equipment (screen, projectors, etc) does need to remain set up for the duration of the visit.

If space allows, then it is possible that some of the workshop activities could also use the show space.

Please email us with rough sizes of the room and some photos would be helpful, if you intend to use the same room for everything.

Experiments :

Where there are 6 teams, there would usually be the following stations:

1 no Water Drop

1 no Light & Heavy

2 no Ball Lift

2 no Ball Cannon

It can be useful to have an extra Water Drop.

Water Drop :

Required :

Easily cleaned floor surface, that is ok if it gets splashed with a little water.

Space :

We provide a 1.5m dia pool to catch the spillage from the dropping bottle. 2m x 2.5m - 3m probably large enough for each station.

Light & Heavy

Preferred :

This is best in a space/room where light levels can be controlled to some degree, ie; have the lights off, and close blinds. This is to allow the DV camera shutter to remain open for the full 1/25 sec.

A wall that the meter stick can be taped or bluetacked to, can be helpful.

Space :

2m x 2.5m - 3m probably large enough for each station.

Ball Lift

Required :

Privacy, as it is important that other teams can't see how this challenge is solved.

Space :

2m x 2.5m - 3m probably large enough for each station.

Ball Cannon

Preferred :

There will be balls flying through the air, so should be a space where this will not cause a problem.

Space :

As large as possible, the balls will travel around 6-8m through the air.

Roller Coasters :

The roller coaster challenge is after the experiments and can reuse the same spaces.

Required :

A stack of 3 or 4 chairs to be used as the roller coaster starting point.

Space :

As you can see from the gallery, the roller coasters will vary in size and shape, but as a rough guide a space of around 3m x 3m, or longer, would be good for each team.

Where possible, the team table should be close to the teams roller coaster space. The space for this is additional.

Preparation

Teams :

The class teacher should provide a list of team members. Teams should be either of 4 (best) or 5 students and a maximum of 6 teams. Team names can be chosen from the list of scientists below:

Teams : Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Einstein, Hubble, Higgs, Hawking and Hulse-Taylor  

It might be useful for the team, to have researched their scientist before they come.

Information :

It is useful for us to know in advance what level of iLife, iWorks or movie making experience the class/teams have, ie; None/Some/Experienced. This will allow us to organise "just-in-time" learning sessions if required.

Southern Tour Dates

20 - 24 Oct 08 : Leeds West CLC

15 - 19 Dec 08 : University of Durham

12 - 16 Jan 09 : St Helens CLC

26 -30 Jan 09 : Rawmarsh CLC /Magna

9 - 13 Feb 09 : TechniumCast, Bangor University, North Wales

23 - 27 Feb 09 : North Nottingham eLC

Funding received from the Science & Technology Facilities Council

Workshop Competition : Annual Prize

The top two teams from each day, will be given additional time, with agreement from the CLC/School, to rework their movie and complete an additional task, to compete for the annual prize against the top teams from all the other events.

At this point, prizes would be along the lines of :

For Best Team :

1st : £100 in Amazon Vouchers for CLC/School and either an engraved 2Gb iPod Shuffle or £45 in Amazon Vouchers for each team member.

2nd : £50 in Amazon Vouchers for CLC/School and either an engraved 1Gb iPod Shuffle or £30 in Amazon Vouchers for each team member.

3rd : £25 in Amazon Vouchers for CLC/School and £15 in Amazon Vouchers for each team member.

There will be a Trophy or Certificates for the Fastest Roller Coaster, Most Inventive/Exciting Roller Coaster, Best Documentary Movie and Best Promotional Materials.

We are now trying to raise additional funds to be able to bring the top teams together in a common venue for two days to do the Gravity & Roller Coaster Challenge Grand Final, judge the films and have the prize giving event.

Below is the information for you to recreate this challenge yourself : Please note Still Draft

All of the equipment is easily and cheaply obtainable.

Do please let us know, if you use this workshop with your class, as we would like to hear how it goes and would be grateful for any suggestions you may have.

If you have ideas for other experiments or for modifications or extensions to the existing ones, please add them to the other experiments section or the comments.

If you would like to enter your school team for the competition, please contact us to register.

Challenge Workbook :

You can download the challenge work book here :

You need a DV Camera and a Mac or PC with video editing software and cable to connect them.

1)  Water Drop -

     reqd :

• small plastic water bottle with small hole in side and in top
• Large plastic bottle : to refill the small one from
• Optional : food colouring or poster paint to colour water
• pool : to drop the bottle into and catch the water
• water proof sheets ?
• water proof for pupils?

2)  Ball lift

     reqd:      

• 1 small ball
• 1 large plastic container

3 ) Ball cannon

     reqd :     

• ball cannon :
• batteries
• ping pong balls
• heavier balls (not much or they don't work)
• target - Bin

We made our ball cannon more robust by using some extra bits from Maplin :

4) Heavy + Light Drop :

  reqd :    

• Metre Stick with LED's
• LED on light object
• LED on heavy object
• padded matt                                 

Roller Coaster Challenge Equipment and Software:

Roller Coaster Kit :

Required Per Team

• SkyRail Roller Coaster (Quercetti) model 6430 with 150 pieces. Can be purchased from Amazon for around £16 - £20. We bought extra kits so we could add some additional pieces : LINK
• Masking Tape.
• A stack of 4 or 5 chairs : for your starting point

Alternative & Relay :

You can also do the challenge using a software roller coaster, costs much the same per item, but more difficult to do as teams..... However, if your teams are too large, or have uneven numbers, you can do both at the same time as a relay.... with one member of the team working on the software roller coaster, while the others build the kit, and change every 10 or 15 mins... with only a minute of overlap :-)

Software Roller Coasters :

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3

Commercial game around £19

NoLimits Coaster Simulation

Not as easy to use as RCT3, but also fewer restrictions.

Free download and demo, but save disabled. $29.95 for full version : LINK

Gravity Challenge : North Ayrshire Results

The Roller Coaster Challenge      

 

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Overall Winners :

Primary & Secondary

Best Team : 

1st : Hawking 19th June - 83% (West Kilbride Primary School)

2nd : Galileo 28th May  - 82% (Ardrossan Academy)

3rd : Hawking 3rd June - 81% (Ardrossan Academy)

Other Categories : 

Fastest Roller Coaster : Galileo 11th June :  5.21 sec (Stanley Primary School)

Most Inventive Roller Coaster : Hubble 3rd June (Ardrossan Academy)

Best Movie : Einstein 18th June (West Kilbride Primary School)

Best Advert : Kepler 4th June (Ardrossan Academy)

Best Workbook : Hawking 29th May (Ardrossan Academy)

Best RC Kit : Einstein 23rd June (Dykesmain Primary School) 

Fastest Roller Coaster : 

Galileo 11th June :  5.21 sec (Stanley Primary School)

Galileo 11th June :  5.21 sec (Stanley Primary School)

Galileo 11th June :  5.21 sec (Stanley Primary School) 

Galileo 11th June  (Stanley Primary)

Most Inventive Roller Coaster : 

Hubble 3rd June (Ardrossan Academy)

Hubble 3rd June (Ardrossan Academy)

Hubble 3rd June (Ardrossan Academy)

Best Movie :

Einstein 18th June (West Kilbride Primary School) 

Includes images of students, so movie can't be shown on this public site.

Best Advert :

Kepler 4th June (Ardrossan Academy)

Kepler 4th June (Ardrossan Academy)

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Gallery : 

Other images can be found on the gallery here

Other Adverts :

Unfortunately many of the movies feature the students and can't be included on this public page. However, here are few that are student free ;-)

Hawking 12th June (Stanley Primary)

Galileo 15th June (Winton Primary)

Einstein 3rd June (Ardrossan Academy) 

Hubble 2nd June (Ardrossan Academy)

Roller Coaster Kits & Cameras 

We have been asked to provide information on both the roller coaster kits and the video cameras that we used for this event, both by teachers and pupils. 

Roller Coaster Kit :

SkyRail Roller Coaster (Quercetti) model 6430 with 150 pieces.

Can usually be purchased from Amazon for around £16 - £20.

We bought extra kits so we could add some additional pieces and so we would have spares. 

The track can be broken if treated roughly, however our kits have been used for 32 days of events and we have only needed to use the track from two spare kits for replacements. 

Video Camera

Kodak Zx1 High Definition Video Camera.

Great camera for schools, simple to use, robust and no film to worry about. When shooting video it can be used in VGA, HD and HD60 modes. If using iMovie 06 (iMovie HD) it is best to use the VGA mode to avoid long waits when importing. Can also take reasonable still photos.

Comes with everything apart from a SD card. However, make sure you buy a fast SD card like the SanDisk Ultra II or better, or you can have audio sync problems. 4GB is a good size and reasonably priced at around £6 - £8.

We also found that some of the schools MacBooks wouldn't mount the camera with the USB cable supplied, but worked fine with a USB card reader.

Everything can be purchased from Amazon.

Gravity Challenge : Southern Tour Results

Best Team

First Place

team            Galileo 30 Jan 2009

location       Magna / CENT / Rawmarsh CLC

school         Brinsworth Comprehensive

Second Place

team            Galileo 14 Jan 2009

location       De LaSalle School, St Helens CLC

school         Rainford High

Third Place

team           Galileo 25 Feb 2009

location      North Nottingham eLC

school        Bigwood 

Special Mention

team            Newton 23 Oct 2008

location       Leeds West CLC

school          tbc

Best Movie

1st Place :

team        Hawking  28 Jan 2009

location   Magna / CENT / Rawmarsh CLC

school     Maltby

2nd Place :

team       Galileo 15 Jan 2009

location  De LaSalle School / St Helens CLC

school    De LaSalle 

3rd Place :

team       Newton 16 Jan 2009

location  De LaSalle School / St Helens CLC

school    St Cuthberts 

Fastest Roller Coaster 

1st Place :  with a time of : 4.81 sec

team        Hubble 27 Jan 2009

location   Magna / CENT / Rawmarsh CLC

school     Thrybergh

2nd Place :  with a time of : 5.72 sec 

team        Hawking  28 Jan 2009

location   Magna / CENT / Rawmarsh CLC

school     Maltby

3rd Place :  with a time of : 5.88 sec 

team        Kepler 30 Jan 2009

location   Magna / CENT / Rawmarsh CLC

school     Brinsworth

The Gravity Challenge Southern Tour : Results

This intense day long science workshop started with the Gravity 3D show, then continued with a series of hands-on activities  and a digital media challenge. More information can be found here.

"Working as teams of 4 or 5 students (year 9 or 10), the challenge starts with some simple experiments that help in understanding gravity and motion.  Then, the teams try to build the fastest or most inventive roller coaster possible with the kit provided. The teams also film the activities, both as an integral part of two of the experiments and for the Movie challenge, where they are asked to create either an explanation of at least one of the experiments (max 2mins) or to create an advert (30sec-1min). During the day, the teams complete a workbook and are asked to predict what they think will happen, compare this to what actually happened and then interpret their results." 

The teams are marked on teamwork, workbook, RC Kit, Fastest RC, Most Inventive RC and their movie.

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The Southern Tour Dates:

20 - 24 Oct 08 : Leeds West CLC

15 - 19 Dec 08 : University of Durham (Gravity 3D Show Only)

12 - 16 Jan 09 : De LaSalle School / St Helens CLC

26 -30 Jan 09 : Magna / CENT / Rawmarsh CLC

9 - 13 Feb 09 : TechniumCast, Bangor University, North Wales (Gravity 3D Show Only)

23 - 27 Feb 09 : North Nottingham eLC

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Gallery :

More images from the tour can be found here.

Evaluation : 

A pdf file of our evaluation report to the STFC for this project can be found here.

Funding received from the Science & Technology Facilities Council

Roller Coaster Kits & Cameras 

We have been asked to provide information on both the roller coaster kits and the video cameras that we used for our recent events, both by teachers and pupils. 

Roller Coaster Kit :

SkyRail Roller Coaster (Quercetti) model 6430 with 150 pieces.

Can usually be purchased from Amazon for around £16 - £20.

We bought extra kits so we could add some additional pieces and so we would have spares. 

The track can be broken if treated roughly, however our kits have been used for 32 days of events and we have only needed to use the track from two spare kits for replacements. 

Video Camera

Kodak Zx1 High Definition Video Camera.

Great camera for schools, simple to use, robust and no film to worry about. When shooting video it can be used in VGA, HD and HD60 modes. If using iMovie 06 (iMovie HD) it is best to use the VGA mode to avoid long waits when importing. Can also take reasonable still photos.

Comes with everything apart from a SD card. However, make sure you buy a fast SD card like the SanDisk Ultra II or better, or you can have audio sync problems. 4GB is a good size and reasonably priced at around £6 - £9.

We also found that some of the schools MacBooks wouldn't mount the camera with USB cable supplied but worked fine with a USB card reader.

Everything can be purchased from Amazon.

What Maxwell did for Us!

FilmSchool 2004

In June 2004, in conjunction with Careers Scotland, we ran the FilmSchool2004 enterprise challenge for Scottish secondary schools. 120 S5/6 students from all over Scotland took part in the 3 day event.

Brief :  

To produce a 2 minute video that promotes their local area as a great place to live and work. A second challenge to produce a 30 second trailer was also given at 6pm on the night before the final deadline. 

Judging:

Although the final product was important, the teams were marked on the process. Each had to submit a concept statement, storyboard and script. They were also marked on how they worked as a team and how well they had fulfilled their concept.

Judges were from the BBC, NASA and Scottish Screen.  

Partners :

Developed and run for Careers Scotland. Supported by Apple, Canon and Scotsys.

Best Movie : Kircudbright Academy, 

Dumfries & Galloway 

Best Script & Storyboard : James Young High, 

Edinburgh & Lothians

Best Trailer : Graeme High, 

Forth Valley

Cosmic Tours

Coming Soon A digital media competition for Primary and Secondary Schools:

Cosmic Tours : The Challenge :

Interstellar Travel Links:

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Flying with nature's own fuel

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/roboticexplorers/solarsails_prt.htm

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Dr. Marc Millis : Breakthrough Propulsion and Interstellar Travel

http://academy.grc.nasa.gov/2007/guest-speakers/dr-marc-millis/

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Marshall Space Flight Centre : Interstellar Travel Videos 

http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news/news/video/2000/video00-150.htm

Education Resources

 Click on the links below the line

HMIe national seminar

16th August 2005

Bringing the Wow factor into the Classroom
Explore Discover Inspire Motivate
Over the last twelve years that I have been involved with multimedia and visualisation for education and science communication there has been a dramatic change in the technology available to, and embraced by, school age students. Mobile phones are probably the most obvious, and the rapid rise of texting and instant messaging has been predominately driven by this group. Digital still and movie cameras with easy to use editing software, digital music creation and most recently pod casting, have blurred the boundaries between being a consumer of digital media and a creator of it. The Digital Learning Foundation was founded to help educators and students take advantage of the opportunities offered by these digital tools and our FilmSchool project is an example of this.

However, over this period, there have been equally dramatic changes in the more esoteric world of large scale, realtime interactive stereoscopic computer visualisation. Once the preserve of a few programmers world wide, this technology is about to explode onto the market place for entertainment, business and research....and again, it is gaming and the availability of low cost auto-stereoscopic displays that will drive this. Therefore, in four or five years stereoscopic displays are likely to be common in the home and once you have experienced a good stereoscopic display.... well, it only needs to be seen to be believed.

So what is Stereoscopic Visualisation? It is the way your brain expects to see things, with a left eye view and a right eye view, and from the minor differences that around 60mm of eye separation creates in these two views, the brain is able to calculate depth and therefore able to construct and understand the real world we experience every day. It is the difference between looking at a flat photograph or illustration of an object and feeling that you can reach out and touch the object itself.

Realtime Interactive Stereoscopic Visualisation combines modern stereoscopic display technologies with a powerful computer that can handle huge amounts of data and allow it to be manipulated interactively in realtime. Until very recently the prohibitive costs and complexity of large scale, real time, interactive stereoscopic visualisation limited its use to multi-national companies like BP, Shell, BMW, Mercedes, Nokia or to some very fortunate University Computing Science or Research labs.... But times have now changed, an Apple G5 based system can not only compete, but blow away, those big systems of only last year. And with a complete system costing only a little more than a whiteboard installation it is now possible for schools to gain the very real benefits that stereo visualisation brings.

“Space, the solar system and beyond” is the first traveling school show that takes realtime interactive stereoscopic visualisation into the school. A half hour program that promotes understanding of complex and abstract concepts, motivates research and self learning, and was voted the best thing they did in the whole year by the children that have taken part..... and this is just the beginning. Our aim is to show how this technology really makes a difference, it is not just wow, and can promote learning and understanding across a wide range of potential subjects including Environmental Science, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Art and Design. And, it is not just for shows, the technology is inherently interactive and this is how it should be used as a tool that enables exploration and discovery in an immersive environment. The first stage of this is our Discovery Workshops where the students, research and discover in the 3D environment and then create their own stereoscopic presentation. The Western Australia Cornish Miners Heritage Project and The Space Workshop are examples of this. We are also seeking funding for the development of the "Immersive Learning Environment"...but more of this later...

Enjoy the show!

Phil Lavery
Chief Executive
Digital Learning Foundation

Our Window Farm Project :

!! this is a work in progress, so please chip in with ideas, solutions and of course questions :-)

Inspired by the above New York WindowFarms project, the aim is to develop an integrated topic that is suitable for both primary and secondary students. 

As the pilot project progresses we will include examples of the students work.

Basic Plan :

Stage 1 : Discussion with students. What do plants need & where do they grow?

Stage 2 : Experiments : testing growing mediums, nutrients & lighting requirements.

Stage 3 : Monitoring the experiments using Digital Diary/Logbook, video, photos, spreadsheet

Stage 4 : Results, and conclusions. Decisions and Planning the WindowFarm

Stage 5 : Building the WindowFarm

Stage 6 : The bigger picture : Concept presentations showing students designs for City Farms

Stage 7 : Monitoring and Digital Diary/Logbook

Stage 8 : Eat the results & Final Presentation

Stage 9 : Share with and Mentor others

Included in the above students will make contact with experts to ask questions, get advice and explore beyond the limitations of the classroom. It is intended that Glow will be used as part of this engagement process.

Links to the Project Pages :

The Pilot Project at Lawthorn Primary

Hydroponic Experiment 1: Making the Wick System

Hydroponic Experiment 1: Pupils planting up

Digital Story Telling : Day 1: Taking Photos, Making Movies!

Digital Story Telling : Day 2 : Animation

Images & Movies : Movies : Image Gallery

USEFUL LINKS :

Hydroponics in Schools ..

Choosing your growing medium : Experiments to do before.. 

Information : Exploring Classroom Hydroponics

Information : The Growing Edge

Linking Schools & Developing World : Hydroponics4Life

How to...

Basic 3 Plant AirLift System PDF : New Version

Basic 3 Plant AirLift System PDF : Original Version

You should download both of the above, as original gives information not included on the new one.

Suspended System : To follow

Our System :

Still being designed :-)

Possible Equipment Suppliers ..

Holland Hydroponics

Hozelock Tubing : Garden4Less 

General : Hydroponics Eu - Looks expensive & Priced in €

Local & Very Helpful : Glasgrow Hydroponics 

Scottish : Achiltibuie Gardens

Lighting : Daylight Bulbs : 240v : 

LightBulbs-direct.com

Lighting : 12v : 

Float switches : Deeter

Plants..

Other similar projects..

WindowFarms : The Original Project

Finish Museum : WindowFarms Finland

Farms in Space :

NASA : Farming for the Future

Farms don't need to be flat..

Plants will grow nearly anywhere there are the correct conditions. They grow on hills, mountains, under the sea, and they will grow on buildings, if we give them what they need..

More here : Living Walls, Vertical Gardens & Sky Farms

Other links :

Chris Jacobs : Vertical Farm

Huffington Post : Vertical Farms : The Future Of Sustainable Farming

Hydroponics Experiment 1 : Making the Wick System

Instructions will be going on The DLF page here : http://digitallearningfoundation.org/content/our-window-farm-project

What is 3D Stereoscopic Visualisation

So what is Stereoscopic Visualisation? It is the way your brain expects to see things, with a left eye view and a right eye view, and from the minor differences that around 60mm of eye separation creates in these two views, the brain is able to calculate depth and therefore able to construct and understand the real world we experience every day. It is the difference between looking at a flat photograph or illustration of an object and feeling that you can reach out and touch the object itself.

Realtime Interactive Stereoscopic Visualisation combines modern stereoscopic display technologies with a powerful computer that can handle huge amounts of data and allow it to be manipulated interactively in realtime. Until very recently the prohibitive costs and complexity of large scale, real time, interactive stereoscopic visualisation limited its use to multi-national companies like BP, Shell, BMW, Mercedes, Nokia or to some very fortunate University Computing Science or Research labs.... But times have now changed, a standard consumer computer based system can not only compete, but blow away, those big systems of only last year. And with a complete system costing only a little more than a whiteboard installation it is now possible for schools to gain the very real benefits that stereo visualisation brings.

new school projects

New Shows in Development Now:

Bring them back ALIVE! 
Target: Primary/Secondary School. P7-S2
Funding Status: Approved. Development started.
Funder/s: Wellcome Trust 
Type: A 3D stereo show and workshop 

LHC 3D 
Target: Secondary School 
Funding Status: Approved.
Funder/s: STFC 
Type: A 3D show

Shows Planned Awaiting Funding:

The following shows are currently awaiting confirmation of their funding, we are looking for partners who :

* would like to contribute funding

* would like to contribute data, images

* would like to be involved in the development planning stage

* are interested in hosting early trials

Living & Working in Ancient Egypt 
Target: P4-P7
Funding Status: Partners sought - application in preparation
Type: A 3D show and workshop

Earth, Weather and Climate Change
Target: P4-P7, S1-S6 and General Public
Funding Status: Partners sought - application in preparation
Type: A 3D show and workshop

Cornish 3D Diaspora Discovery Workshops
Target: Primary, Secondary School, Museums
Funding Status: application in preparation
Type: A 3D show and collaborative workshops

Cell: Within the Skin
Target: P4-P7, S1-S6 and General Public
Funding Status: application in preparation
Type: A 3D show and workshop

FilmSchool: Primary Challenge 
Target: P4-P7
Funding Status: Sponsors sought
Type: Enterprise and Digital Media Challenge

FilmSchool: Primers
Target: P4-P7 Teachers
Funding Status: Sponsors sought
Type: Teacher introduction