Epic Science: Spring 2016

led by Susan Bonner

with KCAD students from the Professional Studio Course

Product Description

EPIC Science is a website containing amusing animated gifs explaining science concepts. The website is search-able and indexes content according to the Next Generation Science Standards indexes. The lessons are targeted towards grades 5-8.

User Testing Results Summary

From Innocademy Game Design Class of 15 6-8th grade students at Innocademy Middle School.

Procedure Description

Before presenting the animations, Susan Bonner asked about the science topic first to see if students new about them. Students wrote down on 5”x5” paper the topic and what they knew of the topic. If they did not know, they wrote IDK (I don’t know). 95% of science topics were known to the students before presenting the animations. Then, Susan presented the animations in a dark room on a projector, the visibility of the animations was great. This was the students daily classroom with the teacher present.

After Animation Procedure

After showing the animations there was an open discussion about the science topics and which topics are most memorable. The most memorable in this set were slapstick humor, those that made the students feel uncomfortable and embarrassed through blushing and those related to existing video games.

After the open discussion, paper was once again passed out, listing the science topics and students wrote down what they knew about each science topic. Those who previously responded “IDK” to science topics (I don’t know) then understood the animations. 100% of the students had the topics correctly understood.

Student Response

Students responded to the animations by laughing and continuing the story in the animations. They found it most fun when they could continue the idea that was started in the animation. If the animation storyline was confusing they did not respond well, they would start to pick apart the animation instead of going into the science content aspect of the story. When something in the animation was surprising and the scientific information was accurate there was a positive reaction. When there were funny or interesting expressions on characters in the animations the students responded positively by laughing, smiling, leaning back in their chair and hitting the table and holding their stomachs.

20% of the animations received no reaction and fell flat with 100% of the class. In this scenario, students did not laugh or continue a conversation. Those animations contained really obvious storylines or no story at all or had no surprise in the animation.

There was one animation that included violence against characters in the scene. This sparked a topic of conversation about bullying and was not geared toward the science topic. 30% of students were laughing at the character in the animation that was getting hit with a ball which was intended to be an animation about physics.

Teacher Response

The teacher responded that this type of animation would be helpful to keep the students in tune with the science lesson and could be used as an intro to a new topic and an interesting review for a known topic.

The raw data is in the comments on a google doc.

Epic science GIF of a smiling, anthropomorphic greaser bee with an Elvis haircut and sunglasses has a flower in the crook of his arm. He squeezes the flower closer to him while the flower changes to vibrant colors. In the background are more flowers. The caption reads, "Flowers and other plants use bright colors and fragrances to attract bees and other insects that transfer pollen."

Next Generation Science Topic:

LS: Life Sciences

MS.Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms

MS-LS1-4.

Peyton Hartwig

Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • "Greaser bee" is not very engaging.

Epic science GIF of the sun, which has a tranquil face, holding ropes with several planets in our solar system on the other end. The planets have smiling faces until they drift away from the sun. The sun grabs the ropes tighter, and the sun's arms grow huge muscles. The sun's face scrunches up, trying to use its strength to keep the planets closer to it. The planets' faces turn from happy to surprised as they are drawn back to the sun. The animation starts over. The caption reads "Gravity is a very important force; it keeps our planets orbiting the sun and ropes our galaxy together."

Next Generation Science Topic:

ESS: Earth and Space Sciences

MS. Space Systems

MS-ESS1-2.

Art by Alex Sophabmisay

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • "Sun is asleep, pulls them in, surprised the sun is ripped. " (Meaning muscular)

  • "Accurate - might need to show them orbiting."

  • "Planets are not in the right place. Saturn looks high. A good animation would be the sun with the sun pulling the planets in order - swinging it."

Epic science GIF of a dinosaur stuck inside a drum of oil labeled "Fossil fuel". The dinosaur is spinning around inside the drum and a car drives by in the background. The car is leaking a black cloud of exhaust which goes up into the air, which is full of the black exhaust. The caption reads, "Fossil fuels and global warming: By burning fossil fuels, we release CO2 into the atmosphere. This causes our temperature to rise and will over time become more and more dangerous."

MS. Weather and Climate

MS-ESS3-5.

Allie Culver

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • "Bad but accurate" - "bad" meaning funny

  • 1 out of 5 students thought it was a lizard

  • Artist was requested to make the arms tinier

  • Artist was requested to add a T-shirt on the dinosaur to say "Dino"

  • "Accurate; true."

  • "Why is he spinning in the fossil fuel?" (Confusion as to why the dinosaur is spinning)

  • "The '2' on 'CO2' should be smaller and placed further down" - Artist has been requested to change this

  • "Add exhaust to the car and slow it down" - The artist then changed these things

Epic science GIF of a title screen saying "65 million years ago". The title screen opens up to reveal dinosaurs panicking because of a falling meteor. Two of the dinosaurs have cell phones and one of the dinosaurs is using a selfie stick. Another dinosaur in the foreground is waving his arms in the air in fear. A cell phone appears to be vibrating on the ground. Before the meteor can strike, the loop restarts. The caption reads, "Earth's rock strata contain fossils used to classify time periods. This information determines when events like the dinosaur extinction occured."

MS. History of Earth

MS-ESS1-4.

Sam Touchette

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • "Why do they have cell phones and selfie sticks?" - Let's make the best of it---we can relate to them.

  • Artist was requested to title the GIF "Fossil Data"

Epic Science GIF. Two dinos are suddenly separated by the ground splitting in two. Try as they might by aving their arms, they reach out to grab each other, but sadly their arms are just too tiny. Caption reads, "Jeff and Craig were best friends for years, until they were separated when the tectonic plates shifted... They reached for each other as they split... but no matter how far they stretched... their tiny arms were still too tiny."

MS. History of Earth

MS-ESS2-3.

Aubrie Warner

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • The students think the dinosaurs could have jumped across the fissure

  • The students thought this depiction was pretty accurate

  • Artist was requested to draw a dinosaur doing the splits over the fissure

Epic science GIF. A camper is out in the woods rubbing two sticks together to produce fire, but gets a little more than he plans for when he catches himself on fire. Caption reads, "Exothermic Reaction: a chemical reaction that releases heat. The reaction releases more heat than is needed to activate the reaction."

MS. Chemical Reactions

MS-PS1-6.

Caleb Sumney

Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • The students don't see how this logically happens; either he is dosed in gasoline or he is the worst park ranger in the history. It is funny but not logical

  • Students requested adding Smokey the Bear peaking over the trees saying "NOOOO!"

  • "Why does his hair turn orange when he is on fire, and after the fire goes out?"

  • Students requested to make the orange hair color go away before the red face goes away

Epic science GIF of a lizard-like animal that presses onto a layer of rock and leaves a skeleton with fins on its legs. It presses onto another layer of rock and two of its fins are gone. It presses itself to another layer of rock and leaves a skeleton print of all of its arms void of fins. It walks away and the skeletons fade away as the animation restarts. The caption reads, "Fossil records can help us understand what life was like for different organisms. They can tell us what they looked like, how they behaved and what they used to survive in their environment."

MS.Natural Selection and Adaptations

MS-LS4-1.

Kaitlynne Heyworth

Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • "Is he made of 3 skeletons?"

  • Other student see adapting through survival with fossil records being left out

  • It is difficult to see the feet changing, so highlight the feet changing

  • The creature should do one thing at a time; add the white strokes after the shake

  • Students found the way the animal changes a little confusing---they didn't get it

  • Simplify skeletons---the students took a long time to see the change in form

  • Students suggested adding filing cabinets to portray "fossil records"

Epic science GIF. The Earth smiles with glee as he turns around to warm its bun and its face on the heat from the Sun. The Sun, of course, isn’t having as much fun as the Earth is. Caption reads, "As the earth rotates, the sun heats the parts of the earth causing different climates."

MS. Weather and Climate

MS-ESS2-6.

Krystal Hertlein

Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • The students were laughing at the earth's face

  • The butt is funny

  • Seeing the frustrated sun was funny as well

  • Students requested to add snow on the Arctic and Antarctic, or make the butt snowy when away

  • The drawings are not accurate in the image---the butt with snow could wiggle and have snow come off

Epic science GIF of Pac-Man in space. He is eating dots as well as planets as he flies through space. The planets are waving their arms in the air and appear to be panicking when Pac-Man eats them. The caption says, "The planets can never escape the sun's gravitational pull because of its huge scale in comparison to them."

Next Generation Science Topic:

ESS: Earth and Space Sciences

MS. Space Systems

MS-ESS1-3.

Paige Miller

Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • The students liked Pac-Man---adding him helps students relate

  • Really relates to the science topic---the students liked this GIF a lot, and it was right on topic

Epic science GIF of a bully in a red shirt and a mean expression kicking a ball into the face of a kid in a blue shirt. The kid in the blue shirt falls over, and the bully laughs. The caption reads, "Just like the ball: A bully in motion will stay in motion unless stopped by an opposing force!"

MS.Forces and Interactions

MS-PS2-2.

Rachael Barrett

Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • "Is it an accident?"

  • The blue kid could catch it with a glove

  • Someone should come up behind the blue kid and stop the bullying. The loop doesn't work for that.

  • Artist is requested to rewrite the caption to say, "Just like the ball, a bully in motion will stay in motion until stopped by an opposing force."

Epic science GIF of two anthropomorphic atoms in an embrace. They are holding each others' faces, which are extremely detailed. Heart-shaped electrons are spinning around their heads. The caption reads, "Atomic Love: Bubbles, color and temperature changes are all indicators of chemical reactions. These reactions take place when the bonds are broken and formed. Exmaples: Burning sugar, burning steel wool, fat reacting with sodium hydroxide, and mixing zinc with hydrochloric acid."

MS. Chemical Reactions

MS-PS1-2.

Rachel Brewer

Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • Very memorable---the faces make the students smile

  • Faces are "chiseled weird."

  • Students were laughing and blushing, but when asked if it was too embarrassing in a class they said it was not. They said it was just a chemical reaction, then giggled

Epic science GIF of two birds trying to get a beetle to eat. The bird on the left has a short beak and the bird on the right has a long beak. The beetle scuttles past the bird on the left, as this bird cannot reach the bug. The bird begins crying. The bird on the right catches the bug in its long beak and eats the beetle. The bird on the right is happy and satisfied. The caption reads, "Natural Selections and Adaptations" and there is another caption below the left bird which reads, "Because he cannot reach bugs, this bird will starve to death before he can breed and pass on the small beaked trait." The caption under the right bird says, "Because of his long beak, this bird can eat bugs. This trait was passed on to him by his parents who lived long enough to breed."

MS.Natural Selection and Adaptations

MS-LS4-2.

Shawna Ryser

Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • The students would have liked to see the bug "skitter" and change direction when crawling across the ground

  • The students also liked the orange beak

Epic science GIF. The sun is in the middle of the image, hanging in space. The earth revolves around the sun and the moon rotates around the earth, blocking its way. The moon has sunglasses on and the earth seems impeded by the moon getting in the way of its view of the sun. The caption reads, "Eclipses are caused when the attention-seeking moon overshadows the sun during its rotations around the earth."

Next Generation Science Topic:

ESS: Earth and Space Sciences

MS. Space Systems

MS-ESS1-1.

Tessa Brown

Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • The GIF is not looping at the Academy nor at KCAD

  • If the earth and moon could spin it would better; they rotates and create eclipses, which is more scientifically accurate (actually, the revolutions of the earth and moon create eclipses)

  • Potential rephrase: "Eclipses are caused during the sun, moon, and earth’s revolutions." OR "Eclipses are caused when the moon gets in the way of the friendship between the earth and the sun." The artist can change the words and make it her own statement

Epic Science GIF of a crane holding up a beat-up car with a giant magnet labeled "electromagnet". It is in a junkyard. The crane operator is smiling and there is a lady standing below the beat-up car with a yellow hard hat on. The crane operator presses a red button, making yellow lightning bolts come from the magnet, and causes the car to drop from the crane's magnet. The car squishes the lady. The crane operator presses the red button again and the car comes back up to the crane's magnet. The lady bounces back up; she is fine. The animation starts over. The caption reads, "Electromagnets use electricity to create a magnetic field. They can lose their magnetic properties if the electricity is turned off."

MS.Forces and Interactions

MS-PS2-3.

Tys Yoder

Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.


Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • "That man is durable! She should have blood!" - NO.

  • "Why doesn't he move when he has the chance?" - It's ok that he gets dropped on over and over again because he lives. It is also okay because the electromagnet operator is not dropping the car maliciously.

Epic Science GIF of two beavers trying to get to each others' homes.The beaver on the top swims to the right where its beaver dam is located. It climbs on top and smiles. The beaver on the bottom bumps into a concrete block and makes a crack in it by trying to break it down with its teeth, and fails. The caption reads, "Human impact on water and the environment."

MS.Human Impacts

MS-ESS3-3.

Zach Ludge

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Feedback From Middle School Students:

  • The students don't understand why the top beaver goes insane when he goes on land

  • "The top beaver is scary, needs to go to an asylum, and mental."

  • The happy face feels a little creepy, and there was conversation about not wanting the face to be so creepy.

  • The artist is requested to change the eyes on the happy face

  • Students requested the top beaver be dressed up as a hillbilly to be more funny

  • The bottom beaver looks like he is jumping

  • The artist is requested to switch the happy beaver to be on top and the banged-up beaver on the bottom. It was then changed

  • The GIF is too dark in the classroom projector, so the artist is requested to lighten the image using the Curves tool