Roger Pence, MA Ed. Benicia Middle School
Touro University California
NSTA Area Conference Denver, CO2013 rogpence@gmail.com
Wiki resources: http://dsinscience.wikispaces.com

Time-lapse vs. Stop Action Photography
What are the Learning Goals?
What Skills Do Students Practice?
How are time-lapse stories constructed?
Samples of Student Work
Equipment, Software, and Techniques
What do students have to say about this (their words not mine)
Practical considerations and classroom handouts

Time-lapse aims to show slow-moving events quickly
Examples: flowers blooming, clouds passing, decomposition, etc.
Stop-action aims to “freeze” a moment in time for accurate and keen observation
Examples: a bullet from a gun, an explosion, pollen bursting from a flower, etc.
Slow-motion aims to “slow” the movement of something down for observation

Students will be able to:
Accurately and keenly observe a slowly unfolding event and record those observations
Use digital technology to photograph the event so as to compress the real-time unfolding into 60-90 seconds of time
Research the underlying reasons for why we see what we see
Write an accompanying narrative script describing the changes observed and why they occur
Use video editing program to record live voice narration that describes the time-lapse video
Produce a final, sharable version

What Skills Do
Students Practice?
Observation
Recording of observed changes
Photography
Researching
Problem-Solving
Collaboration
Writing
Voice Recording
All related technology pieces

How are time-lapse stories constructed?
A suitable event is chosen
Practice photographing the event
Choice of suitable interval to end up with 30-40 discreet shots (every 5 minutes to 12-24 hour intervals depending on event pace)
Weaving observations into a coherent story
What needs description?
Why, why and why?
Raw pictures are inserted into an editing program such as iMovie, Windows Live Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere
Elements, etc.
Individual shot duration decided upon to produce 60-90 seconds running time
Voice recorded into program to provide accurate, revealing voiceover

Overarching, guiding question:
How can we show and describe scientifically events that happen too slow for us to see in real time?
Classroom Handout (uploaded to NSTA scheduler)

Samples of Student Work
Sunset on Carquinez Strait - good narration
Chia Pet
Movement of Shadows
Flower Blooming - good tech narration
Night and Day
Day’s Light - overall good example
Bean Seed Growth – good photography
Sunset – ELL student
Molding Bread/Fruit - great narration
Egg in Vinegar – good collaborative work by three girls

Equipment, Software, and
Techniques
Cameras and Photo Equipment
Digital camera (manually time shutter)
Phone with good camera (can download app fro iPhone)
Time-lapse camera (I have a Brinno see actual)
Computers and Tablet
PC, Mac, iPad, other tablet, iPhone
Software
Mac: iMovie or Adobe Premiere Elements
PC: Windows Live Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere Elements iPhone/iPad: Osnap!, Lapse-it, or others
Lighting considerations
Consistent and appropriate for subject/camera
If photographing sun/moon, test for camera “washout”

Obtain time-lapse photo set (one obtained from Brinno)
Observe and Write Script (draft)
Time script narration to adjust video length (1 minute)
Record narration
Add titles, credits
Finalize (Share) movie

What do students have to say about this (their words not mine)
“The only factor was the wind” (problem solving)
“I managed to work harder and it turned out just fine”
(grit)
“This may help me in the future for other projects or similar situations” (transferable skills)
“Overall, I think I learned a lot and tried my best”
“I learned things I didn’t expect to”
“I had to do a lot or research on the internet to create this video…but it was fun”

Practical considerations and classroom handouts
Time Will Tell Project Directions
Time Will Tell Script Checklist
Offer groups of 2-3 so as to cover equipment needs.

Thanks for your time and attention.
rogpence@gmail.com
https://dsinscience.wikispaces.com