7th+Media+Computation

The second half of the 7th grade computing course is designed to introduce students to the creation of digital art, graphics and animation. Projects introduce students to the concept of pixels, digital drawing and painting programs and their inherent differences, the creation of 2D digital images and, in the culminating project, the animation of created content using Flash.

**Students will:**
 * develop skills in structured thinking and creative problem solving.
 * learn various tools and approaches to solving problems, and determine the most appropriate tool for the challenge at hand.
 * develop a greater a ppreciation for the increasing impact of computers and computer science on our global society.


 * Essential Questions:**
 * What are pixels and what does "pixelation" mean?
 * How are drawing programs inherently different from painting programs?
 * What considerations must be taken into account when looking at creating a three dimensional drawing?
 * What is keyframe animation?


 * Course Units:**
 * Digital drawing
 * Three dimensional digital drawing
 * Digital painting
 * Keyframe animation


 * Benchmark skills:**
 * Students will demonstrate their ability to create object-based artwork.
 * Students will become familiar with working in a three dimensional digital environment - understanding the concepts of space and depth.
 * Students will learn the similarities between "brush and canvas" painting and digital painting.
 * Students will learn to animate digitally created content using basic keyframe animation techniques.


 * Resources:**
 * Word
 * AppleWorks Draw
 * AppleWorks Paint
 * Google SketchUp
 * Flash


 * Assessments:**
 * Students are assigned hands-on projects to assess their understanding of the mechanics of the application being studied.
 * Students are also evaluated on effort, creativity and time management.