Are you a neutral atom? Because I think I’m the ✨electron✨ for you 💕😉😘🥺

Hahaha. Get it?

No?

Really?

ANYWAYS… Hello there, and welcome to another blog post! We’ve just finished our latest Scimatics project, and I can’t wait to share it with you! 

Although we briefly learned about the subject of atoms last year in a project called “Chemistry Coding”, I was excited to learn more about them in this project…

And… let’s just say I never want to draw another atom again…

As mentioned earlier, this project is all about ATOMS. More specifically, we learned how they bond, and become compounds! 

We learned mostly about ionic and covalent bonds (and a little bit about multivalent metals and polyatomic ions). It was very interesting to learn, but I admit it was tricky at times.

Anyways, with our knowledge of atoms, we were assigned to create an animated video explaining ionic and covalent bonding.

With my… cough cough… obsession with animation and art, I knew I had some tough times ahead of me. Especially since I looked up how long it takes professional artists to animate… and it was very discouraging. 

I guess “frame by frame” was out of the question… but was I going to do it anyway?

Yes. 

This project was completed individually- which was great for me. Since there was no social interaction, I could continue living my life as an independent hermit.

Overall, I’ve learned a lot through this difficult and fun project. Now it’s time to share my process with you!

As with most Scimatics projects, we started this one with a mind map.

If you’re new to my blog and the whole PLP thing; a mind map is basically a document where we organize information about a specific topic.

As you can see, I had a lot of questions going into this. When we began, I had no idea atoms bonded in specific ways. I didn’t even know what “ionic” or “covalent” meant. 

But of course, school is all about learning!

Here’s my updated Mindmap (I just answered a few of the questions I had before): 

To help us learn about these scientific concepts, we completed many textbook and workbook pages. Sometimes they were tough to understand (as I prefer hands-on activities, rather than workbooks), but overall, I think they helped. I’ve always somewhat liked the subject of atoms, and it was interesting to learn more.

To be specific, I especially liked labeling the compounds. When I was little, I heard rumours that we’d have to memorize the periodic table someday. However, through the textbooks, I find myself easily remembering certain elements and their symbols.

It’s really satisfying to write down chemical formulas… or I’m just weird. I used to have an obsession with mathematical and scientific formulas. They make things so much easier to understand.

Yeah, I’m definitely weird.

Anyways, moving on. While we were learning about the mystical world of atoms, we also did a lab experiment from our textbook (THAT INCLUDED FIRE… ok fine, we only used a wooden splint… BUT STILL!)

However, before we started lighting things on fire, we had to create an animation of the procedure to show our understanding.

We did this so that we could test out our animation skills… (and understand the safety elements, so that we don’t set the lab on fire.)

I decided to mainly use keynote for this animation… but I did include some hand drawn animation from Procreate (keep in mind, human figures are a lot harder to animation than atoms lol.)

(Yes I’m using this gif twice, because a lot of horrible decisions were made during this project)

Anyways, here’s the animation: 

After we finished all the textbook and workbook pages, we were ready to start our animated video.

BUT, we couldn’t just rush to the final product! We had to plan it first with… storyboards!

Now, I could ramble all day about the importance of storyboarding. They are carefully drawn panels that give visual glimpses into potential camera angles and scenes. Even non-animated shows/movies use them!

From Walt Disney’s Snow White to Star Wars, storyboards have always been an amazing, crucial aspect of filmmaking. 

Before I started my storyboards, I created some cool character designs/concept art (no I wasn’t procrastinating by making happy atoms.)

Now, with a cool art style and an understanding of ionic/covalent bonds, I was ready to make a story. However, when I created my storyboard, I (figuratively) shot myself in the foot. I did not think of the sleep schedule of future me or the workload of my other classes (cough, Humanities, cough).

Let’s just say, I was very ambitious… and it was…

Anyways, here’s my storyboard (you’ll see what I mean…)

About 5 pages.

5 pages.

I knew it was a lot more than I could handle, but I am very stubborn… so I went ahead with it. 

…And so, the animation process begins. Looking back, I spent hours on this, and I am very happy with the end result. I’m just ecstatic that I finished it on time lol.

I started by drawing characters “frame by frame” in procreate, but slowly switched to tweening as the due date approached.

Here’s an animation “rough” of my favourite cut:

With this animation, I tried to incorporate the animation principle of “squash and stretch” to the bottle’s movement. I attempted to make it seem heavy (not jumping high, lots of squash). I loved over-exaggerating the movement, and this was very fun to draw!

…And here’s a rough of Potassium on a skateboard (I thought this was the most hilarious thing ever… I think my sense of humour is dying.)

Haha… I’m totally not going on another nerdy rant about animation and film. Sometimes I wonder if anyone actually reads this… except my mom, because I know she does. Shout out to her.

After days of animation and funky atoms, I was ready to move on to editing and sound. Luckily for me, I’ve been editing the shots as I went along, so I was practically done with that. 

However, sound was another story. 

Going into this, I knew I was going to have a narrator (voiced by me), but I didn’t exactly have a way of doing voices for all the other characters too. 

I started with using “Animal Crossing” audio for all the characters. I used the audio from this video:

I soon came to the conclusion that it was boring for all the characters to have the same voice. As I began playing with the speed of the audio, my mom approached me, and practically said…

”You know, if you want, I can always do a voice for you.” 

And so, we started voice acting. It was absolutely hilarious. I made voices I didn’t know I could make. We also messed with the speed, which made it even better! This was definitely my favourite part of the project. 

WITH EVERYTHING COMPLETED AND READY, I PUBLISHED THE VIDEO! I AM SO GLAD IT’S OVER, BUT I HAD SUCH A GREAT LEARNING EXPERIENCE ALONG THE WAY! 

In case you didn’t see the completed animation at the top of this post (I don’t blame you, my pick up lines are very seductive), here’s my video:

Communicating: 

In order to complete this competency, we had to have a clear voice over that uses proper scientific language to explain bonding processes. Overall, I believe I’ve accomplished this competency.

It’s very important to me that my voice overs are clear and easy to understand. I took a long time recording, and making sure every line was slowly paced and understandable. I incorporated the proper scientific language, and synced it to the animation.

As an attempt to extend my skills in this competency, I created unique voices for every character. As mentioned earlier, I even messed with the speed of the audio clips which led to really cool personalities for each character.  

However, if I were to improve, I would try to add even more scientific language and terms. Perhaps, I could have explained the bonding further, or incorporated multivalent metals/polyatomic atoms as well.  

Overall, I think I did pretty ok with this competency!

Processing and Analyzing: 

I’m very happy of my achievements in this competency, and I believe I’ve accomplished something I’ve always wanted to do. I have a love and appreciation for the art of animation, and this project extended that passion. My dream is to, one day, join this industry (or some other filmmaking/cinema related industry) and tell stories as a career.

This project gave me time to create something animated, and I’ve learned/grown a lot. 

Anyways, I’ve definitely shown Bohr models in my animation. I even tried to “characterize” them into my art style (yet again, just another excuse to draw happy atoms.) 

With my characters, I believe I’ve accurately shown ionic and covalent bonding, while managing to incorporate a story aspect as well.

Overall, I’m very proud of my grown in this competency, and I can’t wait to learn more!

(Maybe I’m just a tad too excited, but I’m so happy I managed to finish this!)

Questioning and Predicting:

To be proficient in this competency, you must use all class time efficiently without becoming distracted. I think I managed my time well in this project (mostly since I knew I couldn’t procrastinate this time.)

 

During this project, I handed in my assignments on time, and to the best of my ability. I spent all my class time efficiently, and even managed to work at home without getting distracted. I believe this is mostly, because I’m obsessed with animation and I was super excited to get it done. 

Overall, I think I’ve extended in this competency, and I hope to continue my productiveness in future projects!

In order to become stable, all elements desire a full valence shell. However, most elements are naturally unstable due to not having enough electrons to fill the shell. To fix this, they bond with other elements. 

For example, in binary ionic compounds, a metallic atom bonds with a non-metal. The metal atom transfers it’s extra electron(s) to the non-metal, and they both become stable ions with full valence shells. Due to this process, the metal ion is positively charged, and the non-metal is negatively charged.

However, unlike ionic bonds that trade electrons, a covalent bond shares electrons. These covalent bonds are between two non-metals who both desire full valence shells. To achieve this, they bond and share their valence electrons. 

When bonding occurs, the compounds get new properties, such as a higher/lower melting/boiling point, and the ability to conduct electricity. These processes also work with multivalent metals and polyatomic ions.  

In conclusion, the electron arrangement of atoms do determine the chemical and physical properties of elements/compounds.

Anyways, that’s the end of this blog post! I’m very happy with my work in this project, and I’m excited to learn more!

Stay tuned for more learning! Especially look out for some mPOL madness in the days to come…

⛔️Caution: Book of Boba Fett Chapter 5 Spoilers Below⛔️

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, ok. I know this isn’t exactly “learning” related, but I have to scream about the new episode. 

The darksaber is so awesome looking, and it’s really really cool… AND I CAN’T STOP LOOKING AT IT. 

AHHHhhhHHhhhhHHhh

AND I KNOW THIS PICTURE IS BLURRY, BUT IT’S THE ONLY ONE I COULD FIND.

IT LOOKS LIKE HIS FACE, HOLY GUACAMOLE. I WANT THE GIFT TO BE A TINY MANDO HELMET SO BADLY, BUT I DOUBT IT’S THAT. WHATEVER IT IS, IT’S GOING TO BE ADORABLE. 

AND THIS NEW SHIP IS SO AWESOME! I CAN’T BELIEVE HE WENT THROUGH THE OLD PODRACE TRACK TOO! THE PHANTOM MENACE REFERENCES HERE! AND I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO LIKED THAT MOVIE… (mostly because of Qui Gon and Maul…) BUT STILL!

I CAN’T POSSIBLY TALK ABOUT ALL THE AWESOME THINGS IN THIS EPISODE, SO I’M JUST GOING TO STOP. 

Ok, I’m done. Thank you for coming to my nerdy Star Wars rant, and I’m not sorry.