Now in Google Earth: Sketchup for math in Middle School - 2

Hi, I'm a math teacher in Florence, Italy, Middle School.

For the second time I've been using Sketchup with 13-year-old students
to introduce and work with solids. (See first time).

For the final animation this time I used SketchyPhysics in order to make the cars drawn by students, run, jump, hit each other ...

I want to share the result since I think it is quite nice:

[Edit] This is the new version: sped up is much better!

(You may watch it in HD on youtube).

With this class I worked 8 weeks (1 our a week with sketchup).
All the the model were made by the students, even the blue convertible.
The only thing I added, since they repeadetely required it, are the shock absorbers for the monster truck.

Comments are really wellcome and appreciated.

[Edit] Now in Google Earth

I coudln't resist and I made the students' cars work inside Google Earth.
I did not write the code (it was written by someone at Google),
I only changed it to make it work with the students cars.

Accept to install the plugin if required, it's great fun ...

Drive your car in Google Earth

hope you like it.

Making the cars work in google earth is not related to the work on solids that
led to drawing the cars and I didnt allow the students to try the plugin at school.
However, seeing this kind of possibilities activated the students' imagination,
interest and attention in the whole subject.

Tags: animation, math, physics, sketchup, sketchyphysics, solids, video, youtube

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Permalink Reply by Randy Hilgers on May 27, 2009 at 8:45pm

Our kids use a tool called SofTutor for learning and collaboration, we downloaded Jason Welsh's blender tutorials on veoh.com (with permission he said we could all use them at school), checked them into our SofTutor Learning System and most of the kids were up to speed in blender within a few hours. If anyone else is a softutor user we can share our softutor for blender database with your kids. Even I learned a bunch of stuff.

If anyone knows of any other good blender tutorials let us know. It would be cool to find other softutor schools and get the kids to start teaching other kids on their techniques as well. With softutor you can share content between other licensed schools.

Randy

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on April 2, 2009 at 4:32pm

Guzman---
Off Topic--I loved Florence the one and only time I was there (March 2007). Can you get my youngest son a job teaching in your school? He could teach English, Literature, Philosophy, Contemporary Issues!! (Undergrad in Philosophy and English, Masters in English and Contemporary Issues from University of Aalborg in Denmark. Little problem--he doesn't speak Italian. :) Am I joking? That would be 'no'!

When you get him the job--I'll come to visit and eat three cheese ziti in every place in town!!

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Permalink Reply by guzman on April 2, 2009 at 5:19pm

Well,
I'm happy to see there's a discussion going on.
Unfortunately I dont know much about blender, cause I never used it. But after reading your comments I think it's time for me to try it.

Some people in the Sketchup forum commented that the video is too slow and I think they're right,
I'll be soon uploading a new faster and nicer version.

@Nancy (off topic): I'll be glad to be of any help but I work in a state school where you get the job according to rankings. Moreover: even mine is a temporarty post!
But you are right: Florence is actually a nice place to live in.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on April 2, 2009 at 5:35pm

Guzman--Thanks, just checking!! I thought with him living abroad I could come and visit your beautiful country more cheaply. I'll come back soon anyway! N

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Permalink Reply by guzman on April 3, 2009 at 8:01am

Following the suggestions of many
I uploaded and a new sped up version of the video which I find actually better.

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Permalink Reply by guzman on April 7, 2009 at 11:16am

Not strictly related to the video above but, I used sketchyphysics
to add a motor and a working steering system to the blu convertible.
Things you can do with sketchyphysics:

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Permalink Reply by guzman on April 13, 2009 at 12:37pm

A little extra about Sketchup and section planes ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o32RErcaHic

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Permalink Reply by guzman on April 19, 2009 at 6:06am

Now in Google Earth

I coudln't resist and I made the students' cars work inside Google Earth.
I did not write the code (it was written by someone at Google),
I only changed it to make it work with the students cars.

Accept to install the plugin if required, it's great fun ...

Drive your car in Google Earth

hope you like it.

Making the cars work in google earth is not related to the work on solids that
led to drawing the cars and I didnt allow the students to try the plugin at school.
However, seeing this kind of possibilities activates the students' imagination,
interest and attention in the whole subject.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Patrick Kutkey on July 20, 2011 at 11:20pm

This is fantastic!

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Permalink Reply by Gina Cote on April 22, 2009 at 7:24pm

Wow! I am a novice to Google Sketchup and actually have started my first project with my middle schoool students this Spring. The students have constructed a scale drawing of a putt-putt course and are using Google Sketchup to make their course come "alive" so to speak. I showed your animated car model to my students today! I would love to try this with them next year! I will have to get better at sketchup though because my skills right now are not quite good!