PickleRict: OUR SOLAR SYSTEM - Augmented Reality

Good evening! I'm Alicia, and today I'm here on behalf of all the Pickles to talk about how we are organizing our UDCMM learning games, although I'll just be focusing on the Augmented Reality activity, as otherwise, this entry would be quite extensive and anyway we've decided that each one of the three games will have some specific presenters.

We've decided to create a big activity that could be portrayed in a classroom of students of the fifth grade of Primary Education. Throughout this activity, students would be able to acquire a large set of values as well as the content-related knowledge that is established within the curriculum of this course. Once the main activity has been presented, it will be possible to use it in several subjects so it becomes the main theme during the week, so actually, it'd be perfect if all subjects were involved at some point. Thus, this huge, main activity will be divided into three smaller ones, presented trough storytelling, robots, and augmented reality. We strongly believe that this would motivate students and get them engaged in all the tasks, as not only will it portray these concepts in a whole new game, but they will also have a direct, active interaction, and as it would only last a week, it'd still be perceived as something new and exciting. So keeping that into account, let's begin! 🥒🌟

The idea behind the Augmented Reality task was to make students understand what the solar system consists of, as well as giving them the right to understand a small part of what is truly out there. In order to do so, we clarified that it'd be essential for students to be aware of what context is surrounding the story's story, so they can focus on the one that is surrounding them as well, this leading to the accomplishment of the following learning standards:

SOCIAL SCIENCE:

Part 2: The world we live in

Contents: El Universo. Sistema Solar: el Sol. Los Planetas.

Evaluation criteria:
2. Describir las características principales del Sistema solar identificando diferentes tipos de astros y sus características.
3. Localizar el planeta Tierra y la Luna en el Sistema Solar explicando sus características, movimientos y consecuencias.

Learning standards:

2.1. Describe las características, componentes y movimientos del Sistema Solar.

2.2. Localiza el Sol en el centro del Sistema Solar y los planetas según su proximidad.

3.1. Define la traslación de la Luna.

3.2. Identifica las fases lunares.

First of all, we looked around for different tools that could be used in order to design an activity that allowed us to implement all these criteria into a single activity. This was a bit tricky, as at first, I felt like it was going to be a complex task, being oblivious to the wide range of platforms and apps that have already been created with the sole purpose of fulfilling goals that are similar to ours.

My first idea was to simply search "AR tools" on the net, hoping to come across the perfect tool that would build our paths towards the perfect activity... But it wasn't such an easy task, so I searched "Augmented Reality tools in education" instead, aiming to lower the number of results and avoid those that weren't that useful. I found a webpage that had lots of different tools and apps listed down (click here), but I remembered that our Resources and ICT teacher, Linda Castañeda, has told us not long ago that she had found a tweet in which another user, Manu Velasco, had created a list with different AR tools that could be useful for us, so I decided to stalk her Twitter account for a bit hoping to see that wonderful list, even though we had already checked it as soon as she retweeted it. Please, if you're interested in learning more about more possibilities regarding AR, take a look at his list! You can easily access it by clicking here.

I found a bunch of interesting tools that I'd love to highlight today, needless to say, all of them are focused around the solar system or allow the user to create an activity related to it:

1. Star Walk: in order to use this tool, the only thing the user needs is either a smartphone or a computer, as well as the program, of course. The individual just needs to hold their device up and point it towards the sky. This mere action will display all the different stars, planets, and constellations that are there, along with their names. As this device works with the device's GPS it doesn't matter whether the sky is completely clear or not, as it'll work nonetheless. However, the counterpart of this program is that it isn't free, and even though it wouldn't matter if we installed the app on our smartphones or class' computer as teachers, it would be better if each student could have it on their own device. Nevertheless, it's quite cheap (2'49€), so it'd still be interesting to use it at some point.

2. Amazing Space Journey: this app is created for smartphones and it allows the user to see from a third perspective how the Solar System looks, allowing them to jump from one planet to another and turn the models, zooming in and out. One of its issues is that the developers haven't updated it to the last Android version, so it could be kind of laggy. Nonetheless, I tried it on my own smartphone and it seemed to work perfectly fine.

This is a video I filmed while I was playing around with it a bit. As you can see, there's also an "information button" that allows the user to learn more about the planet they're focusing on, such as its radius, rotation period, orbital period, and its distance from the Sun.

3. SkyORB: sharing similarities with the previous one, SkyORB is an app that allows the user to look at the Solar System from another perspective as if they were floating on the space. The individual can choose the planet they want and learn a lot of important information about them. They can also receive updates about the current location and status of the different planets and constellations. However, when trying this app, it seemed to work slower than the previous one, so keeping in mind that they'd be used for the same purpose we'd recommend using the previous one. In addition, the free version of the app has many adverts that make it difficult to enjoy the experience. Here's the app's promotional video:

4. ZapWorks: overall, it's an amazing tool for creators who seek to implement their own unique touch to their creations and as educators, it's definitely great to work with children. However, it's quite an expensive tool, as the cheapest upgrade costs 350$ per year, allowing two educators and up to 15 students to join. If the user decided to increase this amount, then the expenses would go up: an extra educator would be 200$ more, while another student would be another 5$. We could try the trial version of this program, which lasts up to 30 days.

Now I'd like to show you some screenshots I took while I was getting familiar with how the program works:

1). As you can see, the home screen works as a DIY workbench in which you can choose your projects and start one from scratch.

2). The first option would be the way to go, as it allows the user to create their own resources, modeling them by using ZapWorks Studio... which at the same time, is an extremely complex software to work with. Being absolutely newbies on this platform, I chose the third option.

3). I immediately looked for images with a creative commons license that we could use, and I began adding them to our soon to be a project (or at least, that's what I hoped it to become at some point). I installed an app called "Zappar", which is required for these projects to work and I tested it with the first and only image I had added so far:

This made me realize that if we were to apply this with real students, it would be extremely hard for this to work, as they would have more fun working with 3D models rather than 2D images that apparently come to life. So we ended up discarding this idea. However, if the teacher happened to be knowledgeable about modeling and designing, then this would certainly be an amazing tool. Here's a video tutorial in which it is explained how ZapWorks studio can be used to create a Solar System:

Now moving onto the actual activity, we've decided to choose "Amazing Space Journey" as the app that will allow us to work these contents with students, along with other activities that aren't that much AR-focused:

~ ACTIVITIES; PLANNING ~

Topic: The Solar System.
Age/ Course: 5th grade of Primary Education.

1. Augmenting my system.

Main goal:

To become familiar with the planets and their characteristics.

Tools:

Working devices, such as a smartphone or a tablet provided by the center.
The app "Amazing Space Journey".

Duration:

60 minutes (one lesson).

Steps:

Students will work in pairs and they will share a device that would have the app installed. Afterward, they will observe the different celestial bodies and identify the characteristics of each one of them: shape, color, whether they have rings or not, their distance from the Sun, satellites, etc.

2. Getting to know my system and seasons.

Main goal:

To distinguish the different movements that the Earth does and the effects they have.

Tools:

A working device and the app "Amazing Space Journey".
The video that is proposed by the teacher (this one).

Duration:

60 minutes (one lesson).

Steps:

Students will identify and name the movement they are witnessing. Then, they will look for information regarding the movement that Earth does around the Sun (translation) and they will have to associate it with the existence of the seasons.
A video about the seasons as a consequence of the translation movement and about the movement the Earth does when turning around its own, tilted axis (rotation) will be projected on a screen in the classroom. This will clarify any doubts regarding how seasons, days, and nights take place, as it can be difficult to understand at first.
Students will be asked to observe the moon that night.

3. The hidden face of the moon.

Main goal:

To understand the Moon phases.

Tools:

A piece of paper.
Drawing materials.

Duration:

60 minutes (one lesson).

Steps:

Having observed the Moon the previous night, they will be asked to draw it and comment on how it looked and if it always looks the same, or if it changes. Which variations have they noticed? Why? They will draw the three remaining stages of the moon. They will also be asked to build a "moon box": In the middle of the box, they will put a small, ping-pong ball, whereas a light bulb will be located in one of the sides of the box, pointing at the ball. In each one of the corners, a tiny opening will be made and students will look at the ball from there and according to the side of the ball that is being highlighted, they will identify one moon phase or another.

Referring to the storytelling activity, they will reason about what does the protagonist think of the side of the moon that we never see. Were they afraid of it? At home, they will need to research the true reason for this event, as well as why at some points in both hemispheres the days and the nights, last way longer than what we are supposed used to, up to several months, and why the seasons do not happen at the same time in both hemispheres.

4. Our Solar System book.

Main goal:

To foster cooperative learning, critical thinking, and to learn more about different planets, satellites, or stars.

Tools:

Either the "Amazing Space Journey" app or an image of the Solar System.
A piece of paper or a notebook.
Their school book or/and a device with an internet connection so they can look for information.

Duration:

60 minutes (one lesson).

Steps:

Students will identify the different celestial bodies in order to create a glossary with the most convenient definitions. They will share it with another pair of students and the four of them will create a chart together. (10-15 minutes).
"Creation of a collective book." Each student will bring information about a specific planet, satellite or star; it could be either a picture or a drawing. This will encourage them to work both their creativity and critical thinking skills, as they will be original and decide which are the most important elements that shall be included. Furthermore, students will get familiar with "PlugXR", an Augmented Reality program that will allow them to see the information once they create the picture by pointing the camera towards it, seeing all the information on the screen.

5. My own Solar System.