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| Source: Politico |
Our students are avid consumers of politics and history. They always ask, though, how the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant became the icons of the respective parties. Both animals, however strong and noble, seem somewhat incongruous to the preferred imagery of political ambition.
Political cartoonists throughout the ages have captured these two creatures in brilliant colors and tart commentaries. Skilled artists have swayed society's opinions through targeted visual satires. For their part, educators have consistently embraced these editorial cartoons as terrific tools in teaching primary sources, points of view, pictorial language, and symbolic metaphors.
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| Source: Politico |
The curators at Politico, one of the sharpest websites for up-to-the-minute political news, have gathered together a stunning gallery of historical cartoons in honor of the Republican and Democratic conventions. They trace the legacy of the donkey — from Andrew Jackson's anti-elitism, to Woodrow Wilson's internecine war, to Hillary Clinton's divided constituency. They map the evolution of the elephant — from Thomas Nast's first salvo, to William McKinley's bandwagon, to Donald Trump's hair on fire.
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| Source: Politico |
Both compendiums of cartoons provide excellent resources for teachers in history, government, civics, social studies, English, and language arts classes. The collections include many seldom-seen images. They also offer terrific examples of illustrations to practice the skills of graphicacy and to follow the four critical steps in analyzing an image.
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| Source: Politico |
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| Source: Politico |
Check out the Democratic cartoon collection here and the Republican cartoon collection here.
For other ideas about teaching with political cartoons, we recommend:
- The Design Of Political Cartoons
- Current Events Through Graphics
- Using Visual Language In The Classroom
- Students Rate The Candidates' Logos To Learn Visual Civics
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| Source: Politico |
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| Source: Politico |
SUNDAY, JULY 24, 2016
Visualizing The Science Of Summer Sports - STEM Animations And Motion Graphics
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| Source: Tim McGarvey |
Both STEM and sports get a bad rap. In the corridors of learning, science is sometimes seen as esoteric or irrelevant, while sports are seen as base or quotidian. Kids are often repelled by the former and drawn by the latter, mostly due to a misunderstanding about the intersection between math and athletics, between technology and physicality.
Fortunately, the possibilities of animations and motion graphics have helped visualize sports in riveting, educational ways. On both the professional and personal levels, data-driven graphics can bring to life the genuine learning benefits of athletics in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) courses.
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| Source: Spov Design + Moving Image |
In digitally nuanced videos, physics meets the real-world. Body kinesthesia moves from the static textbook page to vibrant video overlay. The visualizations can layer equations and statistics atop everyday pastimes. Sports heroes become humanized in analyzing the biology and chemistry that make them great. Familiar backyard games become elevated by realizing the arcs and velocities necessary to score a goal.
Furthermore, these stunning artistic creations validate the requisite addition of the "A" to STEM. A complete "STEAM" approach, including the Arts, proves the value of imagination, design, and narration in producing such compelling animations.
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| Source: Tim McGarvey |
We've explored before the benefits of sports science in the classroom:
- Motion Infographics - The Science Of Sports
- Visualizing The World Cup - Interactive Infographics Of Tournament Math & History
- The America's Cup - A Victory For Visualizations
- Figuring The Skating Math - Watching & Teaching The Sochi Olympics
- The Olympics In The Classroom - Videos And Motion Graphics
The following motion graphics and animations take the discussion even further, looking for fresh avenues to incorporate the personal interests of students into their science and math educations. These videos are great kick-offs to a morning's discussion, and they are valuable context-builders for putting formulas, trajectories, and graphs in their rightful, real-world contexts.
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| Source: Vit Zemcik |
Stunt Junkies: Extreme Sports: TMBA, Inc
Stunt Junkies: Extreme Sports: TMBA, Inc from Tim McGarvey on Vimeo.
Sports Animation Sequence
Sports Animation Sequence from Spov Design + Moving Image on Vimeo.
Wimbledon: Tennis In An English Garden
Wimbledon: Tennis in an English Garden from Vít Zemčík on Vimeo.
Going Outside: The Physics Of A Curveball
Going Outside: The Physics Of A Curveball from DIY on Vimeo.
Sports Science: Calvin Johnson Edition
Sports Science: Calvin Johnson Edition from Ryan Fuller on Vimeo.
The Physics Of Surfing - Trailer
The Physics of Surfing - TRAILER [720] from K2 Communications on Vimeo.
