Monday, August 31, 2015

Khan Academy Launches Pixar in a Box & Gives Students a Behind-the-scenes look at Pixar Animation Studios’ Based on S.T.E.A.M Concepts

S.T.E.A.M.


Just as our Lil' Monsters are making their way back into the classroom, so begins the brainstorming on how to keep students engaged in learning not only in the classroom but at home as well. Pixar in a Box - a new online resource that explores the academic concepts behind Pixar Animation Studios’ creative process -went live on KhanAcademy.org just last week. Kids of all ages are huge fans and love Pixar and the animation process is so fascinating, why not show children how they could be an animator just like the creators of their favorite movies like Big Hero 6, Brave and Up while they incorporate math and science skills?

Through a series of video lessons, interactive exercises, and hands-on activities, students will discover how the academic concepts they learn in school enable Pixar filmmakers to create new worlds, animate unique characters and tell stories through animation. Although designed especially for students in middle and high school, these resources are available to learners of all ages, completely free of charge.

“Our mission at Khan Academy is a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere,” said Sal Khan, Founder and CEO of the not-for-profit Khan Academy. “Sparking student interest in math and other academic fields is a key part of that, and we’re delighted to collaborate with Pixar to achieve this goal. Pixar in a Box gives students a new way to engage with key academic concepts and see how creative these concepts can be.”

"Learning makes us beginners again,” said Ed Catmull, President of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios.  “In my experience, creativity involves missteps and imperfections, which is one more reason it is important for every one of us to keep learning - in order to remain flexible and keep our brains nimble.   By working with Khan Academy on Pixar in a Box, we hope to encourage the excitement of learning and creative thinking for middle and high school students and to provide the tools to do it.”

7th and 8th graders explore how the operations of translation, rotation and scaling are used to position objects.

“For years, we’ve heard from teachers at every grade level interested in creating animation-based curricula,” said Elyse Klaidman, Director, Pixar University and Archives.  “We’ve wanted to provide free online resources for them, and Pixar in a Box makes that dream a reality. We hope that it not only gives students a behind-the-scenes look at how our movies are made but also gets them excited about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) concepts.”

“Many students start to lose interest in academics in middle and high school, partly because they don’t see how academic concepts relate to things they care about,” said DeRose. Don't you remember being in school and as you got older, questioning why on earth you needed to learn Physics or in my case, industrial design at an Engineering based high school, you couldn't relate it to things you were really interested in, but knew you had to take the course to graduate?

“Pixar in a Box aims to address this disconnect by showing how Pixar filmmakers use these concepts for creative benefit in their everyday work.”

Starting today, students can access Pixar in a Box and learn:
·       How combinatorics are used to create crowds, like the swarm of robots in WALLŸE.
·       How parabolas are used to model environments, like the forest in Brave.
·       How weighted averages are used to create characters, like Buzz Lightyear and                 Woody.
·       How linear and cubic interpolation are used to animate characters.
·       How trigonometry is used to create the worlds in which Pixar stories take place.
·       How simultaneous equations are used to paint all of Pixar’s images.

“These lessons are the first phase of the project,” said Cruise. “While the first year focuses on math, future Pixar in a Box lessons will explore science, computer science, arts, and humanities.” 

All Pixar in a Box resources are available free of charge at PixarInABox.org. The site will be updated as additional lessons become available.

18 comments:

  1. I think this is a program that kids will really relate to. Sounds very interesting, I had not heard of this before.

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  2. What an amazing way to combine children's love of Disney Pixar with learning. I think this will help a lot of children get interested in STEM and the benefits it can have to their education.

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  3. I hear you about Many students losing interest in academics in middle and high school. My Grandkids were a very good example of that. Pixlar sounds great.

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  4. Wow, what an interesting concept. In this day and age of technology, it looks like this company is trying to keep interest high for the students. Nice review

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  5. What a cool idea! I beat my 6 year old would absolutely love checking this out!

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  6. I love khan academies philosophy, free education for all anywhere. This sounds like a great program and great collaborations.

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  7. Where was this when I was in school? If school was fun, I'd probably have wanted to do more than the bare minimum. Of course, I now wish I got better grades and therefore college scholarships instead of loans, but you know what they say about hindsight! I'm glad there are companies that "get" this concept.

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  8. Wow, this is so interesting especially since technology plays such a pivotal role in children's lives nowadays. And who doesn't love Pixar?!?

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  9. A lot of kids nowadays can relate to this program. We are great fans of Pixar and my kids would be very interested in this.

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  10. We are already huge fans of Khan Academy. I love the addition of this program and can see a lot of kids using it.

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  11. Sounds like a program my daughter would love. Going to check them out. Sounds like fun!

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  12. Amazing!! My kids loves Disney Pixar and I love it too because it has a great concept and I'm sure my kids will learn into this.

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  13. This is a great program! My daughter and son would love it. I'm so glad they're doing this.

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  14. Wow, this is great! Pixar is such a wonderful company. Can I be a kid and enroll in this for me?

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  15. I love Khan Academy. They just keep coming out with some amazing things. I signed up to do the Code Academy.

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  16. Wow this is so incredibly cool! I hadn't heard of Khan Academy before, thanks for sharing!

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  17. Now that is amazing! I've only heard good things about Khan Academy. This would definitely be one of them!

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  18. This is really interesting, and I'm sure kids will find it so. Especially the ones who are like tweens'. You know too old for toys, too young for boys! I find in those years this is the time to open their mind to the incredible world and this is all a part of it.

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