Create an animation for Biology

All Bio Classes
This post is for all Bio classes. It was posted on

Time to show off your creativity and some of what you learned in Biology! To round-up the semester, you will make an animation representing a concept in first semester Biology. :scream:

TLDR:

  • Be as creative and detailed as you’d like.
  • This assignment is optional, but can likely earn you extra credit.
  • Send your submissions to your teacher as an attachment in WebMail. Your submission should be a .gif or .mp4 file.
  • Submissions will be shared on the Announcements Page!
  • Read below for more info. Have fun! :smile:

The Details

Animations are great for representing a variety of concepts in Biology.

Diagrams can be animated. For example, the Biological Levels of Organization:

Levels of Organization animation

Many concepts in Biology involve movement. You can create an animation to show that movement. For example, diffusion and facilitated diffusion:

Passive transport animation

There’s movement in the process of cell division, of course:

cell division animation

You could choose any topic or concept that we have learned about in Biology and create a short, simple animation. Or, if you are feeling ambitious, it can be a long, complex animation! You can make it as simple or complex as you’d like.

“Okay, but how do I make an animation?”

An animation is just a series of images strung together in “frames”. The objects in the frames change position to create the illusion of movement.

There are many ways to make an animation. The simplest way is with pen, paper, and a camera. This animation was made by drawing the different stages of mitosis, taking pictures of each stage, then putting the images together to make the animation.

mitosis animation

You can easily create .gif files with from a series of image files with online apps like makeagif.com.

For those of you who want to do something more advanced, there are many apps and software out there to make animations. Here a few suggestions:

  • ABCya Animate - Easily make animations in an online sandbox app
  • Animation Desk - Has versions for phones and desktop computers.
  • ScreenToGif - Record frames of anything on your computer - sort of like taking a whole bunch of screenshots. The frames get put together into a gif!

If you know of other apps or software that you find useful, let me know!

This assignment is optional

By now you might be wondering, “Wait, do I seriously have to do this?”. You do not. But we highly encourage it and you will likely earn extra credit for doing so. Plus it’s fun!

Mr. Sweeney will share everyone’s completed animations on the Announcements Page.

How to submit it

Submit your animation by sending it as an attachment in WebMail to your Biology teacher.

.gif files are preferred, but you can submit your file as an .mp4 as well.

Ideas for animations

  • The basics of photosynthesis
  • The details of photosynthesis
  • How keystone species affect their environment
  • The Krebs cycle
  • A function of any of the organelles
  • Cell division
  • The movement of matter through an ecosystem (carbon cycle, water cycle, nitrogen cycle, etc.)
  • Osmosis
  • Diffusion
  • The characteristics of prokaryotes
  • The characteristics of eukaryotes
  • How viruses infect cells

These are just a few potential ideas. Help me add to this list by letting me know some other potentially good ideas!

Finally, if you want some more inspiration, check out the Amoeba Sisters gifs page to get ideas.