Flipside Science is a youth-powered series that inspires solutions-based thinking about the environment. Designed for K-12 classrooms, this upbeat collection of videos and classroom activities engages students as they design solutions to key environmental issues. Visit www.calacademy.org/educators/flipside-science to explore Flipside Science and download free educator resources.

Welcome to Flipside Science   

California Academy of Sciences

A youth-powered series that tackles complex environmental topics and empowers viewers to make a difference. This engaging and upbeat collection of videos, hosted by Academy youth, explores how local communities are addressing environmental problems.

This was a HUGE team effort almost 25 folks combined to create these.

Kira worked on 11 videos, helping with script writing, directing youth talent, shooting, video editing, graphics (I was not the motion graphics person though), sound design, SFX (by far my favorite part had so much fun doing the SFX work), green screen work (shooting and pulling keys), color correction, compression and delivery for a bunch of platforms. 

Flipside Science website with all the lesson plans, or watch all of the videos on YouTube.

Here are the separate links just in-case you might want to share with teachers. 

Our Hungry Planet: Feeding Our Growing Population

 

 Fresh Solutions: Water Use and Conservation

 

Below for lesson plans and individual clips from the show. 

·         Timelapse: Photosynthesis Seen from Space   

·         Why Do Birds Migrate?

·         How Many Planes Are in the Sky?  

·         How Did Human Civilization Spread?

·         How Quickly Do Ships Cross the Oceans? (North America)

·         How Quickly Do Ships Cross the Oceans? (Europe)

·         Take a Virtual Dive in a Kelp Forest

·         The Living Soil Beneath Our Feet

·         How Do Trees Transport Water from Roots to Leaves?

·         Why Do We Have Different Seasons?

Teacher Training: Next Generation Science Standards Demystified

Ongoing "train the trainers" science and engineering videos for K-12 educators. Team of 13 made created this content. Cheryl Vanderbilt and I did all of the video/audio/motion graphics for these but the content is from the Education Department and their staff are the real stars here!  

Here are the Disciplinary Core Ideas:

Crosscuting Concepts: Station Rotation

Anatomy of the Disciplinary Core Ideas

What are Performance Expectations?

If you happen to know a local K-12 educator they might enjoy attending an in-person professional development training program at the Academy.

 
What's the difference between weather and climate? - - - The California Academy of Sciences is the only place in the world with an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and four-story rainforest all under one roof. Visit us online to learn more and to get tickets: http://www.calacademy.org. Connect with us!
How do we know that the climate is changing? Climate scientists will give you the inside scoop. - - - The California Academy of Sciences is the only place in the world with an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and four-story rainforest all under one roof.
What is the difference between synthetic and natural materials? How are synthetic materials made? - - - The California Academy of Sciences is the only place in the world with an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and four-story rainforest all under one roof. Visit us online to learn more and to get tickets: http://www.calacademy.org.
People around the world have been eating and harvesting insects for centuries. Could eating insects be better for the environment than eating other sources of protein, like beef? - - - The California Academy of Sciences is the only place in the world with an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and four-story rainforest all under one roof.
Personas de todo el mundo han estado comiendo y cosechando insectos durante siglos. ¿Podría comer insectos mejor para el medio ambiente que comer otras fuentes de proteínas, como la carne de vacuno? - - - The California Academy of Sciences is the only place in the world with an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and four-story rainforest all under one roof.
In this Flipside Science unit, designed for a middle school audience, we'll explore environmental issues related to energy use and conservation. In our most recent installment, find out how a dairy farm is using a methane digester to turn cow poop into electricity.

Renewable Energy - Powered by Poop

I did all the graphics for this one including the 3D stuff. I also used ALL the fart sounds in an extensive SFX library. Seriously when can you say that....

Did you know that fungi, bacteria, and viruses make up a rich ecosystem inside of our bodies? Explore this microscopic ecosystem that inhabits all of us, and learn how we can treat a gut microbiome gone awry. Wondering how to teach your students about the gut microbiome?
Pollinators like bees, birds, and bats contribute to the biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems and benefit people. What can we do to protect them? Create a buzz around pollinators in your classroom!

Biodiversity Ecosystems and Ecological Networks

The California Academy of Sciences partnered with Khan Academy to promote their Biodiversity course materials. 

Kira edited audio and video for this course on the Khan Academy website, did voice over narration, and designed the transitional elements between animation and video. 

Why is biodiversity and species richness important? Healthy ecosystems require a large, diverse group of organisms, each doing their part. For more biodiversity tutorials, visit http://bit.ly/cas-khan.
Academy youth engage in meaningful science experiences that leverage our world-class resources and support our mission to explore, explain, and sustain life. We are committed to inspiring and empowering the next generation of active citizens and environmental stewards. For more information about Science Action Club, visit http://www.calacademy.org/sac.

Science Action Club - Citizen Science PSA

Kira wrote, shot, and edited this advertisement for the Science Action Club. 

 

 

Jill Tarter: Chat with an Academy Scientist | California Academy of Sciences

This is an example featuring Jill Tarter, the astrophysicist whose work inspired the movie Contact. 

Kira developed a method for live streaming and video switching to record visiting lecturers at the California Academy of Sciences.

Astronomer Jill Tarter chats about some of the interesting things she has done in her career, dealing with the scientific question "Are we alone in the Universe?"

iTunes U Course in Partnership with KQED

This iTunesU course for Earthquakes won an AAM MUSE Award in the spring of 2013. The California Academy of Sciences Educational department, under the project management of Helena Carmena, created the educational content and copywriting for the course. 

Kira's role on the project included preparing a HD crop conversion of Earthquake Evidence of a Restless Planet, a full dome Planetarium show. Kira used Nuket to convert the dome masters to HD space. Next, Kira created a basic 3D camera move. Then she ran the frames on the render farm and converted the color space for HD video standards. Finally, matched audio from a recording by Director Ryan Wyatt, generated a stereo audio mix, compressed and prepared the files for the iTunesU course. In addition Kira did some graphic design work featured in the iTunesU course.