Animating Earth’s Processes and Pollution’s Impact with Students

Social Studies and Design: Collaborating Across Continents!

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Greenwich, Connecticut native Scott Lohmeyer (right) is a consummate networker. Now a Social Studies teacher at Cayman International School (CIS) in Grand Cayman, he has a knack for bringing sometimes far-flung people together to create fertile ground in which to plant his students’ imaginations. “We all have different skill sets and abilities. We can all learn from each other,” he said. “I like connecting with kids, and I really enjoy watching their brains explode when they make relevant links with content we are learning to the world at large.”

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When he wanted to build a memorable lesson around the seemingly staid topic of Earth’s physical processes, Scott knew just who to call – his brother Phil Lohmeyer, Upper School Design teacher at Whitby School since 2015. When Phil thinks about Earth’s processes, the first thing that comes to mind is movement, something the CIS seventh-graders could easily visualize and convey. “Scott wanted to make sure that the students captured how each process shifted and changed, accurately,” said Phil. “So, we created storyboards for the four processes – Tectonic movement, Volcanic activity, erosion, and glaciation – and decided the best way to animate these would be with whiteboards and cut paper.

Animation Pen-Pals: Whitby School & Cayman International School

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The brothers aimed to connect the lessons to animation, which ask students to re-interpret the material and present it in a way that peers will understand. Scott used a lesson on Russian landscape to teach the concepts, and Phil flew down during Whitby’s spring break to teach storyboarding and animating with Stop Motion Studio, in order to create the videos that illustrate each process.

The CIS seventh-graders worked in groups to create videos with iPads and Macbooks, imparting their newfound knowledge about the Earth to both classmates and students at Whitby School in Connecticut. Whitby seventh-graders extended the project with additional Earth-conscious clips, creating the combined video “Earth’s Physical Processes and Pollution’s Impact.” The animations continue to grow at Whitby, with extra footage and audio narration added to the videos on Earth Day, April 22.

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Animating the Issues as a Team

Both Phil and Scott hope to make similar connections with like-minded teachers and engaged students at both CIS and Whitby.

“Modern-day pen pals, making real world content that matters!” Scott said. The brothers plan on continuing the collaboration, and share animation strategies among the seventh graders this spring. For photos of the animation workshops at both Cayman International School in March and Whitby School in April 2019, as well as the animated clips, read below.

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Tectonic Plate Movement & Volcanic Eruption

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Building Earth Up & Pollution's Impact

Both Tectonic Plate Movement and Volcanic Activity build up the earth. Tectonic plates collide into each other, and push rocks upwards to create mountains. In 2011, scientists discovered that this process I being affected by climate change. "Geologists have known for years that tectonic plates affect climate patterns. Now they say that the opposite is also true, finding that intensifying climate events can move tectonic plates... long-term climate changes have the potential to act as a force as influence the motion of tectonic plates." -Patrick Morgan & Giampiero Iaffaldano, Blogs.DiscoverMagazine.com.

Erosion & Glaciation

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Wearing Earth Down & Pollution's Impact

Both Erosion and Glaciation wear the earth down. After volcanoes and other pollutants add toxins to the soil, it is eroded by wind and water, contaminating our air and water supply. As glaciers melt, they slide downhill and bring "legacy pollutants" along: "Melting glaciers are redistributors of legacy pollutants stored in them." -www.TheThirdPole.net. Legacy Pollutants are chemicals that remain in the environment long after being introduced. "What was acceptable in the '40s and '50s, we would find very objectionable today," says environamentalist Steve Tochko (www.PBS.org).

Animating Pollution's Effect at Whitby

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At Whitby School, seventh graders animate using a large student-made "multiplane camera", an animation method popularized by Walt Disney in the 1930's. The animations are shot vertically, and several levels of plexi-glass allow the animators to create distance between the paper shapes.

Below, a Whitby seventh grader cuts out examples of acid rain to illustrate the effects of volcanic eruption on soil. Whitby School students animated pollution’s effect on four of Earth’s Physical Processes, including Volcanic Eruption, Erosion, Tectonic Plate Movement, and Glaciation, in Phil Lohmeyer’s Design Class at Whitby School.

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Sample Animations

Thank you CIS & Whitby!

"Thank you to the administration of both Cayman International School and Whitby School for their help bringing the CIS Social Studies program and Whitby Design department together for this important collaboration. Thanks also to the seventh grade students at both CIS and Whitby, who were able to bring 'Earth's Processes and Pollution's Impact' to life! We are truly grateful for the opportunity to work with them on this monumental project. Great job, CIS and Whitby!" -Phil Lohmeyer, Design Teacher at Whitby School, and Scott Lohmeyer, Social Studies Teacher at Cayman International School, April 26th, 2019