The learnAR resource Introduction

The learnAR resource
Introduction
The learnAR resource has been
created by the Specialist Schools
and Academies Trust to showcase
the potential of augmented reality
(AR) as a learning tool.
The resource pack consists of 10 resources that
showcase applications across different subject
areas as well as different uses of AR from simple
ideas to more complex ones.
harder to read. The markers work best when flat but will
still work if slightly bent. For this reason if you are using
the markers over and over it is best to print them on thick
paper, card or stick them to pieces of card.
It is intended that the 10 resources prompt teachers and
students to think about what potential there may be in the
technology and what support they might need to exploit
this to the maximum.
Although the marker shapes are identified by colours,
they do not need to be printed in colour. The colour is
used as a simple way of identifying the different shapes.
Each marker has its colour word printed on it to ensure
use of markers printed in black and white are
easily usable.
Using the resource is relatively simple. All the user
requires are the paper marker shapes and a computer
with a web cam and an internet connection.
The marker shapes
All the information about the 10 resources and all the
markers are included in this resource pack. The markers
are made available so schools can copy them to include
in their own materials such as worksheets. You could also
label the markers differently for each resource if required.
There are 10 different markers used across the resources.
Some resources require just one marker, others require
all 10. To differentiate the markers and allow them to be
used for different resources, they have been coloured –
red, yellow, green, blue, orange, purple, turquoise, pink,
black and grey.
Printing the marker shapes. The marker shapes can be
printed on any paper but are best printed on matt paper
as glossy paper can cause glare that makes the marker
The marker shapes are intended to be flexible in their
use. They could be worn by the user for some
applications, can be held up in front of the camera
or could be used on a flat table top.
Lighting the area
The resource website has been optimised for use in the
classroom or for students to use at home. A diffuse light
is best. Too much light (e.g. from a desk lamp) can generate extra glare which makes the marker harder to
read. You may wish to experiment to find the optimum
lighting conditions for your area by closing blinds etc. As the webcam constantly checks the image for the
marker shapes it will work best with simple backgrounds
(i.e. those without moving people).
The camera
Computer and internet connection
The resource will work with any camera that can be
plugged into your computer. Mainly this is web cameras
(webcams) but could also be a digital or video camera.
What you will need to use the learnAR resources:
Many laptops and netbooks include built-in cameras
which work fine although the quality tends to be inferior
to separate cameras. Different cameras behave in
different ways but in general, once connected, they
appear in the ‘My Computer’ section of your computer.
Most cameras work simply by just plugging them in but
occasionally they may need a special driver to allow
them to work. Your technical support team will be able
to assist with this.
Some cameras also allow their characteristics to be
altered which can help fine tune the image to make sure
it works as well as possible. The example below shows
the Webcam Console utility for a Dell laptop with an
in-built camera. The different settings can be altered to
give the best image and recognition of the
marker shapes.
A computer – any will work so there is no minimum
specification but for best performance a reasonably fast machine is recommended (e.g. 2.4 Ghz, Duo core, 4 GB RAM).
A webcam – any will work but better results are
achieved with better quality cameras. Factors that are
important are the resolution of the camera (e.g. 1280 x
960) and the frame rate (e.g. 25 frames per second)
Adobe Flash Player - the latest version of the free
Adobe Flash Player (Flash Player 10 – January 2010) can
be downloaded from http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
Using the resource
The resources are accessible through the www.learnAR.org website which is open access so
does not require any username or password.
It may useful to explore flipping the image horizontally (an
option in most webcams) as it is more obvious if moving
a marker to the right results in the marker moving to the
right on the screen.
Once at the home page, simply choose the resource
you want to use from the list. You will get a prompt as
the web page would like permission to use the webcam.
Once you have agreed to this you see the web cam
image on the screen and the resource is already
checking for any markers it can see. If the image freezes
or the marker shape is not showing, cover the marker or
tilt it to hide the shape for a second and the image
should return to normal.
www.learnAR.org
Markers
www.learnAR.org
Markers
www.learnAR.org
Markers
www.learnAR.org
Markers
www.learnAR.org
Markers
www.learnAR.org
Resource 1
The bones and muscles of the arm
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 3 (KS3) science, key stage 4 PE
(or as revision for key stage 4 or 5 biology).
Usage
This resource uses just two markers (red and yellow).
The red marker is used with the arrows pointing left
(triceps) to right (biceps). The yellow marker is used
with the arrows pointing up (radius above the ulna).
The markers demonstrate how the biceps and triceps
muscles of the arm are used together to raise and
lower the forearm.
Advice
The markers can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top. The most impact could be had by
wearing the markers by attaching them with tape or
Velcro. Attach the red marker to the upper area of your
left arm (arrows pointing left) and the yellow marker to
the lower part of the same arm.
Markers
Red
Yellow
Humerus
Tricep
Radius
Bicep
Ulna
Resource 1 The bones and muscles of the arm
www.learnAR.org
Resource 2
Chemistry: Reactivity series of metals
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 4 (KS4) science
(or key stage 5 revision).
Usage
This resource uses all 10 marker shapes:
Blue – silver
Purple – magnesium
Yellow – zinc
Green – iron
Red – lead
Orange – copper
Pink – Copper sulphate solution
Turquoise – Magnesium sulphate solution
Grey – Silver nitrate solution
Black – Lead sulphate solution
Simply move a metal marker and a solution marker
together to see if there is a reaction. Results are shown
on the screen.
Advice
A more reactive metal will displace a less reactive metal.
When this happens the piece of metal will slightly
disappear and the colour may change. The activity
allows users to test metals by adding them to a test
tube of a solution and seeing if there is a reaction.
For each successful reaction, an explanation of the
reaction including the formula appears on the screen.
‘No reaction’ is also displayed in the same way.
Markers
Blue
Purple
Yellow
Green
Red
Orange
Pink
Turquoise
Grey
Black
Resource 2 Chemistry: Reactivity series of metals
www.learnAR.org
Resource 2 Chemistry: Reactivity series of metals
www.learnAR.org
Resource 2 Chemistry: Reactivity series of metals
www.learnAR.org
Resource 2 Chemistry: Reactivity series of metals
www.learnAR.org
Resource 2 Chemistry: Reactivity series of metals
www.learnAR.org
Resource 3
Biology: Organs of the body
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 3 (KS3) or key stage 4 science.
Usage
This resource uses just one marker (red). The marker
shows the relative position of the organs of the
upper body.
Advice
The marker can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top. The most impact could be had by
wearing the marker by attaching it to your chest with
tape or Velcro. Attach the red marker to your chest with
the arrows pointing upwards. The resource could be
used by a teacher to show the major organs of the body
in an exciting way. They could then explain the purpose
and function of each. Students could use the resource
for revision to practice identifying the different organs.
Markers
Red
Resource 3 Biology: Organs of the body
www.learnAR.org
Resource 4
Biology: The heart
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 3 (KS3) or key stage 4 science.
Usage
This resource uses just one marker (red). The marker
shows the heart and its main components.
Advice
The marker can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top.
Markers
Red
Resource 4 Biology: The heart
www.learnAR.org
Resource 5
Physics: Radioactivity
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 4 (KS4) science.
Usage
Blue – a geiger counter
Red – a sheet of paper
Yellow – a sheet of aluminium foil
Pink - a sheet of lead
Green – an alpha radiation source
Purple – a beta radiation source
Orange – a gamma radiation source
The resource allows you to explore the characteristics of
alpha, beta and gamma radiation by inserting pieces of
paper, aluminium foil and lead between the source and
the Geiger counter. The readout on the Geiger counter is
shown as well as the audio to indicate the reading.
(All markers should be used with the arrows pointing
upwards or towards the camera if on a tabletop)
Advice
The markers can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top. If holding the markers then you may
need an extra person to hold a marker as 3 markers
need to be held at any one time.
Markers
Blue
Purple
Yellow
Green
Red
Orange
Pink
Resource 5 Physics: Radioactivity
www.learnAR.org
Resource 5 Physics: Radioactivity
www.learnAR.org
Resource 5 Physics: Radioactivity
www.learnAR.org
Resource 5 Physics: Radioactivity
www.learnAR.org
Resource 6
Items of clothing in French
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 3 (KS4) and key stage 4 French.
Usage
This resource uses 5 markers:
Blue – the character
Purple – answer ‘A’
Yellow – answer ‘B’
Green – answer ‘C’
Red – answer ‘D’
The resource allows you to test your vocabulary
concerning items of male clothing. It is set up as a quiz.
Hold the character (blue marker) in front of the camera to
start and an item of clothing will be added. Choose the
correct French word for the clothing item by moving the
appropriate marker in front of the webcam (arrows
should point upwards). Correct and incorrect answers
will be confirmed with an explanation.
Advice
The markers can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top. There are 10 items and the resource
records a mark out of 10.
Markers
Blue
Purple
Yellow
Green
Red
Resource 6 Items of clothing in French
www.learnAR.org
Resource 6 Items of clothing in French
www.learnAR.org
Resource 6 Items of clothing in French
www.learnAR.org
Resource 7
Items of clothing in Spanish
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 3 (KS3) and key stage 4 Spanish.
Usage
This resource works in the same way as the French
resource by using 5 markers:
Blue – the character
Purple – answer ‘A’
Yellow – answer ‘B’
Green – answer ‘C’
Red – answer ‘D’
The resource allows you to test your vocabulary
concerning items of male clothing. It is set up as a quiz.
Hold the character (blue marker) in front of the camera to
start and an item of clothing will be added. Choose the
correct Spanish word for the clothing item by moving the
appropriate marker in front of the webcam (arrows
should point upwards). Correct and incorrect answers
will be confirmed with an explanation.
Advice
The markers can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top. There are 10 items and the resource
records a mark out of 10.
Markers
Blue
Purple
Yellow
Green
Red
Resource 7 Items of clothing in Spanish
www.learnAR.org
Resource 7 Items of clothing in Spanish
www.learnAR.org
Resource 7 Items of clothing in Spanish
www.learnAR.org
Resource 8
English: nouns, verbs and adjectives
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 3 (KS3) or key stage 4
English/literature.
Usage
This resource works as a quiz in similar way to the
French and Spanish resources. It uses by using
4 markers:
Blue – the word
Red – answer ‘noun’
Yellow – answer ‘verb’
Green – answer ‘adjective’
The resource allows you to test your knowledge of
words and is set up as a quiz. Hold the question word
(blue marker) in front of the camera to start and a word
will appear (arrows should point up or away from the
camera). Choose whether the word is a noun, verb or
adjective by moving the appropriate coloured marker
onto the screen (again with arrows pointing up).
Correct and incorrect answers will be highlighted with
an explanation.
Advice
The markers can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top. The quiz lasts for 20 words, which
are taken from a bank of almost 600. A mark out of 20 is
totalled in the top right corner.
Markers
Blue
Yellow
Green
Red
Resource 8 English: nouns, verbs and adjectives
www.learnAR.org
Resource 8 English: nouns, verbs and adjectives
www.learnAR.org
Resource 9
Religious education: The 5 Ks of Sikhism
Curriculum links
Suitable for GCSE religious studies, key stage 3 (KS3) religious education.
Usage
This resource allows you to explore the five ‘K’s of
Sikhism by adding each item to a character. Adding an
item puts the item on the character, shows the word and
a description of it and its significance. The resource uses
6 markers:
Blue – the character
Green – the sword (Kirpan)
Purple – the hair (Kesh)
Yellow – the comb (Kanga)
Red – the bracelet (Kara)
Pink – the shorts (Kaccha)
Add the 5 items by introducing the appropriate
markers with the arrows pointing away (or upwards)
from the camera. Each marker shows the item and
information about its significance to the wearer.
Advice
The markers can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top. The quiz lasts for 20 words, which
are taken from a bank of almost 600. A mark out of 20 is
totalled in the top right corner.
Markers
Blue
Purple
Yellow
Green
Red
Pink
Resource 9 Religious education: The 5 Ks of Sikhism
www.learnAR.org
Resource 9 Religious education: The 5 Ks of Sikhism
www.learnAR.org
Resource 9 Religious education: The 5 Ks of Sikhism
www.learnar.org
Resource 10
Maths: 3D shapes
Curriculum links
Suitable for key stage 3 (KS3) or 4 maths.
Usage
This resource uses 5 markers:
Blue – the 3D shape
Purple – answer ‘A’
Yellow – answer ‘B’
Green – answer ‘C’
Red – answer ‘D’
The resource allows you to test your skills in calculating
surface area and volume of different three dimensional
shapes. Hold the blue marker in front of the camera to
reveal the shape and its dimensions. The shape can be
turned through 360° and closer or further away from the
camera so all dimensions can be viewed. The question
will be about calculating surface area or volume.
Complete the calculation (the formula is shown for
assistance) and offer your answer by moving the
appropriate coloured marker onto the screen.
The resource will show whether you are correct or
incorrect before moving on to the next shape.
The shapes are randomly generated and a score out
of 10 is totalled on the screen.
Advice
The markers can be held in front of the camera or used
flat on a table-top. Pay attention to whether the question
is asking for surface area or volume.
Markers
Blue
Purple
Yellow
Green
Red
Resource 10 Maths: 3D shapes
www.learnAR.org
Resource 10 Maths: 3D shapes
www.learnAR.org
Resource 10 Maths: 3D shapes
www.learnAR.org