About Animator

Welcome to Texas Techies Animator 2009!

For this year's competition, the challenge is to create an animation using the software Scratch. The competition is open to all Corpus Christi area school children under 17 years of age.

Animator 2009 is a two step process:

Competitors register online and submit their entries.
The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2009.
Three (3) finalists will qualify to compete in the "Animator's Scratch-Off" to be held on Friday, November 20, 2009. Finalists will be required to show proof of age and school by presenting a valid school ID.

Rules

The competition opens on September 1, 2009 and closes at midnight (CST) on November 1, 2009.
The competition is open only to students enrolled at schools in Texas.
Finalists will compete in Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday, November 20, 2009.
Your animation must be created using Scratch. We cannot accept entries created using any other authoring system.
Entries can only be accepted if submitted on-line using the official competition registration webpage.
Your animation can be about anything you want, with one constraint: it must be inspired by material taught in your school. It might tell a story, or explain or demonstrate something - the only limit is your imagination!
Entries must be original works created by one individual student. However we do realise that it is entirely appropriate that children entering may receive professional support from teachers/classroom assistants, as part of the usual teaching and learning process. Finalists will not be able to receieve assistance during the "Animator Scracth-Off."
The duration of an entry must be no more than 1 minute. There is no minimum length.
There is no restriction on the number of separate entries an individual may submit. However, if an individual submits multiple entries, the content of each entry must be substantially different.
If your entry incorporates music, sound samples, text, or images, you must own the rights to use that material. For a great sources of freely-usable music, please visit: www.freeplaymusic.com
Texas Techies Organization reserves the right to reject any entry which, in its view, contains inappropriate material.
When you submit an entry you grant Texas Techies Organization permission to make unrestricted use of the entry in future, for publicity or educational purposes. In such use, the Organization will ensure that the author/school is clearly acknowledged.
Submitted entries may be exhibited at the awards ceremony and displayed on the competition webpages, which will also contain entrants' and schools' names (but no further contact details).
Texas Techies Organization will keep your contact information confidential and will not release it to any other parties.

Judging Criteria

Each finalist will be reviewed by a panel of judges. The judges will not know the entrants' names or their schools' names. The judges will award points for each of the following:

Originality
Creativity
Technical quality, use of animation software features
Relevance to the school taught curriculum
Overall directorial quality

There will be one First Place Winner, one Second Place, and one Third Place Winner.

Five runner up winners will be selected for the Animator Scratch-Off, each of which will receive a prize. These students will participate only if a finalists fails to attend or is disqualified due to age constraints.

Entries may also be identify as "commended" for their quality. All prize-winning and commended entries will be exhibited at the Animator 2009 Award Ceremony and displayed on the web.

All entrants will receive a certificate acknowledging their entry to the tournament.

The decisions of the judging panel are final.

The competition organizers shall not be liable for any decision that they make related to unforeseen issues and for granting special derogation for requests sent in writing. Participating at the contest implies full agreement with the contest rules, without exception.

Software - Scratch

Scratch is freely-available interactive multimedia educational software from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is intended to teach

basic computer programming concepts using simple manipulations of graphics, images and shapes.

How to Download: Scratch is available as a free download from http://www.scratch.mit.edu, where you can also find teaching materials and tutorials.

Prizes

There will be one First Place Winner, one Second Place, and one Third Place Winner.

Entries may also be identify as "commended" for their quality. All prize-winning and commended entries will be exhibited at the Animator 2009 Award Ceremony and displayed on the web.

All entrants will receive a certificate acknowledging their entry to the tournament.

First Place Winner: Laptop Computer
Second Place Winner: Livescribe Pen and Notebooks
Third Place Winner: $50 Best Buy Gift Card

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of the competition?

The motivation behind the tournament is to raise the profile of technology education to young children in Texas. It has three specific aims:

To raise the profile of Technology Education as an important and exciting tool for community success.
To provide teachers with a new approach to motivating and enthusing students to learn.
The tournament is aimed not only at technology teachers but to teachers of other subjects in which computing tools and techniques are increasingly being applied. In doing so we hoped to communicate the way in which technology is increasingly enabling advances in other discipline areas.

Can I use any program to make my animation?
We can only accept animations created using Scratch. We regret that animations created using any other system are not eligible for the competition. We have taken this decision in order to create a balance between establishing some consistency between entries.

Can I make a film about anything I want? Your animation can be about anything you want, with one constraint: it must be inspired by material from the National or taught curriculum. It might tell a story, or explain or demonstrate something - the only limit is your imagination!

Below are some examples but ANY themes and subject can be chosen.

History: Texas History, Romans, A world history study
Science: Nutrition, Movement, Breathing, Respiration, Health
Mathematics: Integers, Powers and roots, Fractions, Decimals, Percentages, Ratio

How will the judges know whether my film has any relevance to the National or taught curriculum? We are hoping that teachers will support students in their choice of curriculum theme and use their professional judgement to determine whether the content is educationally relevant.

How do I submit my entry to the competition? Entries are made using our on-line submissions form. We regret we cannot accept entries submitted by any other method.

My film is longer than 1 minute. Will it be considered?
Only the first 60 seconds will be considered. Anything after this will be disregarded.

Who do I contact if I have a technical problem with competition software? The scratch developers of the animation software have online support for their software.

Can I use copyrighted material such as music or images in an animation? Sure, as long as you own the copyright to that material i.e. you have obtained a copy legally. If your entry incorporates music or sound samples, or images, or any material you have obtained from some other source, you must own the rights to use that material. If you don't have rights to use the material, then, if you win a prize in our competition, and your work is displayed publically, you may find yourself in breach of copyright.

What is Scratch?
Scratch is freely-available interactive multimedia educational software from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is intended to teach basic computer programming concepts using simple manipulations of graphics, images and shapes.

From where can I download Scratch?
Scratch: download here

Subpages (1): Request for Judges

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