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Time-Lapse Flipbook

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Part 1. Follow these steps to create a flipbook that illustrates something in nature that is too slow for the naked eye to see.

➊ Gather your sticky note pad and a pencil.

➋ Decide what you would like to draw that is too slow for our eyes to see. It might be lightning or turning leaves or the setting sun—be creative!

➌ Think of the last image you would see if you were watching this natural occurrence happen. For example, if you were illustrating the setting sun, you might make your final image the horizon after the sun had set.

➍ Go to the last page in your sticky note pad and draw your final image. (Be careful not to separate the sheets of the pad because doing so will make it harder to display the images when you’re done drawing.)

➎ Go to the next sheet—the next to the bottom sheet—and draw what you would see right before the drawing on the last sheet. For example, with your setting sun illustration, this drawing might be the sun just before it goes behind the horizon.

➏ Repeat this process until you end up with a series of drawings that illustrate your natural occurrence. How much you want the movement to change from page to page is up to you but you should plan each movement according to the amount of pages you have so that you can most fully illustrate the occurrence.

➐ Try it out! Flip the pages of your sticky note flipbook and watch the action!

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natgeoed.org

Time-Lapse Flipbook, continued

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Part 2. Write short answers to the questions below.

1. What are some other natural events that happen so slowly it is difficult for us to understand them? ______________________________________________________________________________

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2. How does time-lapse photography work? ______________________________________________

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3. How does time-lapse photography help scientists do their work? _________________________

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