Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

Stop motion is one of the oldest animation techniques out there. So why use stop motion in your classroom? Also, how can you make the lessons meaningful instead of just having them take random pictures of random things moving? And doesn't it take a lot of technology to make it actually work? I have all the answers for you inside of today's episode.

Listener Message [00:01:00]:

Naomi, you are a lifesaver. I have used your products for about 5 or 6 years now, and they always come out with great compliments from all of the kids. This week, I heard the best compliment I had to pass on to you. It was when we were using some of your engineering Makerspace mats, and the kids said, where do you come up with these ideas? Question mark. I just find such pleasure having you in my back pocket whenever I need fun STEM activities for my kids. You are amazing.

Naomi Meredith [00:01:39]:

Thank you so much, Kristen, for your extremely kind message. It absolutely made my day and especially hearing your voice is absolutely so sweet. If you wanna leave an audio note Just like this one or even ask me a question, head on over to naomiemeredith.com/voice and record away. The first time that I ever did stop motion animation was when I was actually a student. Stop motion animation is really old. And as I said in the intro, it is one of the oldest animation techniques out there. And this is what filmmakers actually did when they wanted to make objects move. So if you think about the movie Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or the show Gumby, those are really good examples of stop motion animation. And so when I used stop motion animation, I was in middle school, and we had this little camera, little digital camera, And we had a bunch of Lego minifigures and Lego bricks, and we had to tell a story using those materials.

Naomi Meredith [00:02:53]:

And I'm pretty sure my video was something like the Lego minifig was walking along and got in a Car and then someone was trying to steal the car. I don't know. Something like that. Remember, there was a car, but there were so many pictures that we had to take to make it look smooth. So stop motion isn't new, but why should you even teach it in your STEM classroom? Because, Sure. You could have kids just take pictures of random things, make a move just like what I did, and not have it connect to anything. We're gonna talk about actual examples later in this episode, so hang tight because that's not exactly what you're going to be doing with students. But even thinking aside from the lessons, there are a lot of benefits when teaching stop motion.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:42]:

The biggest one that I have seen is that it's a great way to teach patience to your students. If they want a video that is going to look really, really good, you have to take a lot a lot of pictures and tiny tiny movements. Like, a lot. Like, I'm talking like 100 pictures. So it really is teaching that patience. Likewise, it does take a lot of problem-solving because if you know you want your objects to look and move a certain way, You have to problem-solve as to how you are going to break this down where the objects can move so that it can get to where you want it in the end. So it's a lot, especially for elementary students. They have to visually think through that process before it even happens. And what's really cool too is, yes, it's called stop motion animation, but most of the work is done in front of the camera, not behind the camera, in front of it. Because they are manipulating these pieces to make it work you have to stay on top of it and really stay focused because if you make these really huge jumps with the movements of your things, It's gonna look really weird in your video. So students have to really think through in front of the camera how this is all going to work together.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:11]:

And with that, the technology is super, super, super easy. It's funny because I taught a stop motion summer camp club for a few summers. I actually built the curriculum for that, which you can grab that whole entire lesson plan and more about stop motion animation. I have a getting started with stop motion book ebook that I made, which I'll link in the show notes. It's in my TPT shop, but It was funny because some kids who were signed up for my club had done variations of stop motion animation, But what they were doing is that they were just taking pictures with their iPads and then swiping through it really fast to show the movements. Well, they had hundreds of pictures in their camera roll, and, I mean, that gets really annoying. It takes up a lot of storage. So The technology is really easy, and we're gonna talk about what devices and all of that in a second, but it is so easy Because everything is done in front of the camera, like I said. So let's explore more about those lesson plans and how to make it meaningful when it Comes to stop motion animation. Now when I was thinking through how I wanted to use stop motion animation in my classroom instead of a summer camp? Because I feel like you have a little more leeway in an after-school club and a summer camp, and it's a really great time to explore, I highly recommend if you need ideas for that.

Naomi Meredith [00:06:40]:

But when it comes to the actual classroom, whether you're a STEM teacher or a classroom teacher, And you wanna have something meaningful, I thought about wouldn't it be cool if I connected these stop motion animation lessons to STEM careers. So when I was planning out my whole k through 5 STEM year-long plan, I knew that there were certain standards I needed to hit in this area where it was really talking about modeling a concept and what is a better way to model than through animation. And so I knew I wanted to use those standards where it talks about showing the process of things. And then, as I was digging in deeper when I was creating my year-long plan, which you can get the entire plan for free. And it's at Naomimeredith.com/yearlongplan. When I was going through that, I thought, oh my gosh, “How cool would that be if all of these lessons were connected to STEM careers?” Researching about a career could be boring. I guess it depends on what the career is. It could be boring, but what if you flipped it around and students are taking on the role of the career? Same kind of concept. They're learning about what this person does in the job, but they are looking at it through a different lens. Side note, if you need more support when it comes to STEM careers in general, I have my whole audio workshop that is all ready to go as soon as you get in there, where I talk through the whole process of setting up a STEM career day from start to finish.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:20]:

Also, I have an upcoming podcast For kids called the STEM Career Quest podcast, which could even be a research tool when students are creating their stop motion animations. So when they take on that role as the STEM career and they're showing what types of things that person might be learning and it connects to the standards, It makes it really really exciting and also not random. I don't know if you've guessed this already or said it a lot on here, but I am not about doing random things in the classroom. I really wanna ensure that the lessons that I am teaching are Extremely meaningful and purposeful, they are connected to standards, and also they are exciting for kids, and they want to learn about them. So what do you actually need when you are setting up a stop motion lesson? Well, not as many materials as you might think, which is awesome. All about streamlining and keeping it simple. So first are devices. And I will say, if you have some sort of tablet, it does work the best when it comes to stop motion animation. If you don't, I have another option for you.

Naomi Meredith [00:09:38]:

It works best just because of the layout of the camera. If you do have a tablet, you wanna make sure that there's some sort of stand where that keeps the device steady because you actually do not want the kids holding the device and taking pictures because they can't get the same exact angle every time and then it actually messes up the pictures because They're starting and stopping in different places and it doesn't really make sense. So whatever tablet you have, you want a way for it to stand up. Whether it's the case that the actual tablet is in or if it has a stand on there, that's excellent. Maybe you can buy an actual tripod where you can actually have the tablet go flat while it's in the air. That's what I did. I wrote a grant for tripods that actually would hold the device, so I'll link that as well as a good option for you. When you're on the app, you just need the free app called Stop Motion Studio.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:33]:

You really don't need to buy it. I had the paid version. The teacher before me had purchased it, and it was already on the tablets. There are some extra Editing features, but really not necessary and with the time you have with kids, you might not even have enough time to use all those extra features. The free one is really, really, really good. So that's what you need if you have tablets, and then if you are using laptops or Chromebooks, If you have an outside camera on the outside of the device, that's awesome. That will help a lot, but you might not, so the layout might get a little bit trickier but not impossible. One thing that I've tried with stop motion on my computer is If you have the device laying flat like normal and then you tilt the screen down, and then you could put like a whiteboard or something on top of the keyboard, then you could have the camera, like, really focusing in on the things and then if you have an external mouse, You could have that plugged in, and then it could click the shutter button on the screen so that way you're still using that Chromebook camera and it's all set up for you and it's not moving around? So that's a good workaround; you just have to play around with the angles.

Naomi Meredith [00:11:49]:

And a Pretty decent app that I found, and at the time of this recording, it's free from what I can see. It's called Cloud Stop Motion, and it looks like they have things that they will support educators with when it comes to setting up accounts and everything. So Check that out. You do wanna have some sort of software where it will put the pictures in order. When you export the pictures, it will make it into a video. That's the whole point of creating an animation. If your devices don't have a camera, there are some external camera options. One popular camera to use with students, and you could actually use this camera for video too, is the Hue document camera.

Naomi Meredith [00:12:30]:

And I know it says document camera in the name, but it actually is just a camera. So all it is is a USB port, it plugs into your device, and it's all set up and ready to go? And they actually have a bundle where you can get the Hue document camera and the software, which will have the whole stop motion software in there so it can connect together. You do not need 1 for every kid, so if you're looking into the option of An external camera, you can maybe write a grant for I would try at least for 12 if you typically have 24 kids, 1 per every two students. So you could start there, and that's a great option, especially if you are teaching all the kids in the school, You'll get a lot of use out of them, and also if you're hoping to do more video projects or if you're doing something like the school-wide video news, which I also have a workshop about that, then you're gonna use those cameras a lot anyway. So, if that's something you're looking for, that's definitely worth the investment. Okay. And then what do the kids actually use to make the animations? Are they using Lego bricks? What are they using? Toys? Sure. You can use that if you would like. No problem.

Naomi Meredith [00:13:47]:

Having a variety like that and having those physical props is really fun, and sometimes Kids will bring in their own things to use in their videos, so it's definitely up to your discretion if you wanna allow that. I also love the Crayola modeling clay, so not the air-dried clay that's soft and fluffy, but the actual modeling clay. It's really inexpensive, they have class kits, and it doesn't dry out, which is amazing. When I taught my summer camp, I got a kit of modeling clay, and then I divided up all the colors so they had a bag of colors they could mix and match so you could actually blend colors together and they had their bag of modeling clay if that was an option and if the bags were left open, it Didn't matter because it didn't dry out. If you're teaching all of your students in this school, that might get a little bit expensive. My trick with stop motion is I actually use paper, and I have students draw their props. I might even have some things that are already predrawn that they can color and cut out. And so, that is my biggest trick and tip, and it is so, so easy to store, they lie flat, and you probably have unlimited paper, and so that's actually what I use for the props. So now we have all of the materials covered, and devices, What do you actually do in these stop motion lessons and connect them to STEM careers? Let's talk through it. I am going to talk through each grade level, starting with 5th grade, and give you an overview of the lesson and what they are trying to accomplish in their stop motion lesson. All of these lessons will be linked in the show notes, and I also have a bundle of them together.

Naomi Meredith [00:15:43]:

So if you're hoping to do stop motion k through 5, You have all of the things laid out for you, all of the planning documents students will need, all of the note taking sheets. So as they are learning about these concepts, when they're taking on the role of the STEM career? They have an easy way to keep track of it. Starting with 5th grade, they are taking on the role as an ecologist. So somebody who is Studying the Earth's landscapes and how it all connects together and all the different things and what they are doing in their stop motion video is How can they can create a stop motion about Earth spheres and how they interact with each other? When you're talking about Earth spheres, you have the different things like the biosphere and then all the things within that, the water, The grass, all of those different spheres, and they have to visually show how it connects together, and they're creating that model. So Not only are they learning about the spheres and what is in them, they had to visually show a way how they could explain that to somebody else, which Takes that levels to a whole other dimension because oftentimes I've seen with this actual standard Is that they're just labeling pictures of the spheres and then the end, they probably won't remember. So this is making that really interactive. In 4th grade, they are taking on the role as a tsunami warning specialist, and they are learning about the concept of Waves and waves in 2 ways. So they're thinking about, yes, a tsunami makes a wave based on an earthquake happening underwater? So we have that water wave, but also are really looking in that role is they are looking at the Hypes of waves and the data that a tsunami actually makes when it is Becoming closer and closer and closer, so they're taking on that role.

Naomi Meredith [00:17:46]:

So students will actually have examples, and I this one was interesting to plan. I did a lot of research on impactful tsunamis throughout history And even made a map where it shows where it's at, more information, a timeline of what happened with the tsunami And students will pick 1 of the tsunamis to show in their video, but also explain what a tsunami is, How it works and how the waves the wavelengths are actually shown in that video. So really taking on that role of the tsunami warning What do you need to know about all of this and also educating others how can you stay safe. So my students really really had a fun time drawing the waves. And really anything with natural disasters, they're like, yeah, I'm all about it even though it's a little scary. And I live in Colorado, so I have to remind kids, like, we don't get tsunamis in Colorado and if we did get one in Colorado, that's, like, really, really bad. So they were super into this lesson and, really liked seeing and learning about waves, The different kinds of waves, so, those 2 kinds of waves in a different way. 3rd grade for their stop motion animation is they were taking on the role as a Paleontologist. And instead of doing, like, let's dig up fossils out of this dry clay, That's cool.

Naomi Meredith [00:19:17]:

They're really telling a story of how fossils are formed from living things long ago. In my little example video, I show a snail living his happy snail life and then sadly passes away and he had the right time, right conditions where he ended up becoming a fossil? And so students will actually learn about the different types of fossils and have those resources And then they will have examples of different fossils that have been, found throughout time And students will actually, think about, okay, so there was this fossil formed, what was the story? It's like they kinda have to infer and make up, How did this living thing live its life and then how did it go from that to eventually being a fossil that we found? So paleontologists do use evidence to infer, so they are doing that while they are creating the research and the script and props for this project. For 2nd grade, I feel like this is one of my favorite ones, but I love animals. And so I had a lot of fun planning this one And also challenging too because a lot of times you've probably seen with these standards, there's not a lot of kid-friendly resources is out there so I just end up making it so that my students have benefited and so can yours. And so Students in this project are learning about different types of pollinators so they are taking on the role as a zoologist. They are studying different types of pollinators, some that are commonly known like bees, but some that are not fruit bats, which is one I learned about. And they actually have the articles that I wrote, short out articles that help explain what the animal is, how do they pollinate, and why is it helpful? So there are short articles already in there and the audio is read to them so I actually read the article. And so students actually will choose one of those pollinators and then they will show in their stop motion animation how that animal helps with pollination. In 1st grade, students are taking on the role as biomimicry researcher. Biomimicry is when inventors are looking at nature and how Things in nature work to help inspire their ideas.

Naomi Meredith [00:21:40]:

So, for example, you have a turtle and they have a shell, and the shell protects that turtle. Well, with the helmet, the helmet we could say, I don't know if this is actually true, but we could say that a helmet Takes elements from a turtle and its shape and its purpose to help humans keep their heads safe when they're riding a bike. And so students will have different examples of biomimicry. Again, I wrote the articles in a kid-friendly way, recorded my voice, But different examples of inventions that use biomimicry in our everyday lives and things that you See, like windmills and reflectors. And so students in their video will actually show a human problem being solved with biomimicry? And it could be an invention that is already out there or even more fun, They get to plan the invention and then show it through their videos. So a lot of problem-solving in that one. And finally, we have our Cutiepie kindergartners, and they are taking on the role as a meteorologist, and they are creating a stop motion animation to show the weather from the week? And maybe it's things that, like, you have to look up the weather from the past week and then put in the data in the weather journal that's I did for them and, of course, talking about different types of weather and then they're gonna show that in their stop motion animation. You could do where you live.

Naomi Meredith [00:23:13]:

Now if you live somewhere really sunny all the time, that would be a really boring stop animation. So look up a place like Colorado, Look up Colorado in December or maybe January 2024 because we've had weird weather, so you say, hey, we're making a stop motion of Colorado weather because you get different things every day. It will snow in the morning and then be sunny that afternoon. So, they are making that stop motion animation to show the weather. As a recap in this lesson, we talked about how you can actually have meaningful stop motion animations in your classroom as it relates to STEM careers and then really showing those standards where it talks about modeling a concept. So we talked through, first, the origin of the stop motion careers lessons, next, we also talked about ways to set this up and getting the materials re ready, And finally, we talk through all of those different challenges. All of those lessons will be linked in the show notes for you? And then also if you are looking for more ways for students to connect their experiences to different STEM careers, I invite you to my STEM career day workshop, where I walk you through the entire process, give you all the templates of how to set that up in your classroom, And then also, make sure to keep an ear out for my upcoming kid podcast, the STEM Career Quest podcast where each week I will be interviewing guests Who have real life STEM careers and who are talking to kids to help inspire them. Thank you so much again, and I will see you in the next episode.