Stop (Motion) Me If You’ve Heard this One Before

Viewing and creating models is an important way to learn and show understanding of concepts in a variety of subject areas. Modeling is especially important in science since they are used to describe and explain phenomena that cannot be experienced directly.  Models can be created two-dimensionally, three-dimensionally, and through digital software. Another cool way to create models is through stop motion video.

Stop motion is a filming technique where a camera is used to take a series of images to give animated figures the impression of movement. Many famous feature TV shows and videos have been made using stop motion (e.g. the original South Park episodes, Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer“, and the famous Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer TV movie from 1964).

Typically, stop motion is a time-consuming process since hundreds if not thousands of photos need to be taken and then edited together. Fortunately, technology has evolved to make this process more easy and less time-consuming thanks to the iPad and stop motion apps. The easiest app to use for stop motion is iMotion Pro. This app both captures and puts together the stop motion video through an easy to use process. No need to use an additional video editing tool unless you need to do narration.

Recently, Polly had her Grade 11 IB SL/HL Biology students create a stop motion model of the phases of the Meiosis process using the iPad and the iMotion Pro app. In small teams, the goal was for the students to work through the cellular events involved in meiosis step-by-step. The students were given a variety of materials they could manipulate and use in their stop motion video. It was up to them to choose which materials worked best. They then had to plan fairly quickly and create their stop motion in a single class period. The results turned out pretty well, and the students gained a deeper understanding of the process by creating the model bit-by-bit for the stop motion video. Below are the final videos from two teams.

A couple of students in Polly’s class were inspired by the stop motion process that they independently created a stop motion video for their IB Econ class, using an iPad, the iMotion Pro app, and the stand. The video is more like RSA Animate videos where drawings and writing are stop-motioned and sped up to show and explain an idea, but the process is very similar, and the deeper learning that occurs is the same. Here’s what they created:

If there is any modeling needs in your curriculum, why do you give stop motion a try. It’s an engaging and fun process which leads to deeper student learning, and you end up with cool and useful products in the end. Let me know if you want to give a try!

I will buy lunch for the first person who can tell me the band from whose song the title of this post was taken. 🙂