In September the Putnam Avenue Upper School 6th grade science class put on their hats as scientists and animators to learn the moon phases!
The learning goals were to demonstrate the sequencing of 8 different moon phases and the moons relationship to the earth in each phase through stop-motion animation.
Collaborating with the Ms. Tolles, the science teacher and Ms. G, the technology specialist we developed a lesson that combined rigorous hands-on learning and exploring new skills in media arts.
Students began with a storyboard to show correct order, labeling and moon to earth relationship. They directly used this storyboard as reference to take photographs of moon models in the different phases. Teams of two students, one acting as director of photography, one as the ‘prop’ manager used a professional camera set-up to document each phase. They then transferred their images to the computer and scaled, edited and animated them with timings in iMovie. Some students even added sound effects, titles and extra graphics. I was very excited at the outcomes and the dedicated collaboration of the other two teachers to make this a success. 
The students participated enthusiastically and even the 7th graders poked their heads in saying, “Hey! We never got to do this last year!”.
Ms. Tolles, the 6th grade science teacher comments, “I am just amazed at the synthesis of knowledge that went on to integrate both perspectives of the sun, moon, and Earth. Kids really enjoyed the project, and they showed incredible mastery of the content in a very short time period. In short, I am super excited for our next stop motion project!”
See more photos on our project gallery page, http://cambridgecreativitycommons.org/project-gallery/6th-grade-moon-phase-stop-motion-animation/