Matter in Motion (Grade 5 Activity)

Stop-motion animation can be an incredibly powerful and effective tool for students to showcase their understanding of a concept. 

In Ontario, fifth-grade students learn about states of matter, and at the school where I work, there’s a specific emphasis on how the particles in each state move, and why.

To showcase their understanding of this particular concept, students used the app StopMotion to create three separate animation videos, one for each state of matter they studied (solid, liquid, and gas).

After the videos were created, students made a KeyNote presentation. They were asked to include the following on each side: a title, a stop-motion animation video, and an example of that state of matter. 

After the task is explained, I work with students to create a rubric in Numbers that both they and I will use during their time working on this assignment, and at the end. 

Note about rubric: I’ve found that with the students that I work with, a single-point rubric (almost like a checklist) works best for them!

Here is a sample of a completed movie:

Happy learning!