Stop Motion Collisions

Esperanza Charter School
4th grade, Visual Art & Science
Ms. Andrea / Ms. Price

In our Fourth Grade Science/Visual Art classes, we explored the transfer of energy in collisions using stop motion animation.

In a previous class, students constructed a model of a collision between two objects to see how energy transferred from one to the other. Students propped a ramp on a book and placed a box at the bottom of the ramp. They then placed a ball at the top of the ramp. It rolled down and landed in the box, and when it did, it moved the box with the energy it had gathered on the way down.

Using stop motion animation, we recreated this collision to deepen our understanding of how the ball’s energy transferred to the box.

In our first class, we constructed out of paper the four objects: a book, a ramp, a ball, and a box. We used different colors and even layered several colors together to help the future viewers of our films better see what was happening.

Next we filmed our stop motion animations. Ms. Price wanted to see at least three photographs in each student’s film: one before the collision (the ball on the ramp), one during the collision (the ball in the box at the base of the ramp), and one after the collision (the box and ball having moved from the ramp).

To take these photos, students taped their four objects onto another piece of construction paper, which served as a backdrop. Students distinguished between the objects that would not move—the book and the ramp—and those that would move—the ball and the box. 

To allow for movement, students created double-sided tape by connecting the edges of the tape, adhesive-side out, and placing the loop on the back of the moving objects. After each photograph, students gently peeled the objects from the backdrop, moved them to the next position, and then took the next photo.

The experience really helped us slow down the ball’s movement to see how its energy transferred to the box when they collided.