Project-Based Learning with Stop Motion Animation

LOCATION: Marymount School of NY, 115 E 97th St, Manhattan (between Park Ave. and Lexington Ave.)

DATE & TIME: Tuesday, July 14, 2026, 12:00pm - 4:00pm

• Lunch (included!) from 12pm - 1pm
• Workshop runs 1pm - 4pm

LED BY: Paul Feffer (bio below)

CTLE AVAILABLE: 3hrs

THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR: Teachers of virtually any subject in middle or high school interested in fostering student engagement through project-based learning.

Bring a Stop Motion Animation (SMA) project into your classroom and watch your students create personal, meaningful work! In this hands-on workshop, you will learn the basics of SMA and discover how to use it as an engaging tool for student learning in any discipline. SMA is a powerful representational modeling tool that helps students visualize and explain dynamic processes. From chemical reactions and phase changes to particle motion, forces and conservation principles, biological processes like cell division and plant growth, single-celled organisms, and even the Solar System, the list goes on!

After some examples and technical introductions, you will learn the fundamentals of creating stop motion animations as we use a free, intuitive mobile app together. Working individually or in small teams, you will brainstorm, storyboard, script, and produce a short animation based on a concept from your own teaching context. By the end of the session, you will:

• Create and share a stop motion animation relevant to your classroom or personal experience.
• Gain ready-to-use strategies for implementing SMA modeling in your classroom.
• Explore assessment ideas and ways to support student collaboration and creativity.

A few things that you should bring to the workshop – your cell phone/tablet with a stand/holder if you have one (we’ll have some examples and DIY versions too), and you will need your laptop. BUT - are your students unable to use phones in your classroom? This technique does work from a tablet, and the project can be assigned for homework or during other times they have access to their personal tech. Neither you nor your students need any prior experience with animation or video production – it’s easy to learn and the options are endless!

A downloadable version of the agenda is available HERE.

Since 2013, Paul Feffer has been the Chair of the Science Department at the Storm King School. Paul has taught AP and introductory physics, and AP and introductory computer science – the latter based on a variety of platforms including Processing and Arduino microcontrollers. Paul has also developed and taught a variety of mini-term classes ranging from engineering and architecture to escape rooms and rocketry. At STEMteachersNYC, Paul has led a number of Modeling Instruction based workshops for physics, as well as workshops for introductory programming for physics simulations, and engineering design challenges for the classroom.

is celebrating 15 years! Since 2011, we have delivered professional development workshops for teachers, by teachers, about teaching. We are an approved CTLE and NYCPS MTAC vendor. All workshops over 2hrs offer CTLE. Below is some important information, but please see our official on our website for full details and policies.

Pricing: workshop/event pricing reflects a desire to offer affordable professional learning experiences. Some workshops are subsidized and offered at a discount or for free. Some workshops include extra materials costs. Often, there is both a “Full Price” ticket for people who can pay full price and for schools/organizations paying for their staff to attend, and a “Teacher Price” ticket for teachers/educators paying out of pocket. If price is a barrier to your participation, please keep reading for several options.

CUNY & other partner campus pre-service students: If you are training to be a teacher, we want to welcome you to attend our workshops for free! Please email [email protected] for details and to see if you qualify.

Want to pay by invoice or purchase order? We encourage you to ask your school or organization if this is a possibility. Please see the for the process, which includes a template letter with messaging geared towards administrators.

Are there discounts available? Often, yes!

• Discounted Early Bird and “Teacher Price” tickets are often available.
• Each summer, the Wanninkhof Excellence in Teaching Scholarship provides up to 2 free workshops per teacher in TItle 1 or similar schools.
• Specials and discounts are announced on our social media (@STEMteachersNYC on Instagram, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Facebook), and in our Weekly Newsletter – sign up here.
• We partner with several organizations and CUNY to offer free tickets to teachers and pre-service teachers involved.
• If at any time price is a barrier to you purchasing a ticket, please contact us at [email protected]

Refunds, cancellations, and other registration/ticketing policies or changes: Please see the full for details and policies.

Please note: We take screenshots, photographs and record video of our workshops in order to publicize a positive image of science teaching, and of STEMteachersNYC – a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization – and to support future teacher leaders. If you register, you are agreeing to be photographed and to have your voice and image video-recorded. You are also agreeing to relinquish all your rights to the photographs and video recordings.

If you do not wish to be photographed or video-recorded – you must inform us before the workshop starts. For in-person workshops, we may take one photograph of your face so that we can erase your image if we happen to catch it by chance during the workshop, and we will do our best to avoid you.

Have more questions? Please see the full for further details and policies, or contact us directly:

• Registration or ticketing questions - [email protected]
• Questions about invoice/PO issues - [email protected]
• Any other questions - [email protected]

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