Mars Area Elementary School second-graders are exploring space as part of a stop-motion animation project in their STEAM classes.

Last month, the students created their alien selves by bending and twisting chenille stems into character sculptures. The second-graders then affixed pictures of their own faces to their creations.

The second-graders are now working to create stop-motion animation videos starring their alien selves, who are exploring one of three assigned settings — Space, the Moon, Mars — each with different plot challenges. 

In Space, the students are recording each alien’s movement as it dances among the stars, chases a shooting star, and creates constellations. On the Moon, the aliens are mining Moon rocks, playing “Crater Ball,” raising the American flag (using clay Moon sculptures that they created in their Art and STEAM classes), and celebrating the USA’s 250th birthday next to the flag and a “moon buggy.”

On Mars, the aliens are mining martian soil, joining in rover adventures, viewing an eruption of the Olympus Mons volcano, and “Martian Bowling” with rock samples. The students will also use the origami rockets and space backdrops that they designed in their Art and STEAM classes to record the beginning and ending scenes for their class videos.

The stop-motion animation project will be featured at the school’s 2026 Space Showcase, to be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 21. For further information, call (724) 625-3161.