Registration opens:
October 04th, 2025

STEM Program: Animate the Stars! - In-person

part of the Maryland Stem Festival

Animation professor Laurence Arcadias and NASA astronomer Robin Corbet team up to show us how to use state of the art animation techniques to illustrate the movements of the stars and planets!

Animation professor Laurence Arcadias and NASA astronomer Robin Corbet team up to show us how to use state of the art animation techniques to illustrate the movements of the stars and planets!

The program begins with a short presentation on an astronomical phenomenon — past examples include Pluto, Sunspots, or The Solar Eclipse.

Participants then receive printed sheets of stills from an existing film that relates to the theme Robin introduced. Using markers, crayons, stickers, stamps, etc., we will creatively transform these frames into works of art! Scientists and artists CAN be friends!

The facilitators will conduct brief surveys before and after the program, so you will be helping to advance science.

At the end, the presenters collect the completed drawings, scan them, and edit them into a new version of the animation using Adobe Premiere. The final animated piece is uploaded to Vimeo for sharing. This program is sponsored by Friends of the Library, Montgomery County, MD, Inc.   

Questions about this program? Contact the branch at (240)773-9555.

Looking for more fun things to do at MCPL? Check out our Teen page.

Don't have a card right now?  No worries!  Find out how to Get a Library Card.

Library Program Attendance (both virtual and in the branch) is limited to participants within the suggested age range of the program. Children attending an MCPL program under the age of 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Adults attending a program intended for children must have an accompanying child.

If you plan to attend with a group of ten or more, please contact the branch at least one week before the program to discuss how your group might be accommodated.

Accommodation Requests

People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing should request English-language captioning or sign-language interpretation at least five days before the library-sponsored program they plan to attend. Contact the Assistant Facilities and Accessibility Program Manager at 240-777-0002 with all other accommodation requests.

cm 1.1 01/03/2023

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