ABOUT THIS BLOG

"A Faithful Attempt" is designed to showcase a variety of K-12 art lessons, the work of my art students, as well as other art-related topics. Projects shown are my take on other art teacher's lessons, lessons found in books or else designed by myself.
Thanks for visiting!
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I acknowledge, with deep respect, that I am gathered on Treaty 7 territory. I acknowledge the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit whose footsteps have marked these lands for generations. I recognize the land as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to those whose territory we reside on or are visiting.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Science Habitat Dioramas- Forest Towers


Here's some photos from a project any Science teachers (and Art!) out there might find interesting. We have a very creative Science teacher at our school who often has really unusual projects for the kids. This is a lesson I look forward to every year. Grade 6 Science students construct large scale animal habitats out of boxes. Many of these are over 4 feet tall!

Update: see the 2023 versions HERE.

They are essentially stacked boxes (some are made from empty photocopy paper boxes which students can collect from the school or their parents' workplaces). Others are made from stacked shoe boxes or other smaller types of sturdy boxes. 

Then the insides are covered with construction paper and/or painted in some way. Each layer represents a different layer of the chosen habitat. I teach most of these kids Art so it's interesting to see how they approached this project and what materials and techniques they used. 

Materials used within each box range from handmade items to store-bought items: Cardboard tubes for trees, animals made from Plasticine or bought at the dollar store or printed out from the internet, lots of dried or fake plants and leaves, or plants made from construction paper, pipe cleaners, dried moss, etc. All the elements are neatly labelled. They're so fun and interesting to look at! I think the kids did an outstanding job and learned about habitats along the way. Being able to express their learning in such a creative way is really special.


































































7 comments:

Anuprem said...

OMG...amazing projects...superb

Virgina Hoppenstein said...

I absolutely love this lesson idea. I recently created an installation about the rain forest in a eight foot long section of the Hallway as my fifth graders end of the year project. It was a great way to teach about science during art class. The entire school had the chance to walk through the rain forest and experience the lush jungle, sights and sounds that accompany it. Any time that we can make those interdisciplinary connections between different subject areas is going to benefit our students and help them transfer their knowledge from one context to new contexts, therefore creating deeper understanding. "The ultimate goal of schooling is to help students transfer what they have learned in school to the everyday settings of home, community, and the workplace" (Beers, 2006, p.14). Lessons like this one, help to prepare our students for the world and help them understand that art is all around us!

References
Beers, B. (2006). Learning-driven schools: A practical guide for teachers and principals. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision of Curriculum and Development.

Unknown said...

This is absolutely fantastic, thank you for sharing!

Miss said...

Thanks everyone- we have a very creative Science teacher! I always look forward to seeing these each year.

Unknown said...

Unbelievably good!! Amazing work & such attention to detail, well done

JThom said...

This is amazing! Do you have lesson plans from the both of you that you are willing to share or anything on teachers pay teachers?

Miss said...

Unknown: thank you, yes, our kids do an amazing job each year with this project!

JThom: sorry, I don't have a lesson plan. I'll ask the Science teacher if he has a rubric I can post. I keep telling him to make a Teachers Pay Teachers account!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...