Memorials, Monuments, Museums

Social Studies 8

This is an 8th grade Arts Integration Social Studies unit, which looks at societal values, beliefs, and ideals, and how they are enshrined through architecture and the built environment. Students look at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and other sites they will visit during their class trip to Washington and New York, with attention to what meaning is conveyed through the design of these forms and spaces. The students design a memorial, monument, or museum for their simulation country, and watch a presentation by a local architect. The first slideshow below takes you through the lesson sequence leading into their final design work. Please note that you may pause the slideshow.

Here are three example pieces from start to finish: a museum, a monument, and a memorial. For each piece, you can view the student's process journal, model, and graphic presentation. The students were required to keep a process journal to record their creative thought process through sketches, notes, and photographs. They were also required to write a statement and create a visual graphic to present their final design. Click on the slideshow to view full-sized images in Picasa. Photos of other final models are included in the slideshow as well.

Art Through a Microscope

Science 6

As part of their Cell Biology unit, sixth-grade students work with the microscope to study cells and microscopic organisms. Science Teachers Adam Fox, Abram Cosby, and I developed and taught a short lesson sequence that would teach the students observational drawing skills (which aids their ability to observe and record what they see in the microscope), and also help them to see that the relationship between art and science is a two-way street. Art does not only serve a functional purpose in the scientific process. The observations and understandings derived from the scientific process in turn become inspiration for artists and their work.

The slideshow below gives you a guided tour through the lesson sequence and examples of student work.