Connecting art to biology in this cross-curricular lesson
This was an engaging lessons that my students really enjoyed! It did require a bit of pre-planning to allow students to trace projections of their chosen cartoons. So while students worked on their grid self-portraits, one at a time were called up to trace a cartoon onto large construction paper.
These were set aside until the project was ready to begin. Students chose characters based on their childhood favorite or a character they thought best matched their personality. They used a razor to cut out their cartoon to leave a negative space where we would draw. Some did choose to use scissors instead. The construction paper was glued to large white drawing paper and the edges traced in permanent marker to "clean-up" the contours.
Students then did sketches of their character and the skeleton that would fit inside. I had a 3-D skeleton model from the biology class for a reference while they drew as well as some skeleton print-outs they could keep at their desks. Those who did animal-based cartoons were encouraged to use online animal skeleton resources. We talked about how form and function was an important concept in science. That the skeleton would need to be abstracted to fit the contours of the cartoons. Sometimes more or less ribs would be needed, Perhaps the shape of the skull would be unusual. They needed to work through these visual problems to create their skeletons.
We did peer critiques of sketches to see what details might need to be added or were missing, and then corrections were made. When students felt their sketch was ready to be re-drawn on final paper, they showed them to me to be initialed. I checked for their level of detail and signed off if I felt they were "good-to-go."
These were set aside until the project was ready to begin. Students chose characters based on their childhood favorite or a character they thought best matched their personality. They used a razor to cut out their cartoon to leave a negative space where we would draw. Some did choose to use scissors instead. The construction paper was glued to large white drawing paper and the edges traced in permanent marker to "clean-up" the contours.
Students then did sketches of their character and the skeleton that would fit inside. I had a 3-D skeleton model from the biology class for a reference while they drew as well as some skeleton print-outs they could keep at their desks. Those who did animal-based cartoons were encouraged to use online animal skeleton resources. We talked about how form and function was an important concept in science. That the skeleton would need to be abstracted to fit the contours of the cartoons. Sometimes more or less ribs would be needed, Perhaps the shape of the skull would be unusual. They needed to work through these visual problems to create their skeletons.
We did peer critiques of sketches to see what details might need to be added or were missing, and then corrections were made. When students felt their sketch was ready to be re-drawn on final paper, they showed them to me to be initialed. I checked for their level of detail and signed off if I felt they were "good-to-go."
Here below you can see some of these preliminary steps. To finish figures, the skeletons were shaded with regular pencils and tortillions (blending sticks). Colored pencil was used to give the bones a light hue, but this also helped blend the shadows even more. Those who finished early were encouraged to add lungs, or additional details they felt would enhance their skeleton. Overall, the results were positive for everyone, and the display grabbed a lot of attention.
The video above will walk you through my process in this lesson. It was inspired by contemporary artist Michael Paulus. A similar lesson by Ian Sands, a fellow art teacher in NC, can be found on his blog HERE.
The video above will walk you through my process in this lesson. It was inspired by contemporary artist Michael Paulus. A similar lesson by Ian Sands, a fellow art teacher in NC, can be found on his blog HERE.
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