Scale &
Internal / External Structures
My School, My Museum
4th Grade | OCTOBER | Math + Science + Visual Arts
Teachers, staff, and museum educators collaborated to create a day of learning that focused on three areas: math (scale), science (internal & external structures), and visual art (scale / sculpture / armature / various mediums). What a day!
To learn more about the program: My School, My Museum, click HERE.
Check out the lesson plan to get a feel for class visit to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Click to expand OR right click and "open image in a new tab"
2019.10_4th_Lesson Plan-Mammals+Scale(Science,Math).pdfThe Artworks
Maman, Louise Bourgeois
Shore Lunch, Dan Ostermiller
Stella, André Harvey
In the Classroom
Benton reviewing science concepts.
Gibbons discusses multiplication and scale.
Conversations with Works of Art
School Programs Manager, Sally Ball, introduced the students to Shore Lunch encouraging conversation about the science concepts and how they align with the artist's process.
Students sketching Ostermiller's Shore Lunch.
Arts Integration Coordinator, Alyssa Wilson, leads a dialogue at the artwork, Maman. Students discuss the artist, artwork, and explore how scale and multiplication is used in the creation of large scale sculpture.
Art Making: Maman
Students used small models of Maman to take measurements of the legs, body, height, and width. After measuring, the students were challenged with scaling the spider. They had a choice between doubling or tripling its size using multiplication.
Students also experimented with drawing materials. They learned the meaning of the letters found on drawing pencils (H=hard; B=black) and had the opportunity to try the different variations of hard (hard graphite gives you a soft line) and black (soft graphite gives you a darker line).
Back in the classroom, students will create scaled drawings of Maman. They will create sketches using the scaled measurements and experiment with the drawing materials to shade the spiders (bring them to life).
Scale activity sheet.pdfClick to expand the activity sheet that students used to measure and experiment with drawing pencils.
Maman (sketching prompt).pdfClick to expand a prompt used by students to remember the sculpture while drawing in the classroom.
Art Making: Shore Lunch
Students worked from their sketches and images of Ostermiller's Shore Lunch (as well as a few bear anatomy photographs) to sculpt 2 internal structures and 2 external structures. Students also discussed the process behind creating sculpture and why a solid foundation or armature is necessary to the success of the artwork.
Shore Lunch (sculpting prompt).pdfClick to expand a prompt used by students to remember the sculpture while sculpting.
Students created sketches while outside at the artwork.
Students created an armature and discussed how this is similar to the internal structure, the skeleton, which supports the body.
After the skeleton or armature was in place, students began modeling the muscular system (internal structure) and then added two external structures in the form of fur and claws. Students discussed how these structures help the animal to survive.
