Examples of Student Art

Learning Goals 

1. Become more comfortable reading and interpreting graphs 

2. Think creatively about data and how to communicate it 

3. Become less overwhelmed by data and graphing

Audience and Context 

This activity was originally designed for middle schoolers attending the INSTARR SEEC Showcase. For the showcase, the middle schoolers were split into groups of 10-15 students and were cycled through a total of twelve 15-minute activities or lab tours with different INSTARR scientists. Our activity was focused on communicating about the Niwot Ridge long-term research facility. Although our activity was designed for middle schoolers and a short lesson period, this lesson can be adjusted to fit the needs of other age groups and lesson lengths, and for the purpose of communicating about other science topics. 

Our activity was inspired by the work of artist Jill Pelto, who creates art on top of graphs to communicate the findings of the data. Her ability to make data more comprehensible and relatable by engaging emotions was the motivation for this lesson. You can learn more about her work at her website: https://www.jillpelto.com/

Prep and Logistics 

To prepare for this lesson, the most important part is choosing which graphs you would like to use. This can be tailored to the current curriculum and to the ability of the age groups. Our handouts have two sides. The first side has the fully labeled scientific graph and description of what the data shows in order to support the students in their artistic interpretations. We included description of the trends because we created this activity to be used at a short outreach event. In a classroom, students could be challenged to write their own descriptions of the trend. Students were also given the graph without the axis or any labels to give the students room to create their art. We recommend using Photoshop, Illustrator, or a free online image editor to simplify the graphs if you don't make them yourself from the data. 

For the original design of this project, we pulled graphs showing the precipitation and temperature trends from the Niwot Ridge LTER data dashboard. Teachers may consider using data collected locally or data that is relevant to the broader curriculum. We also suggest graphs that are not too jumbled or crowded in order to give students enough space to create art. 

Materials Needed:

• Graph  Worksheet Print-outs (see below)

• Pencils

• Colored Pencils/Markers/Art Medium of choice

• Stamps and Ink Pads (optional) We used these Adventure Stamps and these Nature Stamps.

• Stickers (optional)

• Jill Pelto art examples (can print from her website and display around the room)