Unit Topic Taught:
Have you ever been to a zoo? Perhaps you wonder if all the animals in the zoo are living in peace or utter sadness. Well my fellow teachers and I decided to create a unit where the students could design their own humane zoo. Thus the title "Building a Humane Zoo" was born. In the unit, students consider what kind of creature to create, it's environment, it's situation in the zoo according to other students creatures and what humane considerations were taken to ensure a happy life for their creature. Students work with two-dimentional materials such-as pencil, marker, and paint in developing ideas, then they transferred those ideas three-dimensionally into clay and mixed media. The main focus of the unit is "Representation". "How does form and manipulation of materials represent artistic intention" become questions students begin to consider.
(Click on file to view Unit Plan)
Have you ever been to a zoo? Perhaps you wonder if all the animals in the zoo are living in peace or utter sadness. Well my fellow teachers and I decided to create a unit where the students could design their own humane zoo. Thus the title "Building a Humane Zoo" was born. In the unit, students consider what kind of creature to create, it's environment, it's situation in the zoo according to other students creatures and what humane considerations were taken to ensure a happy life for their creature. Students work with two-dimentional materials such-as pencil, marker, and paint in developing ideas, then they transferred those ideas three-dimensionally into clay and mixed media. The main focus of the unit is "Representation". "How does form and manipulation of materials represent artistic intention" become questions students begin to consider.
(Click on file to view Unit Plan)
constructing_a_humane_zoo_unit_plan | |
File Size: | 109 kb |
File Type: | constructing a humane zoo unit plan |
Lesson 1: Breaking Ground
To begin, students get their unique imaginations rolling by sketching ideas for their creature/ mystical animal in their sketchbook. After a bit of brainstorming, Students will look through books that focus on natural biology while sketching down their ideas and building upon previous knowledge. Research done by each student will depend on the creature they choose. The students will be able to use traditional resources for ideation of new art. One visual element we will ask students to focus on is how the texture of their creature is influenced by the environment it lives. We want students to understand how physical features of their creature are related to the environment they live in. This art lesson is focused on developing ideas and showing students the importance of understanding your subject matter when creating a work of art. To assess what the students have learned, the teachers will collect a ticket out the door consisting of a quick write that explains what the creature eats, where it lives, and how big it is.
Lesson 2: Feeling it out
This lesson focused on visual elements of 2-D texture and how they relate to creating texture in a 3-D form. This lesson is also geared towards getting the students to experiment with and explore the new material of clay. Whether they are building it up, scratching away at it, or imprinting things into it, students will work towards replicating textures they recognize from the world around them with. Through this process, students will explore a variety of tools that can be used with clay. This will be one of the guiding steps towards figuring out which direction they want to take their zoo enclosure. This time will also be spent thinking about connections between the creatures physical traits and their environment. For example a creature that is purple and scaley probably would not live in the arctic.
Lesson 3: Creature Creation
In this lesson students will begin to actually build their creature out of clay. The beginning of this lesson will focus on traditional clay building techniques such as slip and score, coil building, use of armature, and pinch pots. In this lesson we will also emphasize how to transfer drawn 2-D plans for the animals into 3-D clay creations. Once students have become more comfortable with the material of clay we will focus on deepening the relationship between the creature and its environment by reiterating the importance of physical features such as texture and animal anatomy.
Lesson 4: Art of planning
The overarching theme of this lesson is how to take an idea in your head and bring it to life by creating an art object. In this lesson we will look deeper into the planning process by focusing on how artists use 2-D mediums to create 3-D works of art. Students will look at how several artists plan for 3-D production by drawing from several perspectives. Students will then plan for their own 3-D production by drawing their enclosure from 3 different perspectives: that of a zoo visitor, of the creature they created, and of a bird flying overhead. After creating 2-D plans for their creatures environment students will bring their ideas to life using a wide variety of mixed media materials. Once they have finished their individual enclosures we will talk about the importance of presentation by putting the enclosures together to prepare for the “big opening” of their zoo. Students will reflect on their design decisions by putting together informational brochures that are intended to let visitors know more about their animal.
To see photos and detailed documentation of this unit follow the link below:
http://artedufall.weebly.com/
Relevance to the Topic to Content Standards and Within Curricular Sequence:
See document below...
Globally:
Our unit “Building a Humane Zoo” allowed for students to make representations of animals and their environments. 'Representation' was a great focusing lens so students could make several interpretations and creations about a single and/or multiple element/s to their artwork as it relates to them. It is important for students to see multiple possibilities in any artwork instead of just working in one direction. This unit also allows students to work with several tools that can be transferred across many content areas including art-making. Students used technology and worked collaboratively with each other to enhance their 21st century skills. Through ideation, planning, and oral explanation students fulfill the literacy component.
Personally:
When my team of teachers and I were creating this unit, we were very excited about the idea of creating a zoo where the students could incorporate the idea of "humane". I knew many of our students, came from families that were conscious of the world around them and ways to make it better. In zoos for instance, may times the animals needs are put "on the back-burner", and the focus is more geared towards profit. This unit was exciting to do, because it brought forth many of the students morals yet also allowing their imaginations to flourish.
For this Population:
In a society that the population continues to increase, one must consider how to work in balance with nature. The idea of a "green" society is more relevant now then it was twenty years ago. This project allowed the students to problem solve and create a zoo that is more relevant to the times.
To begin, students get their unique imaginations rolling by sketching ideas for their creature/ mystical animal in their sketchbook. After a bit of brainstorming, Students will look through books that focus on natural biology while sketching down their ideas and building upon previous knowledge. Research done by each student will depend on the creature they choose. The students will be able to use traditional resources for ideation of new art. One visual element we will ask students to focus on is how the texture of their creature is influenced by the environment it lives. We want students to understand how physical features of their creature are related to the environment they live in. This art lesson is focused on developing ideas and showing students the importance of understanding your subject matter when creating a work of art. To assess what the students have learned, the teachers will collect a ticket out the door consisting of a quick write that explains what the creature eats, where it lives, and how big it is.
Lesson 2: Feeling it out
This lesson focused on visual elements of 2-D texture and how they relate to creating texture in a 3-D form. This lesson is also geared towards getting the students to experiment with and explore the new material of clay. Whether they are building it up, scratching away at it, or imprinting things into it, students will work towards replicating textures they recognize from the world around them with. Through this process, students will explore a variety of tools that can be used with clay. This will be one of the guiding steps towards figuring out which direction they want to take their zoo enclosure. This time will also be spent thinking about connections between the creatures physical traits and their environment. For example a creature that is purple and scaley probably would not live in the arctic.
Lesson 3: Creature Creation
In this lesson students will begin to actually build their creature out of clay. The beginning of this lesson will focus on traditional clay building techniques such as slip and score, coil building, use of armature, and pinch pots. In this lesson we will also emphasize how to transfer drawn 2-D plans for the animals into 3-D clay creations. Once students have become more comfortable with the material of clay we will focus on deepening the relationship between the creature and its environment by reiterating the importance of physical features such as texture and animal anatomy.
Lesson 4: Art of planning
The overarching theme of this lesson is how to take an idea in your head and bring it to life by creating an art object. In this lesson we will look deeper into the planning process by focusing on how artists use 2-D mediums to create 3-D works of art. Students will look at how several artists plan for 3-D production by drawing from several perspectives. Students will then plan for their own 3-D production by drawing their enclosure from 3 different perspectives: that of a zoo visitor, of the creature they created, and of a bird flying overhead. After creating 2-D plans for their creatures environment students will bring their ideas to life using a wide variety of mixed media materials. Once they have finished their individual enclosures we will talk about the importance of presentation by putting the enclosures together to prepare for the “big opening” of their zoo. Students will reflect on their design decisions by putting together informational brochures that are intended to let visitors know more about their animal.
To see photos and detailed documentation of this unit follow the link below:
http://artedufall.weebly.com/
Relevance to the Topic to Content Standards and Within Curricular Sequence:
See document below...
Globally:
Our unit “Building a Humane Zoo” allowed for students to make representations of animals and their environments. 'Representation' was a great focusing lens so students could make several interpretations and creations about a single and/or multiple element/s to their artwork as it relates to them. It is important for students to see multiple possibilities in any artwork instead of just working in one direction. This unit also allows students to work with several tools that can be transferred across many content areas including art-making. Students used technology and worked collaboratively with each other to enhance their 21st century skills. Through ideation, planning, and oral explanation students fulfill the literacy component.
Personally:
When my team of teachers and I were creating this unit, we were very excited about the idea of creating a zoo where the students could incorporate the idea of "humane". I knew many of our students, came from families that were conscious of the world around them and ways to make it better. In zoos for instance, may times the animals needs are put "on the back-burner", and the focus is more geared towards profit. This unit was exciting to do, because it brought forth many of the students morals yet also allowing their imaginations to flourish.
For this Population:
In a society that the population continues to increase, one must consider how to work in balance with nature. The idea of a "green" society is more relevant now then it was twenty years ago. This project allowed the students to problem solve and create a zoo that is more relevant to the times.