The 4th grade science and math classes took place at Crystal Bridges Museum this week. Part of the My School My Museum program the core teachers worked with the Director of Arts Integration and Museum Educators to develop inter-disciplinary lessons that incorporate arts integration projects.
In science, students studied categories of rocks and properties of crystals. What better opportunity to learn about geology than through a hands-on experience? Students were taken to see Robert Tannen’s series Grains of Sands and learned how the artist used sedimentary boulders to create artistic installations that assist in navigating the trails. Additionally, the class experienced the crystal grotto as well as saw The Holy Grail, a massive cluster of quartz crystal, the largest crystal ever mined in Arkansas.
For the arts integration component students were introduced to the visual art form of frottage, a technique of making a rubbing from uneven surfaces. Students created several rubbings from many organic textures on the trails. Next week the students will take their frottage collection and create a collage of a landscape using only the textured rubbings.
In math students are learning about angles and how to use a protractor to measure the degrees. To assist students in developing protractor reading skills we took them to see Mark di Suvero’s work Lowell’s Ocean, a monumental assemblage of industrial steel. Students studied the work and used their protractors to identify different type of angles (acute, obtuse and right) as well as measured the exact degrees of various angles within the work of art.
For the arts integration project students will use their new protractor skills to create a non-objective art work using angles. Students will divide their composition into three sections and fill it with acute, obtuse and right angles. Additionally, students will be required to incorporate the exact angle degrees they measured while studying the di Suvero work of art. The results will be a magnificent angled art form using a triadic color scheme.
Visit the Arts Integration page to see the finished projects, more pictures of students and more about the My School My Museum program. https://sites.google.com/artsk12.org/aaa-arts-integration/home
