Science and art

Working at the local colegio with teachers and students in the natural sciences classes taught me a lot about the importance of how one teaches something. I remember that some of my best teachers growing up were able to teach me far more by sharing their love of the subject...or by making it at least a little more interesting. In September 2010 I was giving charlas, organizing activities and incorporating more environmental education material into the curriculum along with a science teacher. I found that it didn´t make too much difference in terms of knowledge retention on the part of the average student until I began doing more hands on exercises and mini-labs with them. Of course, by the time I realized this I also realized that the teacher I was working with wasn´t as keen on putting extra hours into lesson planning as I was; not too much changed after I left at the end of the term.

Earlier this summer I was invited back to work at the school. My other project was wrapping up and I began to consider how I might be more effective if I were to return to work with the natural sciences classes. The material being taught hadn´t changed and I was, in all likelihood, bound to encounter the same apathy for the subject. But then I began to wonder how it could be different if students actually cared about what they were learning? Well, I certainly can´t make people care about something but I can spice up their cut-and-dry classes up with something more fun. I proposed doing an art class that aimed to reinforce what was being taught that week in the natural sciences classes. So far I´ve found that there seems to be a lot more participation and interest in what we cover. The kids look forward to my weekly visits and are sure to be in attendance on the days they know I´m coming. As of right now they may not be crazy about having to learn the anatomy of a flower or how the carbon cycle works, but the art class activities that they do has generated a lot more enthusiasm. The overall goal is to help cultivate creativity through hands-on activties related to the environment and knowledge about our natural world.

I typically have two 45 minute blocks that are split up by a short morning recess. For the first part of class I show a presentation and give a short lesson with the aid of a projector. During the second 45 minute block the students do the art project that is associated with the presentation. Last week we covered the theory of evolution as it relates to animal mimicry and camouflage. We showed a series of photos where various insects and amphibians are able to hide themselves or scare off predators using mimicry and then explained how animals have evolved over time to look like other things in order to survive. The students enjoyed trying to identify where or what the animal was.


For the activity portion of the class, the students constructed finger puppet butterflies that were colored and created so that they would blend-in to a drawing of leaves and tree foliage.


I used a software program to take all the color out of a photo so that the kids wouldn´t have to use additional class time having to draw out leaves and trees. If you don´t have a photo program that will do that, you can always go to Crayola.com/colorme to print out a coloring page using a photo that you select. The kids can color it in and then design their butterfly to ¨blend in¨with the colors that they´ve applied to that drawing. You simply cut out a butterfly template on regular paper. You also need to cut small strips of paper that can later be rolled and then glued to the butterfly template, effectively serving as the butterfly´s ¨body¨and the area where the finger holds up the puppet.

This is just an example of one activity that we´ve done. I try to get as much input from the teacher as I can for future art classes. If any of you have suggestions or ideas for activities that you´ve found to be particularly successful, I´d love to hear them.