SCIENCE CURRICULUMGREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLSGRADE 3
VII. ART - Biome Zoo Exhibit
Theme: Change is Part of Our World
Topic: Adaptations
Unit Designers: Stacy Mozer, Jennifer Mullane, Karen Jacobson, Kristine McHarg, and Diane Rasweiler
NOTE: Because the students will be representing the biome studied in media, the timing of the unit needs to be coordinated with the classroom teacher and the media teacher. Students need to already be organized in biome groups before the initial art lesson.
Transdisciplinary: Transdisciplinary learning is the exploration of a relevant issue or problem that integrates the perspectives of multiple disciplines in order to connect new knowledge and deeper understanding to real life experiences. Transdisciplinary units culminate in authentic assessments with a genuine audience. Transdisciplinary units weave throughout the school day and are taught though multiple disciplines. Although content may be grounded in a discipline, the unit is not considered a science unit or social studies unit.
Inquiry: A student-centered, active learning approach focusing on questioning, critical thinking, and problem solving. It's associated with the idea "involve me and I understand."
Unit Summary: This unit covers topics in the areas of science, social studies, language arts, media, and art. The unit exposes the students to the idea that while everything changes, not all changes are advantageous for survival. These concepts will be further explored as the students study the American Indians and the change to Colonial Times.
Art Summary: Students will create an artistic representation of the biome they are studying in media and science class called the Biome Zoo Exhibit. This representation can take various forms (eg. landscape painting, collage, shadow box, sculptural representation, etc.).
Enduring Understanding:
Change has positive and negative effects.
Everything changes.
Overarching Unit Essential Questions:
-How do we determine the impact of change?
-How do we evaluate the impact of change?
-Is all change good?
GPS UbDArt’s Curriculum Essential Questions:
-How do the arts express ideas, feelings, and experiences?
-What makes artistic expression meaningful?
-How does working in a group influence expression?
-Why is it important to express myself through the arts?
-What inspires or moves me to be creative?
-How do my creative choices best express my idea and intent?
-How do you know when the creative process is complete?
-How do we perceive, interpret, and engage with art?
-How does knowledge and experience influence interpretation?
-How do style/genre/subject matter/media influence how you feel about the work?
-How do artists determine the value of their own work?
-How does responding to works of art enrich my life and influence my work?
-How can we “read” and interpret a work of art?
-Why do I need to be literate in my chosen art form?
-What does having a common system of symbols and terms for the arts allow us to do, and why is this important?
-How does my artistic work connect to other subjects I study?
-How is my artistic work influenced by personal experience and the world around me and vice versa?
GPS UbD Arts Curriculum:
Expressing Personal Ideas/Creating
- Creating in the arts uses imagination, self-discipline, problem solving, and experience.
- Process impacts product.
Responding to the Arts
- Artistic expression can be analyze, described, and evaluated, both intellectually and emotionally in a variety of ways.
Responding to the arts enhances ones life and influences ones personal expression.
- Interpreting Symbolic Expression/Literacy
- Each arts discipline is a language onto itself communicated through a unique system of symbols and terms.
- Literacy in the arts is valuable in facilitating the transfer of artistic expression.
Making Connections to and Through the Arts
- The arts connect to other disciplines, personal experiences, and daily life.
VII. ART - Biome Zoo Exhibit
Art Lesson #1: Emersion
Unit: Change is Part of Our World
Time: 1 class session
GPS UbD Arts Curriculum:
Responding to the Arts
- Artistic expression can be analyze, described, and evaluated, both intellectually and emotionally in a variety of ways.
- Responding to the arts enhances ones life and influences ones personal expression.
Interpreting Symbolic Expression/Literacy
- Each arts discipline is a language onto itself communicated through a unique system of symbols and terms.
- Literacy in the arts is valuable in facilitating the transfer of artistic expression.
Making Connections to and Through the Arts
- The arts connect to other disciplines, personal experiences, and daily life.
Student Learning Objective(s):
- Students will connect art to their learning in media and science.
- Students will compare and contrast a variety of styles different artists use to create landscapes.
- Students will become familiar with ways artists show perspective
- Students will become familiar with ways artist use the elements of art for expression in their landscapes.
Learner Background:
-Students should have completed the introduction to the unit and structural and behavioral adaptations lessons in science. Students should have started the webquest in media and know which biome they are studying.
Assessment:
-In student’s Science Notebooks (which they should bring from homeroom) students will do an “I notice” and “I wonder” (explained in lessons below).
-Assess student work to make sure they have at least three noticings and wonderings and to see their level of depth as a pre-assessment before instruction.
Resources:
-Landscape art from a variety or artists (can use Traveling Art program prints: American Landscapes. PowerPoint found at
-Student Unit Folders containing their Science Notebookand Webquest Job Sheets
-Books on different biomes of the world and landscape artists. Talk to the classroom teachers to find out which biomes their classes are researching.
Suggested Learning Activities:
-Before the class, display a variety of landscape prints, drawings, or paintings.
-Students should come to the class with their science notebooks. Have them write I notice and I wonder on their page (they are familiar with using these terms from homeroom class).
-Tell students to look at the prints and write down at least three impressions of the artwork (noticings). Remind them to look at color, value (lights and darks), placement, use of lines, what’s close and what’s far away, and different shapes. Then they should write at least three things they wonder about the art works.
-Give students about five minutes to write down what they notice and wonder about the paintings. As they write their lists, observe the depth of understanding of the artistic terms and concepts. After five minutes or less, have students share their observations and questions about the art works.
-Ask the students if they are familiar with any of these landscapes. Have they ever visited a place that had these landforms. Where were they?
-Tell the students that over the next few weeks they will be creating their own landscape to represent the biome they are studying in media. They will be graded by their homeroom teacher on the accuracy and detail of the information they include about geographic features, plants, and animals found in that region. They will also need to make sure they include enough details to support the needs of the organisms they include (water source, food source, light, space). As artists they will be graded on their use of the elements of art; color, line, shape, value, and use of depth.
-Break students into their biome groups. Each group should look through books with geographic features from their biome and discuss what they see. Students should list the geographic features of their biome in their science notebooks.
-Students can start initial landscape sketches.
-At the end of the class period, have students share their sketches.
Differentiation Suggestions:
Extension:
-Modify the expectation of amount of information you expect students to notice and wonder. Work with more advanced students to ask deeper observations or questions.
-You may want to display a chart of the students questions to be answered during the unit.
Support:
-You can modify the expectation of amount of information you expect students to notice and wonder. Once students have started their own noticing and wondering, you can have some students turn and talk to a partner to share ideas.
-Some students may need you to work with them to identify different geographic features.
-Instead of listing the features in their science notebooks, they can draw them.
VII. ART - Biome Zoo Exhibit
Art Lesson #2: Using Perspective/Depth to draw landforms into the landscape
Unit: Change is Part of Our World
Time: 1 class session
GPS UbD Arts Curriculum:
Expressing Personal Ideas/Creating
- Creating in the arts uses imagination, self-discipline, problem solving, and experience.
- Process impacts product.
Responding to the Arts
- Artistic expression can be analyze, described, and evaluated, both intellectually and emotionally in a variety of ways.
Responding to the arts enhances ones life and influences ones personal expression.
- Interpreting Symbolic Expression/Literacy
- Each arts discipline is a language onto itself communicated through a unique system of symbols and terms.
- Literacy in the arts is valuable in facilitating the transfer of artistic expression.
Making Connections to and Through the Arts
- The arts connect to other disciplines, personal experiences, and daily life.
Student Learning Objective(s):
- Students will understand the concept of perspective and how artists show depth in their paintings.
- Students will compare and contrast how different artists use perspective.
Learner Background:
-Students already should be able to identify what’s in front and what’s in back.
Teacher Background:
-In this lesson students will be adding landforms to their landscapes. Landforms include any shape the land forms, including areas used to house water. Students should be adding mountains, rivers, lakes, ponds, hills, valleys, islands, coasts, desert, plains, depending on the land features found in their biome.
-Trees are also considered landforms, however we suggest not adding trees or plant life into the landscape until the next lesson. If you have any students who are ahead in their work, an extension could be to have them start focusing on plant life by researching the plants indigenous to their biome. They can also talk to their group botanist.
Assessment:
-Students should be including three levels of perspective in their sketch as they create landforms.
Resources:
-Landscape art from a variety or artists (can use Traveling Art program prints: American Landscapes. PowerPoint found at
-Student Unit Folders containing their Science Notebook and Webquest Job Sheets
-Books on different biomes of the world and landscape artists. Talk to the classroom teachers to find out which biomes their classes are researching.
Suggested Learning Activities:
-Review discussion of prints from last week’s lesson. Tell students that today they are going to take a closer look at how the artists used depth in their art work. We call the artist’s use of depth perspective.
-Tells students that there are three levels of perspective or depth; foreground, middle ground, and background. Discuss the three levels of depth/perspective used in the landscapes.
-Model, through drawing, an interpretation of depth shown in a landscape drawing. Show several examples of landforms (eg. water, rocks, mountains, icebergs, etc).
-Students should meet in biome groups and have the geologist share any information and/or new learning about the landforms from their media research. Group members should add the information in to their science notebooks.
-Students spend the rest of the class period working on drawing landforms in their sketches.
-At the end of the class period, have students share. Make sure to point out places where students have used perspective successfully, and point out the differences inlandforms (land and water) needed in different biomes.
Differentiation Suggestions:
Extension:
-Some students will work quicker than others. You can challenge them to add more specific details to their drawings.
-Students can help coach other students in their biome group who need additional support.
Support:
-Students who are further ahead or who have a deeper understanding can help coach students who need additional support.
-Teacher can support students by helping them with models from books and drawn examples by the teacher.
-Teachers can break down the task into smaller steps, guiding students through one geographic feature at a time or focusing on one level of perspective at a time.
VII. ART - Biome Zoo Exhibit
Art Lesson #3: Using Perspective/Depth to draw plant life into the landscape
Unit: Change is Part of Our World
Time: 1 class session
GPS UbD Arts Curriculum:
Expressing Personal Ideas/Creating
- Creating in the arts uses imagination, self-discipline, problem solving, and experience.
- Process impacts product.
Responding to the Arts
- Artistic expression can be analyze, described, and evaluated, both intellectually and emotionally in a variety of ways.
Responding to the arts enhances ones life and influences ones personal expression.
- Interpreting Symbolic Expression/Literacy
- Each arts discipline is a language onto itself communicated through a unique system of symbols and terms.
- Literacy in the arts is valuable in facilitating the transfer of artistic expression.
Making Connections to and Through the Arts
- The arts connect to other disciplines, personal experiences, and daily life.
Student Learning Objective(s):
- Students will understand the concept of perspective and how artists show depth in their paintings.
- Students will compare and contrast how different artists use perspective.
Learner Background:
-Students should understand perspective in drawing land forms.
Assessment:
-Students should be including three levels of perspective in their sketch to draw plant life.
Resources:
-Landscape art from a variety or artists (can use Traveling Art program prints: American Landscapes. PowerPoint found at
-Student Unit Folders containing their Science Notebook and Webquest Job Sheets
-Books on different biomes of the world and landscape artists.
Suggested Learning Activities:
-Review discussion of perspective from last week’s lesson. Tell students that today they are going to continueto examine how the artists used depth in their art work to represent plant life.
-Using the landscape model you drew last week, demonstrate how to add plant life (trees, flowers, bushes, grass, shrubs, etc.). Make sure to talk about and show examples of plants with different lines, shapes, and textures.
-Students should meet in biome groups and have the botanist and geologist share any information and/or new learning about the plants and geographical features from their media research. Students should take notes in their science notebooks. Students can also look through the biome books and other visual resources and take notes on the types of plant life, including specific details about the lines, shapes, and textures of plants found in their biome.
-Students spend the rest of the class period working on their sketches.
-At the end of the class period, have students share. Make sure to point out places where students have used perspective, line, shape, and texture unique to their specific biomes.
Differentiation Suggestions:
Extension:
-Some students will work quicker than others. You can challenge them to add additional specific details to their drawings.
-Students can help coach other students in their biome group who need additional support.
Support:
-Students who are further ahead or who have a deeper understanding can help coach students who need additional support.
-Teacher can support students by helping them with models from books and drawn examples by the teacher.
-Teachers can break down the task into smaller steps, guiding students through one type of plantlife at a time, or focusing on one level of perspective at a time.
VII. ART - Biome Zoo Exhibit
Art Lesson #4: Using Perspective/Depth to draw animals into the landscape
Unit: Change is Part of Our World
Time: 1 class session
GPS UbD Arts Curriculum:
Expressing Personal Ideas/Creating
- Creating in the arts uses imagination, self-discipline, problem solving, and experience.
- Process impacts product.
Responding to the Arts
- Artistic expression can be analyze, described, and evaluated, both intellectually and emotionally in a variety of ways.
Responding to the arts enhances ones life and influences ones personal expression.