Careers in Art- Botanist

I am continuing to work on #CareersInArt with my 3rd grade.  This one was a blast.  I asked the students to 'Become a Botanist'. Yes, a Botanist is a plant Scientist... but I explain that many times these Scientists need Artist skills to allow them to communicate their findings to others. Here is the flipped video that I presented to my Artist at the start of class. 

I brought in a lot of veggies and fruit.  I tried to find things that my students might otherwise not have an opportunity to interact with. I brought in the Key Limes because they smell amazing, the veggies and sunflower from my garden, and some fun fruit that were even new to my eye and pallet. 

When we think of teaching preschoolers we think of giving them experiences to welcome their five senses.  I tried to give my 3rd graders the same thing.  I let them touch, smell, look... nope, no tasting (not messing with allergies with fruits I'm not familiar with).  I even let the kids take one sunflower seed if they wanted to draw it, or pull it apart... or, many students put it in their pocket to bring it home to 'plant' it. Typically, growing a sunflower doesn't work really well in November in Minnesota... but who am I to tell them no. 

In the video, I showed the kids how to do some expansion on their observational drawing. I was shocked to see the little masterworks that they created from a quick project sample and a few suggestions in the flipped lesson.

While becoming a Botanist, some students explored watercolors.  I asked them to only use one sheet of watercolor paper, and I think this helped many students be a little more controlled with their paintings. 

Because the kids were only asked to use one watercolor paper, I also found that they chose to do practice paintings first on recycled paper.  I love when students make the choices to better their Artwork without me having to mention every step... sometimes, I just forget. This is another way that I have found success in choice-based learning. Students are starting to really think like an Artist in the Art Studio.

Our Media Center at Hassan is really wonderful.  I just have to go on upstairs to find some amazing books that will support any lesson I teach. 

One of the most successful stations that I saw in the choices given was collage work. I have some boxes labeled collage and they are filled with painted paper from previous projects. Use the good stuff... right?? I told the kids to have at the paper and they created amazing works.

After students finished their projects in class, I asked them to place them in the front of the room.  We took the time to look at the Art created in class.  We had a great discussion and students were able to share and talk about the work created.  This was a powerful wrap-up to this lesson.