Experimenting with Color Part 1

A few weeks ago I went a really cool STEM workshop on light and color. I was the only art teacher in a group of 20 other  educators. I had researched color in light before but had a hard time grasping it. When the teacher asked what the primary colors of light were I knew enough NOT to say red, yellow, and blue!

The first thing I saw after putting on the diffraction glasses was this!

Beautiful AND totally opposite of everything I knew about color in art.

Over the course of the workshop I finally began to grasp color in light. It was a breakthrough for my stubborn artist mind.

And so started my creation of a plan that was designed to confuse and intrigue my students. Confused?

Step 1

Make the students become the color wheel we know in art.

First I gave each student a primary or secondary color. I asked them to make themselves into a color wheel. We went outside for more space.

Next I grouped students by color and gave them a dot to represent their group. We played with "find the color that makes a tertiary". They then got back into the color wheel order where we played "find your compliment"

This lead into our discussion on neutrals and at this point it was time to go back to the art studio "lab"

Each team was given three cups of primary colored water. Then were then given 9 more cups and told to create the color wheel.

They had to pay close attention to their measurements as they were not allowed to get more liquid and they had to end up with every color.

They were so focused it was awesome!! 

All teams had a little different results but were all able to create the color wheel. 

When the color wheels were finished it was time to make our neutrals and then mix all our colors together.

The class had confirmed what they already knew, that when we mix all the colors on the color wheel together we get a dark brownish blackish neutral color.

Now it's time for me to turn that theory upside down!!

Stay tuned...

STEM to STEAM Fills me with Pride.

Reflective Teacher Challenge Day 3
What are you most proud of to date in your teaching career?

I absolutely love finding new and inspiring ways of integrating Art into STEM. 

2013.muzartworld.org

Researching standards from multiple subject areas is both fun and challenging. This past weekend I spent countless hours researching space related standards for science in grades k - 6. I have to say I was shocked to see how little we expect these kids to know! Really! Are we living in the stone age?

www.artinsights.com

After thinking and overthinking how I would combine space in science 

www.esa.int

with space in art...

www.pinterest.com

I decided to broaden my learning goals for my students and came up with integrated concepts I am really excited about.

"I will be able to use the elements of art to create a visual representation 

 of my understanding of space."

Of course the understanding part is scaffolded between grade levels according the standards but that's the jest of it. So excited to start this unit! It was a great day today as every class spent the day outside exploring or place in space.

Educating What Out of Them?

The Practice of Science in Art is a 7 week unit my classes just finished up this past week. While helping my students make connections between these two subjects, I made a surprising connection of my own.

First, a brief review of the weeks leading up to my new revelation...

All grade levels participated in this unit at an appropriate level based on their own science and art standards. The learning goal below was for my second grade classes.

I will be able to be able tell the difference between empirical observations and inferences, and use empirical observations and inferences to interpret works of art.

We started with science and had a bubble experiment. The students LOVED it! And everyone was excited to participate and share their findings.

We transitioned from science to art with the introduction of Salvador Dali! Dali claimed that aliens send him messages through his mustache that would tell him what to create. So students created their aliens and waited for the messages to be sent.

First graders received a message that they were to create a self portrait. But not a regular self portrait. They were to imagine they woke up one morning with a Dali mustache. Their self portraits were to illustrate the face they would make when they looked in the mirror. 

The students LOVED it! And everyone was excited to participate.

At the end of the unit I asked students to interpret their own art. Look at them write!! The students LOVED it! And everyone was excited. 

UNTIL... I told them they were going to present their interpretations in front of the class.

And THAT was when I made my own connection. Ken Robinson always talks about educating the creativity out of children. And I agree 100%. But last week I had another realization. It's not just creativity that's being educated out of these kids, it's more than that. 

I reflected on the thoughts going through my head. Trying to figure out exactly what I was thinking. I couldn't quite get my mind to put something together for my mouth to verbalize or my fingers to type so I decided to do what I had been telling my students to do for the past few weeks during this unit.

What had I empirically observed? 

Students were excited to create and make discoveries but embarrassed to present their findings to their peers. I reminisced of when my own children were young and trying new things. The smiles on their faces as they made new discoveries and the excitement in their eyes as they shared these discoveries with anyone who would listen to them. And I mean anyone. Little kids LOVE sharing what the know with the world.

I highlighted these key phrases as our unit progressed noting the gradual decline.

And everyone was excited to participate and share their findings.

And everyone was excited to participate.

And everyone was excited. 

What could I infer from these observations?

That something happens when kids start school that shuts down their enthusiasm to share what they know. That something happens in school that not only erodes at their creativity, but at their self esteem and confidence to communicate in front of others. Is it just that getting older we become more conscious of the way the world views us or is it something else, and is there anything we can do about it?

I have my own theories but am looking for your thoughts. Please comment and let me know what you think and if there is anything we can do about it.