Art Lesson Plan

(Lesson plan specifically designed to help students create their endangered species artwork and to enter the annual Endangered Species Day Youth Art Contest.)

A gallery of endangered species photos for teachers provided by ARKive

Unit Title: Endangered Species

Lesson Description: Students learn about actual and implied texture and printmaking techniques while creating mixed media endangered species artworks.  Students draw an endangered species in colored pencil, and then create a small 2 x 2 inch habitat print to stamp out a border on colored construction paper.  This lesson was created with middle school and high school students in mind, but can easily be adapted to elementary school students.

Adaptations if you don’t have printmaking supplies: Students can create the habitat border in oil pastels, markers, colored pencils or crayons.

Adaptations for elementary school: Teacher can choose 3 or 4 endangered species.  As a class, teacher can divide preliminary sketch paper into 3 or 4 sections and show students how to draw each species starting with basic shapes. Teacher can choose to have students just draw species’ faces.  (For example: the spotted owl can have a triangle beak with circle eyes, etc.)

Time Frame: 6-7 45 minute class periods

Lesson Objectives:

• Students will demonstrate knowledge of actual and implied texture.
• Students will explore the work of master artist, Albrecht Dürer.
• Students will become skilled in the use of relief printmaking techniques.
• Students will use drawing techniques to create realistic colored pencil drawings of endangered species.
• Students will evaluate each other’s work through a class critique.
•  

Materials and Visuals Required:

• texture worksheet
• texture warm-up
• image of Albrecht Dürer’s Rhinoceros woodcut, 1515

• enough texture samples for every student (sand paper, bubble wrap, feather, cotton ball, pieces of crumpled paper bag, corrugated cardboard, pieces of sponge, bark, shell, rock, rope, burlap, dried leaves, carpet scraps, etc.)
• grab bag or box to hold samples
• 9 x 12 drawing final paper
• paper for preliminary sketches
• pencils
• colored pencils
• LCD or overhead projector to display Dürer’s Rhinoceros
• blackboard for listing texture words
• rulers (to create border outline)

• ink for printmaking
• linoleum/Soft Kut
• gouges
• brayers
• wooden stops
• plastic trays or magazine pages on which to roll out ink
• 9 x 12 construction paper for printed border
• 2 x 2 inch squares of paper for drawing habitat

Lesson Sequence:

Lesson 1:

Description:

1.     Have students choose from the grab bag as they enter the class and follow the directions on the “Texture Warm Up”.

2.     Teacher has students turn in texture samples and warm-up (to be used for teacher as a pre-assessment of students’ understanding of texture).  Teacher asks for definitions of texture and compiles a list on the board of descriptive texture words used in warm-up as well as called out by students.  Teacher explains actual versus implied texture and gives examples.

woodcut (for more information: https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/a/albrecht_d%C3%BCrers_rhinoceros.aspx).  Students identify different textures on the rhinoceros.  Teacher has a student pass out the texture worksheet.  Teacher gives a demonstration as to how to fill out worksheet.

4.     Students fill in texture boxes.  After filling in boxes individually, students are encouraged to share their results with partners in order to see different examples to ensure all boxes are filled.

5.     Teacher talks about how various types of rhino species are endangered.  (To learn more go to: https://www.rhinos-irf.org/rhinos/).  Teacher talks about what endangered species means and how there are hundreds of endangered species in the United States as well.

6.     *If teacher has computer hooked up to LCD projector, class can look up certain endangered U.S. species here: http://endangered.org/endangered-species/ or they can look up the species that are endangered in their state here: https://www.fws.gov/endangered/

Objective:

• Students will demonstrate knowledge of actual and implied texture.
• Students will explore the work of master artist, Albrecht Dürer.

Assessment:

• Texture warm up and worksheet.
• Class discussion on Albrecht Dürer.

Supplies:

• image of Albrecht Dürer’s Rhinoceros woodcut, 1515 (see resources below)
• enough texture samples for every student (sand paper, bubble wrap, feather, cotton ball, pieces of crumpled paper bag, corrugated cardboard, pieces of sponge, bark, shell, rock, rope, burlap, dried leaves, carpet scraps, etc.)
• grab bag or box to hold samples
• computer with access to internet
• LCD or overhead projector to display Dürer’s Rhinoceros
• pencils
• blackboard for listing texture words

Resources:

• https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/a/albrecht_d%C3%BCrers_rhinoceros.aspx
• http://endangered.org/endangered-species/
• https://www.fws.gov/endangered/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:D%C3%BCrer_rhino_full.png
• A gallery of endangered species photos for teachers provided by ARKive
• Texture warm ups (enough for entire class)
• Texture worksheet (enough for entire class)

Lesson 2 (2-3 class periods):

Description:

1.     Teacher reviews with class actual and implied texture.  Students recall various endangered species in the United States.  Teacher introduces Endangered Species Day art contest.  Teacher passes out endangered species packets with a list of species along with images of the species.

2.     Teacher explains that students will do a drawing of an endangered species surrounded by a printed border.  Teacher demonstrates how students choose two species and create a preliminary sketch of each.  They can then choose the one that they drew the best to redraw for their final work of art.

3.     Teacher shows students how to use a ruler to measure out 2 inch border around the edge of their drawing paper. Teacher demonstrates how to draw species beginning with basic shapes, going over with contour lines, and adding value, color and texture.

4.     Students spend class time drawing species using packets, internet or books with endangered species images as a resource.  Once they have done their preliminary drawings, they show them to the teacher to get their final drawing paper.

5.     Teacher can choose to have students draw only in pencil or colored pencil.

Objective:

• Students will use drawing techniques to create realistic pencil drawings of endangered species.

Assessment:

• Students’ drawings of endangered species.

Supplies:

• Newsprint for preliminary sketches
• Rulers
• Pencils
• 9×12 final drawing paper
• Colored pencils

Resources:

• Endangered species packets with images
• A gallery of endangered species photos for teachers provided by ARKive

Websites

https://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/01/endangered-species/sartore-photography

https://www.endangeredspecies.org

http://endangered.org/endangered-species/

www.fws.gov

https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Rare-Portraits- Endangered/dp/1426205759/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1295368324&sr=8-11

Books

National Geographic Rare: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species

Joel Sartore

Remains of a Rainbow: Rare Plants and Animals of Hawaii

Susan Middleton, David Liittschwager

Witness: Endangered Species of North America

Susan Middleton, David Liittschwager

The Atlas of Endangered Species: Revised and Updated (Atlas Of… (University of California Press

Richard Mackay

https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Endangered-Species-University/dp/0520258622/ref=pd_sim_b_2

Mobile Lab—Cart of laptops which students can use to find art on various Websites.

Lesson 3:

Description:

1.     Teacher discusses the word habitat with the class.  Teacher explains how safeguarding a species’ habitat is vital to keeping that species from becoming endangered and/or extinct.

2.     Teacher demonstrates how to look up your species’ habitat in packet, online or in books and draw a small 2×2 inch drawing based on that habitat. (For example: the American Alligator lives in freshwater wetlands so its habitat drawing could be reeds of grass, cattails, or ripples of water).

3.     Teacher demonstrates how to transfer that drawing onto linoleum or Soft Kut by rubbing the back of the drawing onto the linoleum.

4.     Teacher demonstrates how to use gouges safely with a wooden stop in order to carve image of habitat into linoleum.

5.     Students draw habitat images and begin carving linoleum prints.

Objective:

• Students will become skilled in the use of relief printmaking techniques.

Assessment:

• In-progress relief prints

Supplies:

• pencils
• 2 x 2 inch squares of paper
• linoleum/Soft Kut
• gouges
• wooden stops

Resources:

• Endangered species packets with images
• Endangered species books
• https://www.stopextinction.org/species.html
• A gallery of endangered species photos for teachers provided by ARKive

Lesson 4 (2 days):

Description:

1.     Teacher demonstrates how to use linoleum in order to print images around the border of 9 x12 piece of construction paper.  (Teacher can set up colored ink stations.  Each station should have a different colored tube of printing ink, a brayer for rolling and either a plastic tray or a magazine page on which to roll out ink.  Stations can also have scratch paper on which to practice printing.)

2.     Once students have printed a complete border on the construction paper, they can cut out the endangered animal drawing and paste it inside the construction paper border.

3. Teacher stops class to pass out and explain critique sheets.  Teacher uses an example that they critique together as a class.  Students write their names where it says “Name of Artist” and place their drawing next to the critique sheet.  Then, they get up and find someone else’s sheet, put their names where it says “Name of Critic” and critique that student’s drawing.  This is a great thing to do before students have finished their artwork as it gives them suggestions as they are working on it.

Objective:

• Students will become skilled in the use of relief printmaking techniques.
• Students will evaluate each other’s work through a class critique.

Assessment:

• Relief prints
• Critique sheets

Supplies:

• pencils
• 2 x 2 inch squares of paper
• linoleum/Soft Kut
• printing ink
• gouges
• brayers
• wooden stops
• plastic trays or magazine pages on which to roll out ink
• 9 x 12 construction paper for printed border
• scissors
• glue sticks

Resources:

• Critique sheets
• Endangered species packets with images
• Endangered species books
• Endangered Species Bulletin;  www.fws.gov/endangered/esb
• http://endangered.org/endangered-species/
• A gallery of endangered species photos for teachers provided by ARKive