Integrating Art
I integrate art into my science classroom by adding artistic components to assignments. This provides my creative students an opportunity to illustrate what they know. Using art in my classroom challenges my students to use different neural pathways as they activate different areas of the brain which serves to fortify the memory. Integrating art into my fosters a deep understanding of science content and pushes my students to apply their knowledge in a meaningful way. Integrating art is an effective instructional strategy but it also affords additional benefits. The artwork my students can function as anchor charts, instructional models, or classroom decorations that support Brain Targeted Teaching Target 2 creating the physical learning environment.
Cell Wall
In this activity, my sixth-grade students were each assigned a type of cell: animal, plant, or prokaryotic. Students had to use computers to research what each cell looked like and then draw, label, and color the cell including the organelles. Cells were a hard concept for my 6th grade to conceptualize. Integrating art into this activity allowed my students to develop an understanding of the various types of cells and their structure. I gathered my students' cell and displayed them on the front of our classroom effectively making a cell wall. This activity added color to my classroom, displayed student work, and served as an easily referenceable anchor chart.
This artifact is a picture of the Cell Wall. The cell is a collection of students' drawings of animal cells, plant cells, and prokaryotic cells. Drawing the cell helped students develop an understanding of the various types of cells and their shapes.
This group project had four roles each role had an artistic element. Integrating art into this activity allowed students to develop an understanding of the various types of cells in an engaging way. The drawings made a very useful anchor chart that students used throughout the unit.
Photosynthesis Through Art
This picture on right is a student-created drawing of photosynthesis throughout art. Drawing the process of photosynthesis making it easier for my students to conceptualize what they had learned in class and students developed an understanding of photosynthesis. Drawing the process helped my students identify the reactants and the products of photosynthesis. The picture underneath this text is the Tree of life, it is a lifesize drawing of a tree depicting the interacting systems of photosynthesis and cellular respiration that was created by my students. The Tree of Life made my classroom appear more lively and served as an effective and large anchor chart. Using student work helps my students see themselves in my classroom and makes my space more inviting for students.
This artifact is the Tree of Life, a life-size diagram showing the products and reactants of photosynthesis. This piece of artwork was created by a group of students. The Tree of Life became an important anchor chart that I referenced throughout the unit to help my student develop their understanding of photosynthesis.
This artifact is a student work sample of photosynthesis through art. The student drew a plant undergoing photosynthesis and correctly identified the reactants and the products. Additionally, they included important vocabulary and a visual of how ATP and ADP are recycled. Drawing the process of photosynthesis developed my students understanding of photosynthesis by helping them identify reacts and products.
This artifact is the instruction students were given to create their artwork for photosynthesis through art. The objective for students was to explain the process of photosynthesis through art. Students used their textbooks to develop their understanding of photosynthesis prior to drawing it.
Illustrating DNA Replication
In this activity, students were tasked to illustrate the complex process of DNA replication. Chapter 14, DNA, was the most challenging, based on data from our chapter test, for my 10th-grade biology students. In this picture, the two students are in the early stages of creating their project but you can see that they have drawn DNA strands in their paper representing the various stages of DNA replication. My students were initially confused when we read about the process of DNA replication, as students drew out the process they began to develop a better understanding of the process. This activity was at the start of the chapter, students applied the knowledge they gained from drawing DNA replication and several other instructional activities later on their chapter test.
No Ordinary Zoo
This activity was titled No Ordinary Zoo. Students were tasked to design their own hybrid animals that have unique adaptations that allow them to thrive in their habit. I integrated art into an assignment about evolution for the purpose of having students develop a deep understanding of how animal adaptations promote survival. Students demonstrated their ability to apply evolution content by proposing advantageous adaptations that respond to the animals' external environment. In an effort to create the learning environment I gathered all of my students' hybrid animals and placed them in the "No Ordinary Zoo."
This artifact is a picture of two 10th-grade biology students working on their DNA replication project. They are in the process of drawing the steps of DNA replication. Drawing the process out step by step allows students to develop an understanding of DNA replication while also helping them associate a visual of each step.
The Ordinary Zoo required students to apply their knowledge of evolution as students created hybrid animals. Students had to explain how the adaptions they created for their animals helped it survive in its natural habit. Students previously developed their understanding of evolution through a gallery walk and reading. Integrating art allowed my students to apply their knowledge and made my classroom more inviting by showcasing student work.