At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year Grade Four students at Concordia learned about the ‘Processes that Shape the Earth’ in one of their science lessons. This provided the perfect opportunity to extend their learning and make meaningful connections through art integration.
This allowed students to further develop their drawing skills by reviewing Blind Contour Drawing and Modified Contour Drawing while investigating a wide variety of plant and animal fossils: including the Ammonite shell, trilobite, fern, crinoid stem, and even the Ichthyosaurus.
The final fossil drawing was then used to create a print block from which to print one Proof and one Print! The print block was then turned into a work of art itself by applying oil pastels to create the appearance of an authentic fossil replica.
Lastly, students were introduced to decoupage to make their fossil even more realistic by assimilating real rock textures through the paper layers. This allowed students to further understand the layers of the Earth and processes of the Earth as they created and reflected upon the artistic process and the meaning of their finished product.