Piranha Lesson Plans

Students explore the age of sailing in the colonies through role-playing. In groups, they play the role of a business owner, shipbuilder and geographer to complete specific tasks. They participate in an old World trade show to demonstrate their knowledge of the time period.

Students review the life and work of Andy Goldsworthy. Using this information, they gather organic objects to create their own sailing vessel. They reflect on their artwork and determine what problem their artwork solves.

Students will use modern International Marine Code Flags to create representations of their names. They will use the inspiration of the sailing vessels to name and create a coat of arms for their ship.

Young scholars plan a voyage as the captain of a tall ship in the early days of exploration and merchant trading. They choose 2 ships and 3 voyages for a total of 6 possibilities. They calculate the number of days and distance of their voyage, cost of their trip, select a crew and identify supplies they need.

Students discuss how recycled materials can be used to create art and how this will apply to their artwork. They create a sailing vessel using recycled materials that they find.

Students extend the colors, shapes, textures and lines of an unknown composition to create perspective in their drawings. Using oil pastels, they work in pairs to create a long continuous artwork of imagery inspired by sailing vessels and the sea. They reveal their drawings for an entire view of Rolling Out the Seas.

Students explore different types of sailing vessels and the rigging, sails, masts. They discuss contour lines and how they can be used to create a portrait of a sailing vessel then they choose a sailing vessel image as a reference to create a contour drawing.

Students identify the parts of sailing vessels. They view pictures of sailing vessels and discuss the purpose of each part. Students build their own installation in class. They share experiences and ideas based on the sailing vessel.

Students research a sailing vessel. They create sailing vessel postcards which include research information they located. Students also include any experiences they may have had on a sailing vessel.

Students demonstrate an understanding of shanties, a traditional music form. They listen to several shanties and create their own verses to add on to these songs. They express their feelings through music by using rhythm and rhyme to create their own original lyrics.