Students are introduced to Chinese Art and how artists used botanical motifs. They look at slides of motifs and then create a watercolor themselves. A functional motif will be created by them and they have to provide its meanings to...

Learners analyze the painting Jan Brueghel and design their own book. In this art and book lesson plan, students discuss the elements of fantasy from the painting and create their own book. Learners illustrate the book and create a...

Fourth graders identify flowers as symbols in art forms. They focus on the Victorian era and create their own flower design for use in visual art or literary forms.

Learners examine a "Bird of Paradise Quilt Top" to discover what the themes and patterns tell about mid-nineteenth-century America.  In this American Folk Art lesson, students discuss the possible creator of the quilt and the...

Students explore the architecture of New England by identifying geometric shapes.  In this architectural lesson, students examine photographs of classic building architecture and use a transparency to trace geometric shapes they...

Students observe and explain continuity with the past in contemporary furniture design.

Students explore patriotic and classical motifs in applique design and technique. A bedcover or quilt is produced using appropriate symmetry, color,proportion and composition.

Fifth graders examine how motifs, symbols, and ideas influence various pieces of visual art. They compare and contrast the work of Walter Anderson to pre-historic cave paintings and create a glue line print using motifs and symbols found...

Pupils examine the process of creating patriotic American appliqué designs. They research American patriotic appliqué quilts, list American symbols, and design and create their own paper appliqué designs.

Sixth graders examine a writing desk. They each make decorative drawers to scale for assembly into a class desk. They use repetitive motifs in their designs.

Students find symbols and patterns in everyday life. For this patterns lesson, students break into groups and look for specific patterns and symbols. Students record their findings. Students create a graphic organizer with the information.

Students review and apply architectural history and identify selected architectural features and styles of the Americal Federal time period. They write down the information on their outline from a PPT presentation included with lesson. ...

Students research the Ojibwa beading design. They create their own beading necklace or bracelet.

Students study African traditional architecture. They examine how African ornaments, wall painting and motifs use geometric shapes to express and explain the culture. They discuss the ornaments and architectural designs in the setting...

Fourth graders learn some traditional Japanese designs and what they represent, then make their own stamps for printing Japanese designs.

Students examine the concept of angular momentum and its correlation to mass, velocity, and radius. They listen to a teacher-led lecture, conduct an experiment with rotational inertia, angular momentum, and rotation speed by making...

Before the class makes abstract art, they see contemporary examples and analyze them. They look at art made by abstract artists under the age of 33 then use similar techniques to create an interesting collection of their own. The...

A wonderful product called Batik is the focus of this lesson. High schoolers should love this art lesson, because each shirt will come out differently, and each student puts their original "stamp" on it. One warning: there are a lot of...

Students research quilt designs by Bertha Stenge. They make a list of things that they could stylize as a design motif. They create a quilt design based on local history and landmarks and sew it onto a pre-made quilt block or quilt.

Third graders explore cultures that use clay figures in the art of storytelling. They discover the importance of cultural history being passed through generations. They also form their own storyteller from a clay figure.

Sixth graders examine and identify classic Greek and Roman motifs on spice containers. They analyze the process of casting and chiseling silver, and design and create a spice container using classic Greek and Roman design elements.

Students examine how decorative motifs are adapted to other types of objects by craftsmen and artists. They examine photos on the Illinois State Museum website, discuss design elements, adapt a motif to a line drawing, and transfer a...

Students design furniture. In this visual arts lesson, students examine French, Chinese, and Asian art pieces. Students compare the lacquer art and apply the motifs to their lacquer panels and furniture pieces.

Sixth graders study totems of the Northwest Native Americans and design their own.