How are films made? As part of their study of film, middle schoolers investigate the pre-production, production, and post-production process and consider the role of the director, the screenwriter, production designer, cinematographer,...

In this, the third in a series of four resources that use Robert Wise's 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still as the core text, young film makers examine the language of film including shot composition, camera angle, lighting,...

Launch a discussion of the creative process with a short video that features the daily ritual of Slobodan Dan Paich, a San Francisco artist. Slobodan models his approach to tea painting and shares his reflections on the...

Strike the right chord with a musical activity! Instructors provide a lecture on the mechanics of a pan flute. Pupils build their own pan flutes by using straws and calculating the lengths to create a scale. After cutting the straws to...

Students observe the sounds of different brass instruments in order to understand how to create different pitches. In this musical instructional activity, students create a "brass" instrument from everyday household objects. The students...

Tropical fish make great art projects! Use paper plates to design, color, and assemble round and oval-shaped fish based on photographs of actual fish found along the Moorea Coral Reef. Kids learn about different fins- including the...

The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and...

Symmetry, line, shape, art, and math are all connected through a fun hands-on craft. Included are instructions to a classic activity, where learners create butterflies to show symmetry in nature and then discuss symmetry in math. It is...

Having fresh, clean drinking water is a privilege many people take for granted. Help raise awareness about the scarcity of water and the importance of conservation by discussing different ways water is used in everyday life. Brainstorm...

Go ahead. Spill the ink! Combine the study of art, social studies, and science with a Suminagashi (spilled ink) activity that produces "unique and unreproducible" works of art.

Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...

As the culminating activity in a unit study of science fiction, young writers demonstrate their understanding of the genre by producing their own graphic novel. After deciding on the main elements of their story, individuals use a comic...

Budding artists explore the shapes and parts that make insects so fascinating to study, then use what they see to create original insect inspired designs. They use wax, dye, and fabric to create their designs.

Young scholars research community gardens. In this community garden lesson, students discover the history of community gardens and assess the benefits of locally grown food. Young scholars create propaganda posters aimed...

Make a study of perspective in the real world. Learners examine and discuss works of art that show examples of perspective before trying their own hands at it. Using a grid drawn on transparent paper, class members transfer a view from a...

Students explore frogs.  In this cross curriculum literacy and frogs lesson, students predict the plot and then listen to the book The Wide-Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner. Students define "predator" and identify foods a frog might...

Get first hand experience in rocket building and motion through an easy-to-follow picture and word-based directions sheet. Here, learners build a paper rocket by wrapping and taping paper strips around a pencil, and then...

Before digital microscopes, scientists hired artists to draw the things visible in the microscope. Through training in neuroscience and art, Cajal revolutionized the way we view the beautiful brain. The third lesson in a series of four...

Experience anthropomorphism and metamorphosis in action with flipbooks! Instead of giving human characteristics to animals, though, pupils will show a transformation from human to animal or vise versa through their drawings. The...

Mix it up and engage learners in a lesson on music and physical science. Using cups, strings, guitars, and voice, the class will experiment with sound vibration and frequency. They'll use each instrument and fill out a worksheet that...

How can a photographer use images to represent a topic? Over the course of three days, learners discuss various photographs and practice their picture-taking skills with an outdoor, panoramic photography session. They use the images...

Middle and high schoolers look at historical photos and analyze some of the changes brought about by the automobile revolution in Arkansas during the 1920's. The book, A Journey Through Arkansas: Historic U.S. Highway 67, is used for...

Sixth graders work in groups of four to create one subtractive relief bust out of clay. Team results are shared and discussed to analyze the degree of planning and skillful manipulation of materials necessary to complete a limestone bust.

High schoolers discuss Romey Stuckart's painting, "The Cedar," paint a tempera or acrylic picture of a forest or treescape, using overlapping shapes, intense hues, and heavy brush textures, and discuss managed forest techniques preserve...