View Encounter and Conquest Assessment
View Invasive Species Assessment
View Instructional Presentation

Unit of Study:            Illustration/Life Science

Lesson Title:              Invasive Plants Personified

Subject Area(s):         Art/Life Science/English/Social Studies

Grade Level:              4th Grade

Author:                      Ronald E. Kohler, Jr.

County:                      Montgomery County, MD

Length of Time:        Three 45-minute art sessions

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Focus:

This lesson will make a correlation between the environmental consequences of invasive plant species and the invasion of the Aztecs and the destruction of their civilization in the 16th century.

Abstract:

The emergence of a scientific study of the natural world that required a more systematic inventory of animals and plants coincided with the exploration of the Americas.  Students will discover the origins of scientific illustration, botanical art and natural history exploration, and their role in the New World.  They will learn that Spanish and Dutch expeditions often called upon the services of artists to record the discovery of new creatures and exotic vegetation.  Students will make connections with their experience in life science eco-system experiments—along with major environmental science concepts to understand interrelationships of the natural world and to analyze environmental issues and their solutions.

Background:

Students will require background knowledge, for historical context, of the discovery of the New World—in particular, Mexico, by Portugal and Spain in the 15th century—specifically, the key figures and multiple factors that contributed to the conquest of the Aztec civilization.

In the MCPS fourth grade Life Science curriculum, students use scientific skills and processes to explain the dynamic nature of living things, their interactions, and the results from the interactions that occur over time.  In the study of Life Science, students use the skills and processes of science to investigate the numbers and diversity of living things that now occupy or once occupied the Earth's surface, the interdependence among living things and the interactions of living things with their environment.
The goals of the MCPS fourth grade Environmental Science curriculum are that the student will demonstrate the ability to use the scientific skills and processes (Core Learning Goal 1) and major environmental science concepts to understand interrelationships of the natural world and to analyze environmental issues and their solutions.

Materials:

Pencils and erasers
Fine-line permanent markers
Watercolor paint sets
Watercolor paper (12” x 18”)
Assorted colored pencils
Invasive plants specimens: Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven) and Hedera helix (English Ivy)
Photographic references of featured invasive plants

Resources:

Teacher-prepared Instructional Material

PowerPoint presentation: Invasive Species
PowerPoint presentation: Botanical Illustration

Prints/Visual Aids

Albrecht Durer’s Rhinoceros (woodcut 1515)
Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (scientific illustrations)
Maria Sibylla Merian (botanical illustrations)

Texts

Great Natural History Books and their Creators. Ray Desmond (2003)
Amazing Rare Things: The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery. David Attenborough (2007)
Plant Discoveries: A Botanist’s Voyage through Plant Exploration. Sandra Knapp (2003)
The Art of Natural History: Illustrated Treatises and Botanical Paintings, 1400-1850. Edited by Therese O’Malley and Amy R.W. Meyers (2008)
Voyages of Discovery: Three Centuries of Natural History Exploration. Dr. Tony Rice (1999)
Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration. Edited by Jay A. Levenson (1991)
Common to This Country: Botanical Discoveries of Lewis & Clark text by Susan H. Munger; illustrations by Charlotte Staub Thomas (2003)
Encounter. Jane Yolen (2006). Harcourt Children's Books.

Web Resources

USDA National Agricultural Library: National Invasive Species Information Center webpage: http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/notestablished.shtml

The United States National Arboretum website: http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/invasives.html
Student Handouts/Worksheets
Artful Thinking Routine: See, Think, Wonder (botanical illustration)
KWL Chart (Know, Want to know, and Learned): A chart that asks students to consider what they know, want to know, and what they have learned about invasive species
Peer evaluation worksheet (P.A.T.S. Praise, Ask, Tell, Suggest)

Standards/Learner Outcomes:

Fine Arts Standards

Standard I. Perceiving and Responding
I.4.1.a  Analyze ways that the elements of art are used to represent visual and tactile texture and movement, in artworks

Standard II. Historical, Cultural, and Social Context
II.4.1.a  Analyze selected works of art and describe how different artists express ideas and feelings about human experience

II.4.1.b  Describe the process used to select ideas, images, and forms to express meaning in visual compositions

II.4.2.a  Identify technologies, processes, and materials from different times and places used to create visual art

II.4.2.b  Describe the origins of selected technologies, processes, and materials used in the visual arts

II.4.3.a  Compare selected artworks to determine similarities and differences in theme, content, form, and style

II.4.3.b  Describe attributes of theme, content, form, and style in selected artworks of different times and cultures

II.4.4.b  Describe processes used in art and other disciplines to express ideas

II.4.4.c  Use selected visual art processes to interpret and express ideas in art and other disciplines

Standard III. Creative Expression and Production
III.4.1.b  Safely manipulate and share art media and tools. 

III.4.2.a  Identify the elements of art and selected principles of design, i.e., pattern, repetition, balance, variety and unity in artworks

III.4.2.b  Organize the elements of art: color, line, shape, texture, form, value, and space and selected principles of design: pattern, repetition, contrast, rhythm, movement, balance, and unity to create artworks in response to what is observed or seen

III.4.3.a  Describe the sources accessed for ideas and the procedures used to create artworks

Standard IV. Criticism and Aesthetics
IV.4.1.b  Describe the aesthetic qualities of artworks in terms of the elements of art and principles of design

IV.4.2.a  Describe the aesthetic qualities of personal artworks and the artworks of others

Content Standards (Life Science / Environmental Science)

Standard 1.0 Skills and Processes
Topic A. Constructing Knowledge
Indicator 1. Gather and question data from many different forms of scientific investigations which include reviewing appropriate print resources, observing what things are like or what is happening somewhere, collecting specimens for analysis, and doing experiments.

Topic C. Communicating Scientific Information
Indicator 1. Recognize that clear communication is an essential part of doing science because it enables scientists to inform others about their work, expose their ideas to criticism by other scientists, and stay informed about scientific discoveries around the world.

Standard 3.0 Life Science
Topic A.  Diversity of Life
Indicator 1.  Explain how animals and plants can be grouped according to observable features.
a. Observe and compile a list of a variety of animals or plants in both familiar and unfamiliar environments.

b. Classify a variety of animals and plants according to their observable features and provide reasons for placing them into different groups.

Topic F. Ecology
Indicator 1.  Explain ways that individuals and groups of organisms interact with each other and their environment.
a.  Identify and describe the interactions of organisms present in a habitat.
Competition for space, food, and water
Beneficial interactions: nesting, pollination, seed dispersal, oysters filtering as in the Chesapeake Bay, etc.
Roles within food chains and webs: scavengers, decomposers, producers, consumers.

b. Explain that changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial to it and sometimes harmful.

Goal 6: Environmental Science
Expectation 6.3  The student will analyze the relationships between humans and the earth’s resources.

Indicator 6.3.4  The student will evaluate the interrelationship between humans and biological resources.
            food production/agriculture
            forest and wildlife resources
            species diversity/genetic resources
            integrated pest management
            human health

Fine Arts Objectives:

Students will create an imaginative (personified) botanical illustration of an invasive plant species through drawing from observation and by employing watercolor and colored pencil techniques.

Students will investigate the origins of art in the aid of scientific research and identify ways that illustration can communicate factual information.

Content Objectives (Life & Environmental Science): 

Students will identify and understand invasive plant species.

Students will demonstrate their understanding of the environmental impact of invasive plants with a written response.

The student will analyze the relationships between humans and the earth’s resources.

The student will evaluate the interrelationship between humans and biological resources.

Keywords/Vocabulary:

ecology
invasive plant
adaptability
botanical illustration
specimen
scientific notebook
accurate representation
personification


Motivation:

Students will view a teacher-prepared PowerPoint presentation called, “Invasive Species” and participate in a discussion about invasive plants featuring two species in detail. 

Students will discuss the concept of personification and relate it to invasive species. 

Procedures (Scope & Sequence)

Art Procedures
Sessions 1 & 2: Introduction / Fantasy Illustration (drawing & painting)
Guided Discussion
Discuss the concept of personification (representing an abstract idea as person or creature) and relate it to the nature and habit of invasive plants.

Pre-Assessment
Students create a rough planning sketch of their personified invasive plant. They will solicit feedback from their peers and discuss the characteristics of their creature with the teacher, before beginning their final illustration.

Demonstration
Show students how to achieve visual textural effects using a crayon-resist process (crayon rubbing and watercolor).  Show them how to create a pattern using the invasive plant leaf by rubbing to fill the background. Introduce repetition, pattern, unity and rhythm.  Discuss the importance of utilizing contrasting colors and creating a focal point or center of interest.

Independent Work
Students will create their illustrations using pencil. They will confer with the teacher before outlining their drawings with fine-line permanent marker.

Students will use colored pencils to complete their illustration and add background details if needed.

Students will create a patterned background by making leaf rubbings from the invasive plant specimen and then paint the background with a contrasting color with watercolor paint.

Extension

Create a mixed-media sculpture inspired by the “Invasive Plant Personified” drawing.

Create an educational display in a school showcase using student sculptures and illustrations.

Assessment:

Encounter and Conquest in the Early Americas (Reading Language arts assessment)
KWL Chart (Know, Want to know, and Learned): A chart that asks students to consider what they know, still would like to know, and what they have learned about a particular topic (Life Science assessment)
Peer and self-evaluation worksheet (Art assessment)
Summative: Have student create a botanical illustration.

Closure/Reflection:
Teacher will read the book, Encounter, by Jane Yolen.

Teacher will lead a discussion and draw a parallel to the conquest of the Aztecs and humans impact on the earth and its resources.

Art: Students will display their “Invasive Plants Personified” illustrations along with their written scientific reports for a class critique.  The works will be displayed in a prominent area in the school and in addition photographed for a digital exhibition on the school web page.

Science: Make a correlation between the environmental consequences of invasive plant species and the invasion of the Aztecs and the destruction of their civilization in the 16th century.  Students will analyze the relationships between humans and the earth’s resources and will evaluate the interrelationship between humans and biological resources.