Lessons from the rain forest - art project

Arts & Activities, Oct, 2002 by Shelley Phillips

MATERIALS

* Full sheets of 12" x 18" construction paper (green and light blue)

* Pre-torn strips of construction paper (brown and black)

* Pre-cut rectangles of construction paper (different shades of green)

* Fake-fur scraps

* Googly eyes

* Colored tissue paper

* Scissors

* Glue

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* learn about the rain forest.

* increase manipulative skills.

* learn how to create duplicates of the same shape by cutting more than one piece of paper at a time.

* combine and arrange a variety of shapes in a unified composition that fills up the paper.

* learn about overlapping to make objects appear either closer or farther away.

Did you know that it rains more than 200 days a year in the rain forest? Did you know that one quarter of the world's medicines come from rain forest plants? In fact, there are over 300 different kinds of trees and millions of species of insects, plants, animals and birds in the rain forest.

My first-graders were fascinated with these facts as we learned about the rain forest, its ecosystem and also about how the rain forests are endangered. I read a wonderful story by Lynn Cherry, The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest (Harcourt, 2000), which served as a beautifully illustrated teaching tool.

After our initial discussion about the rain forest, I passed out materials so the students could create their own rain forest pictures. Every child received a 12" x 18" piece of light blue paper, and every two children (they partnered with the child next to them) received a green sheet of the same size. I demonstrated cutting the green sheet of paper in half, creating two pieces--one for each student in a pair. With half of a green sheet, we each glued our hilly land onto our blue paper. (Kids could adjust their half by trimming if needed.)

With the background in place, we could now concentrate on the many trees in the rain forest. Children used pre-torn brown and black strips and were shown how to tear the strips for thinner or shorter trees. To create a sense of distance (near and far), we placed the trees at different levels on the page.

Next, pre-cut rectangles and squares of different ent shades of green paper were distributed. I demonstrated how to cut large, differently shaped leaves, reminding them that by cutting several pieces at one time, they could get many leaves at once. The leftover cuttings would be used for tall grasses and smaller leaves. I explained to the students that very little sky actually shows in the rain forest (only I percent of the sunlight reaches the forest floor). Accordingly, the kids were encouraged to fill up the land as much as possible to create the effect of the rain forest.

During the next class period, many children needed to complete their trees, leaves and grass before moving on to the next step--furry creatures! I pre-cut small shapes from recycled fur pieces and had the kids select two (to start with). I helped the students glue two googly eyes onto the fur of each animal. The students then glued the animals onto their pictures.

At the beginning of our next class meeting, I distributed pre-cut squares of colored tissue paper (about 2" x 2" or 3" x 3") to be used to create flowers. I demonstrated an easy and effective way to make three-dimensional flowers by holding a tissue square in one hand, putting a thumb or pointer finger from the other hand in the middle of the square, and pushing the tissue over and around the finger. Afterward, I put a dot of glue on the bottom and attached it to the rain forest picture.

To add to the fullness of the flower, one or two more tissues could fit inside one another using the same method. My young artists loved making these flowers, as they looked great and were easy to make.

Students used permanent black markers to draw the finishing touches--leaf veins, grasses and bugs. Colored markers could be used to illustrate butterflies and birds.

The first-graders were so excited about--and possessive of--their rain forest pictures that I had a hard time convincing them to let me keep them for a while to hang up in the hallway. This lesson was a definite success and one that I know the kids loved and also learned from.

Shelley Phillips is the art teacher for Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison, New Jersey.