The Kennedy Center: ARTSEDGE — the National Arts and Education Network

Grade 5 Lesson: Alexander Calder: Master of Balance
Viewing mobiles created by sculptor Alexander Calder, students learn about the function and form of levers. They build mobiles, experiment with balancing levers, and equilibrium

Grades 3-4 Lesson: Exploring Weather Conditions Through Painting
Students will learn about how weather influences culture, daily life, and mood by examining paintings depicting different types of weather.

Grades 6-8 Lesson: Get Inside a Cell!
In this lesson, students will gain an understanding of the components of an animal cell.

Grade 5 Lesson: Gyotaku Japanese Fish Printing
By acquiring knowledge of historical and cultural qualities unique to this particular art form, students can gain an understanding of how Gyotaku reflects a part of Japanese history

Grades 6-8 Lesson: How Do Cells Reproduce?
This activity illustrates the process of mitosis, or cell division, in yeast. Cells carry on the many functions needed to sustain life. The most important is the ability to reproduce.

Grades 6-8 Lesson: How Many Cells Are Born in a Day?
In this lesson, students use calculation to predict the number of cells that result from a series of cell divisions. They then graph the results to represent their findings.

Grades 9-12 Lesson: Landscape Painting
Using James Palmersheim's Silver Creek's November II as a starting point, students will create their own landscape paintings

Grade 5 Lesson: Lewis and Clark: Artful Recordings
In this lesson, students take on the roles of Lewis and Clark, as they explore the original journals and create journals of their own

Grades K-2 Lesson: Making Rain
In this lesson, students experience rain through several activities, experiments, reading, and performing

Grades 6-8 Lesson: Medieval and Renaissance Art: Botanical Symbolism
For the medieval and the renaissance artists, flowers were part of a rich visual symbolism

Grades 3-4 Lesson: Oceans: A Sensory Haiku
After exploring a virtual ocean with their five senses, students capture the sensory experience by writing haiku, bringing science and creative writing together as one

Grades 9-12 Lesson: Oxidation and Combustion: Chemical Reactions in Fire
A wide variety of science concepts can be explored through the study of fireworks

Grades 9-12 Lesson: Patterns Across Cultures: The Fibonacci Sequence in Visual Art
The Fibonacci Sequence manifests in nature and visual arts

Grades 6-8 Lesson: Planets in Balance
Students explore the solar system through experimentation of mobile design in the style of Alexander Calder

Grades 9-12 Lesson: Science Meets Artistry: the Work of Cai Guo-Qiang
Studying the work of artist Cai Guo-Qiang, students will understand the technological, logistical, and artistic factors for performance-oriented works

Grades 3-4 Lesson: Sunflowers
Students grow both sunflowers and their knowledge of science and art. After exploring the work of Van Gogh and other artists, students create their own artwork

Grades 6-8 Lesson: The Science of Shadow Puppets
Through online learning tools and the creation of shadow puppets and plays, students will learn how light interacts with matter

Grade 5 Lesson: Trees in Nature and Art
Students will explore the use of trees in the arts (as paintings and poetry), understand basic science involved in forestry, and integrate tree arts and science in a final project.

Grades 3-4 Lesson: The Whale Trail
In this lesson students will explore the world of gray whales

Grades 3-4 Lesson: Who Has Seen the Wind?
In this lesson students are introduced to and encouraged to explore characteristics of the wind through poetry and van Gogh’s paintings