Posts Tagged ‘art’

Cool Things-Operation Humpback Help

{ May 13, 2008 @ 2:04 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

K and I saw this in the latest issue of Home Education Magazine.

Here’s the blurb:

Join Operation Humpback Help

This is a student campaign to save the Humpback and Fin whales targeted by the Whaling fleets in the Southern Hemisphere.

Rather than simply sign a petition, let’s combine Japanese origami with student messages from around the world. Make pods of 50 (the number of humpbacks and fins Japanese whalers plan to kill this year) origami whales, string them together, and write notes on them.

You can read more about the project at the Operation Humpback Help website. the site is run by the Tower School in Marblehead, MA.

Basically you make a *pod* of 50 origami whales and send OHH an e-mail (and picture if you like) telling them who you are and about your pod. The whales should contain messages such as *Save the Whales* or simply *Help!*. You are also encouraged to send them in to one of two addresses listed on the website between May 1st and 15th.

K, her friend C and various homeschooled kids who wandered by made a pod yesterday while manning our table at the homeschool curriculum sale.

Here is a picture of the whole pod (or most if it, I think a couple may have fallen on the floor!):
dscf0947.jpg

and a close up so you can read the message:
dscf0949.jpg

I am not going to list resources because there are so many good ones on the Operation Humpback Help website and also in the article in Home Education Magazine.  Suffice it to say I see a bunch of reading and maybe a whale watch in our future!

Art and science with a purpose, you really can’t beat that!

Sequins and Newsprint and Glue…Oh My!

{ April 17, 2008 @ 10:26 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

I know you have all been waiting for it with baited breath, and here it is! A Dennis update!

This time he had his eyes done ;) K and I attached 10mm, opalescent sequins with (lots of) school glue to mimic the multi lens eyes of real dragonflies. dscf0642.jpg

He also got a wing lift. K and I could see that over time the duct tape just wasn’t cutting it. Dennis developed a rather severe droop! So we addressed that issue by balling up some newsprint and sticking it under his wings right where they join his body. Then we took strips of newsprint through some more glue and made him a wing harness. dscf0643.jpg Hopefully that will do the trick!

Overall I think he’s looking really good! dscf0644.jpg

He’s nearly done now! All that’s left to do is attach his legs (which are already constructed out of several peices of 18 gauge wire twisted together) and touch up his paint job. I’m hoping to have him at the library by the end of next week!

UPDATE!  Dennis is complete!  W took a break from working on the car to drill the holes for Dennis’ legs dscf0663.jpg and then K and I attached them dscf0667.jpg
and drew him a little smile! Here he is complete:
dscf0665.jpg

Click here if you want to see Dennis’ humble beginnings or here to see how he got his wings.

Dennis gets his wings!

{ March 30, 2008 @ 6:33 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

This weekend we finally made it to the craft supply store and picked out paper and wire to make Dennis’s wings.  K and chose 18 gauge copper wire and pewter colored scrapbook paper.  Here’s how it looked in our kitchen as we began our latest phase of this project.

                                            dscf0508.jpg

At first we tried to glue the paper to the wire wing form, but we found it was very difficult to get it to stay put long enough for the glue to dry and it also crinkled the paper.

                                            dscf0510.jpg

In the end we taped the paper onto the wire.  You can see the tape, but you could see the glue too and the wings look neater overall I think.  Once the wings were finished, W drilled holes for us to insert the wings into Dennis’s back.  It worked well, but we needed to stabilize them a bit because they tended to spin a bit.  I used a strip of silver duct tape along the area the wings attached.  This also served to cover up the mess we made while getting the wire into the hole.  K then painted over the duct tape with blue paint.

A winged Dennis                                      A close up after the paint touch up

dscf0511.jpg                  dscf0512.jpg

Want to see previous Dennis posts and pictures?  Click here! Or click hereto see him get eyes.

Dragonfly Update

{ March 23, 2008 @ 3:20 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Comments (2) }

For those of you interested, I just added an update and some new photos to the paper mache dragonfly post, just click here.  Dennis has received his first coat of paint! 

Come on now, admit it, you’re excited! ;)

Art!-Learning to draw

{ March 23, 2008 @ 1:12 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

K has always felt that she *can’t draw* despite the fact that she’s done some wonderful artwork on her own. She somehow feel that having to copy anything, like a living thing or another picture, makes it not *real* art somehow. In response to this she and I have been working on learning how to draw using the book Drawing With Children and these free lessons from Paula’s Archive of Homeschool Advice . This week we got to the Wow! I can Draw! lesson. K’s friend C decided to join in and I did as well.

This is what the results were:

                                             dscf0430.jpg

There are four drawings because K didn’t like her first effort and wanted to try again.  I liked all of them, even the one K rejected :) Can you guess which one was mine?

She has been having a great time with Drawing with Children and enjoys making the five basic elements and doing the guided exercises.  I’m still not sure why she thinks she needs lessons, but if they are making her happy then I’ll keep it up!

P.S. Just to brag, here is a sample of her artwork she’s done on her own:

img005.jpg 

This was done from another drawing so it doesn’t *count* (can you see me rolling my eyes?).

Dragonfly-an art project

{ March 12, 2008 @ 10:41 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , } · { Leave a Comment }

K was asked by our children’s librarian to make a large paper mache insect of some kind to serve as decoration for the summer reading program.  K chose to make a Dragonfly.

Dennis the Dragonfly (yes, he has a name) began life as a broom handle.

Then he was built up with newspaper and tape to look like this (full view and close up) :

    2008_0312stuff0013.jpg     2008_0312stuff0016.jpg

After looking up paste recipes on-line and mixing some up, Dennis underwent some actual paper macheing (is that a word?).  B was a reluctant helper, he didn’t like the way the glue felt.

 dscf0424.jpg                      dscf0426.jpg

A (very large) mess was made, but I think Dennis looks pretty good after his first coat!

Of course he’s nowhere near done.  He still needs a few coats, some paint, wings and legs.  I’d like to see if we can find something to stick on his eyes to make them look like they are covered with lenses too, maybe some stick on *gems*?  K and I are thinking copper wire for the legs and wing outlines and either tulle or tissue paper for the wing membrane. 

If anyone has suggestions we’d love to hear them!

A little update….Dennis has now had three layers of paper mache and has recieved his first coat of paint!  Here are some pics!

                     dscf0504.jpg              dscf0505.jpg

Want to see Dennis get his wings?  Click here! Or click here to check out his new eyes!

Unit Study-Harry Potter*

{ February 16, 2008 @ 11:01 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

We did this about two years ago (well, whenever the Goblet of Fire movie came out) but I recently dug it out when someone wanted to take a look at it and thought I would post it here as well! 

This one is going to look more like a typical unit study then my units typically do.

Harry Potter Unit Study

Learning Objectives:

To understand more about Harry Potter as literature and to incorporate other subjects into HP cannon as follows

Science

Botany (herbology)-how to grow herbs and their use in the home

Animal Care (care of magical creatures)-life cycles and care of cats, bats, rats and owls

Chemistry (potions)-several *potions* using acid/base reaction, invisible ink, etc

Cryptozoology-Big Foot, Nessie, Giant Squid

Math

Basic arithmetic practice (arithmancy)-figuring of birth and destiny numbers

Numbers in Nature (Fibonacci numbers)

Language Arts

Sustained silent reading

Read alouds

Harry Potter writing prompts

Hogwarts anagrams

Creative Writing

Book and Movie reviews

Comparison of HP with Greek myths and Arthurian Legend

Discussion of things like foreshadowing, plot points and character development w/in the series

Art

Drawing Dragons

Making Fairy houses

Making bat houses

Wand Making

Geography

Learning about supposed mystical places like Easter Island, Stonehenge and the Bermuda triangle

Locating and learning about Ireland, Scotland, England, Bulgaria, France and India

Home Ec

Cauldron Cakes

Butter Beer

RESOURCES

Books

Harry Potter series

Harry Potter Study Guide (from HogwortsSCS)

The Once and Future King

Greek Myths and Legends

Jan Van Cleaves Plants

JVC Chemistry for Every Kid

The Magical World of Harry Potter

Cryptids

DVDS

Harry Potter DVDs 1-5

Discovering the Real World of Harry Potter

Dragons-A Fantasy Made Real

Monster Quest (this is actually a TV series, and a recent one)

Internet Resources

http://www.mugglenet.com

http://www.classbrain.com/artmovies/publish/cat_index_24.shtml

http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/HogwartsSCS

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_17.htm

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1612.html

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/pdf/numbersnature/numbersnature.pdf

*Just to be completely clear; I lay no claim to Harry Potter, the character or the books or anything else bearing his name.  They (and he) are the property of JK Rowling and her publishers and such.  I wouldn’t even attempt it, I am not worthy. 

Learning all the time-Hermit Crabs

{ February 15, 2008 @ 6:16 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , , } · { Comments (3) }

Every once in a while we have something happen in our everyday life that becomes a huge learning opportunity all on it’s own.  Becoming the owner of five hermit crabs last fall was one of those things. 

When  a friend asked if we would be willing to take them since her kids were no longer interested in them I though *sure, what’s another tank of critters?*.  We are pretty well known in our circle of friends as The Zoo so they know who to ask LOL!  Once confirming they came with a place to live, delivery was arranged.

They arrived in a five gallon tank with a soap dish for a bathtub a few extra shells, some goldfish pellets for food and a book about hermit crabs.  They seemed happy enough and the kids were really excited.  They named them Angel, Irma, Mr. Crabs, Pigwidgeon and Demeter. 

Being the obsessive person that I am, I quickly went on-line and did some research into hermit crabs.  All the sites I read said the same things; they needed more room, more stuff and more heat and moisture. 

Sooooo…we headed to the pet store.  We came back with a ten gallon tank, a tank warmer, some more sand, two deeper *bathtubs* (one for salt water, one for fresh), a piece of cork, calcium chews, sponges (to keep the air moist), two small pots (for hiding), one fake log and some fake plants.

dscf0335.jpg

Now the crabs live in the marvelous *Crabitat* you see above.  Not only was a great deal of money spent, but a lot was learned as well. 

The kids learned about:

Hermit Crab care

how hermit crabs breathe (with gills)

humidity and how to measure it-what a hydrometer is

best way to monitor temperature in a tank

which plants are poisonous to hermit crabs

what molting is

difference between crabs and snails

depth and volume (while filling the tank with the correct amount of sand)

measurement (of crab shells)

cost analysis of various types of sand and other substrate products, foods and decorations

where cork comes from

They even Incorporated some other subjects by:

Painting pictures of their crabs (art)

setting up the crabitat to be visually appealing (interior design? art?)

talking about the crabs to M’s class and the kids at mom’s group (public speaking, oral reports)

We even have a book list (you knew this was coming right?)

A House for Hermit Crab

Is This a House for Hermit Crab?

Hermit Crabs for Dummies

Hermit Crabs-a complete owners manual

And a list of websites

http://www.hermitcrabs.org/

http://www.hermit-crabs.com/

http://www.crabbytalk.com/