Students draw a butterfly. In this drawing instructional activity, students explore a drawing upside down. Students sketch a butterfly while the image is reversed to tap into their right brain dominance.

Young scholars sketch a picture. In this drawing lesson, students sketch Matisse's "La Pompadour". In an attempt to tap into their artistic side, young scholars turn the picture upside down to sketch.

What would it be like to restore modern works of art? By acting as modern art conservators, learners assess the first-hand difficulties faced in restoration efforts. In addition, they create modern art pieces from random materials. Then,...

Young scholars create living artifacts dealing with different times and cultures. They explore Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, Islam, Africa, and the United States.

Second graders learn about how the food is broken down in our bodies and the job of each body part involved in our digestive system. The utilize the CD ROM game, "Body Works." This wonderful game takes pupils through the human body's...

By using the Internet, hands-on activities, video, and cooperative learning, pupils look into the conditions in which light casts shadows on objects. The lesson includes fabulous hands-on activities, art projects, worksheets, and reource...

Wow! Here is a most-impressive series of lessons and activities that revolve around the classic story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The purpose of the lessons are to provide an agricultural theme in the reading, writing, and science...

Twelfth graders examine the impact of African American culture on the United States by inspecting Faith Ringgold's story quilts. Working in groups, they create a collective story quilt about current cultural issues. They research their...

Middle and high schoolers participate in a seven-part lesson plan creating Escher-Esque tessellations. They demonstrate their knowledge of geometric transformations after viewing a PowerPoint presentation, conducting Internet research,...

Your class members will take on the roles of jury members in this exciting simulation. After reading a detailed script and reviewing pieces of evidence, they will determine whether Honda violated copyright and copied James Bond.

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass provides the text for a study of how writers bring characters to life. Using the provided character mapping worksheets, readers respond to questions and then write a short character sketch.

Explore contemporary American Indian art. After viewing a set of images, class members discuss the design elements of techniques present, as well as how these artists represent history and culture. Learners examine the parfleche and...

Op art is fun to look at, and it's fun to make. Kids learn about the origins of op art and the op art master, M.C. Escher. They view simple to complex examples of op art to see how it works and then create an optical piece of their own....

High schoolers examine how European-America aestheticians (philosophers of art) do not all agree about the value and definition of art. students examine how some cultures do not have a distinct word or definition for art.

Students compare and contrast African-American, Asian-American, Chicano and Native-American movements with the civil rights movement and are exposed to the sociopolitical and economic factors involved in the rise of social movements.

Practice printmaking with a fun lesson. After observing images, class members use the listed materials, such as stamps and sponges, create their own prints. They experiment with layering, pressure, and paint colors.

Get young people thinking about their lives and current topics of social justice, advocacy, gender, race, and identity. After examining several works by Barbara Kruger, participants select a tag with one of the questions printed on it,...

Differentiate between the various genres in the visual arts world, particularly in Western painting. Your class can view and discuss, in small groups, paintings published on the National Galleries website. Then each student individually...

Introduce your upper-elementary learners to printmaking. Class members view prints, select and research symbols in a piece, and create their own sets of prints using styrofoam trays. Pupils can wash off the paint on their trays to make...

Imagine a project that informs and entertains. Replace book reports with a bulletin board that highlights all the important elements of a novel. Readers research the author, create a timeline of events in the story, write a...

Secondary artists create a metal box made from copper tooling foil and solid oil paint sticks (Shiva Paintstiks). The exacting design develops organizational principles and the painted finish allows for individual expression of...

Here is a rare example of an art lesson which can be used K - 12. Learners view prints of Pop artists. They discuss Pop artists such as Andy Warhol, and Peter Max. They cut tie shapes out of oak tag, and design ties in Pop art style....

Middle schoolers write descriptions, narratives, and dialogues based on objects of art and time periods in a museum. They base several writing assignments on art objects and paintings, including a literal description and an emotional...

Students draw portraits of a dancer. In this visual-arts lesson, students study the work of James Wyeth online. They then watch a dance performance and sketch 10 - 15 pieces depicting dancers. Five of these sketches will be selected for...