Artist, Explorer, Scientist (all grades)

LEARNING: In this project, student artists learn about how scientists use drawing in their field research. They focus their studies on the ornithologist John Audubon. He was notable for his extensive studies documenting all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats. He eventually produced a book called ‘Birds of North America’ which contained 435 life-sized watercolours of North American birds, all reproduced from hand-engraved prints.

CREATING: Students begin the project by creating ‘field sketches’ through which they learn the basics of observation drawing. They then pick an animal figurine of their choice, draw it from observation, study the habitat of the animal, create an accurate background for their drawing, and then turn the drawings into a series of prints.

CONNECTING: This project is thematically aligned with the topic of ‘birds’. Specifically, it supports by looking at the biography and artworks of John Audubon.

• Materials
• Books and Texts
• Vocabulary

• CCAS: W.1.7 , W.2.7 , W.1.8 , W.2.8 , SL.1.1a, SL.2.1a , SL.1.1b , SL.2.1b, SL.1.2 , SL.2.2, SL.1.1c , SL.2.1c , SL.1.3 , SL.2.3 , SL.2.4, SL.1.5, SL.2.5
• NCAS: VA:Cr1.2.1a, VA:Cr3.1.2a
• Art Elements: line, shape/form
• Art Principles: proportion/scale

*Materials and books linked to are affiliate Links and we may make a small percentage off of them. The materials list assumes a class-size of 30.

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