The Art of Science - Science in Art

by Bernice Hauser,
Primary Education Correspondent
Drawing, painting, building, sculpturing, and rubbing are linchpin artistic activities built into a good nursery and primary curriculum. Whether the units of study are grass-eating animals, the family, the neighborhood, Egypt, explorers, immigration, or Indians, a creative group teacher will incorporate the basic tenets of scientific explorations and knowledge seamlessly and easily into the students everyday art lessons. (We begin with the assumption that there is usually no science or art specialist in the primary school program, that the group teacher is responsible for fulfilling the curriculum requirements of the science program.)

Introducing young children to a variety of artistic experiences, giving them a common terminology to use, and applying these activities to the subject at hand, the teacher is also empowering her young charges to construct their own scientific knowledge, albeit within another discipline, and to make sense of the new experience in ways which enable them to hold on to the new concept.

In their publication, The Kids Arts and Crafts Book, Patricia Petrich and Rosemary Dalton, introduce these terms to the children:

Imagine a teacher weaving into the lesson or activity comments and questions which challenge these young children's thinking, questions which stretch their pre-conceived notions, questions which engage their imagination.

What are crayons? What are they made of? Who makes them? How do they become different colors, what can they do? 'A fairy places a magic wand on each crayon and makes them red, blue, green. . . .', responds one little girl,recalling the tooth fairy who had recently awarded her for losing her front tooth. (The children's comments are so engrossing that often I am hard pressed not to stop and jot down all of the dialogue into a daily journal.) But asking three and four year olds to stop and think about one of the most common material that they use day in and day out both at home and in school is an opportunity often overlooked. Yet these forays lead into roads not widely traveled; we do try to make our own wax crayons using wax and food coloring. It doesn't matter whether we are successful or not. Prudent risk-taking is encouraged.

And what is wax? Is it like the wax in our ear? asks Adam Pi–ero. Is it like the wax on my mommy's kitchen floor or like wax paper?" asks another child. They are engaged and they are thinking.

What happens when you press lightly with a crayon? What happens when you press hard? What happens when you draw with only the side of a crayon? What happens when you draw on smooth surfaces, on rough surfaces, on light-colored surfaces, on dark-colored surfaces? Children's interactions with the materials, their observations and their commentary are the stepping stones to the next level.

Answering the why and how questions are the next level of reasoning. You are now asking them to truly explore cause and effect, a concept which demands lots of discussion and repetition of the activity to validate for them the consequence of the action. Rubbing a crayon over a rough surface certainly produces a different effect from rubbing a crayon over a smooth surface. A study of textures, ease of moving (friction and resistance), washable and non-washable surfaces all come into play, not to mention the enormous opportunities for dramatic play and language enrichment.

For three year olds, one activity I use is to spread a large white drawing paper on the floor or table. Using only three fat nursery-sized crayons, red, yellow and blue, which have had the paper covering removed, I have one child make large red side rubbings with one color, another child does the same using the side of a blue crayon, and the third child repeats the same exercise using the yellow crayon. What ensues are the formation of new colors -- violet, green and orange. We talk about clothing and flowers, the colors around us, trees and leaves, and the changing colors of the leaves in the fall season. Opportunities such like these are the bread and butter staples in nursery and primary classrooms.

Sometimes we adults overlook the obvious -- certainly the word 'dye' is used in conjunction with the dyeing of Easter eggs, but do the children truly understand this concept? I'm most certain this experience lies within the realm of the magical kingdom for most of them. When it is cherry season, I encourage these children to crush cherries between layers of white cloth. We examine the cloth for traces of stains or dye. We talk about natural dyes and favorite colors, and we even cook red cabbage in the class to extract the purple liquid. The opportunities are endless -- a crayon resist activity might lead to talks about water resistance, waterproof materials and clothing (rubber boots and raincoats). Strips of colored cellophanes or plastics utilized as color viewers might enable these children to experience the rudimentary physics of color and filters.

Provide the materials and set the stage. The children will act, react, and interact. It's that simple: science and art are class one acts.

References

Elsie Reid Boylston, Creative Expression with Crayons, (Davis Publications, Worcester, MA). 98 pp.

Patricia Petrich and Rosemary Dalton, The Kids Arts and Crafts Book, (NittyGritty Productions, P.Q., Box 5457, Concord, CA 94524). 179 pp. ISBN 0-911954-33-3.

Daphne Plaskow, Art with Children, (Watson-Guptill Publications, 165 West 46th Street, New York NY 10036). 104 pp.

Home          Winter 99          Full Screen

The TEACHERS CLEARINGHOUSE FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY EDUCATION