Week 7: Alien Life Forms

 "Is there life in Outer Space?" by Isaac Asimov and "Out of This World: The Amazing Search for an Alien Earth" by Jacob Berkowitz are 2 books that informed and sparked our discussion about the possibility of alien life forms. In actuality, the search begins on earth with Astrobiologists studying extreme environments that seem unlikely places for life to exist. Amazingly, bacteria are proving that they can thrive in even the most inhospitable environments: for example in places that are 10,000 times more acidic than vinegar or within nuclear power reactors. So, despite the extreme environments of planets within our solar system, there remains the possibility that some form of alien life may exist! With that in mind, the children's imaginations soared!!! Take a look below (the students were super excited to share their alien life forms with Mr. Ellwanger, who surprised us with a most welcomed visit). Also, be sure to check out the entire "Outer Space" display of student work on the second floor landing near the art room. 

Week 7: A Visit to Outer Space

This week in Beye Discovery we ventured into outer space! We learned about:

1. space capsule design

2. gravity

3. astronauts’ space suits

4. the role of observatories to help us study outer space

5. the beginnings of the universe

6. nebulae and how stars are born and die

7. galaxies

8. the possibility of alien life forms 

Please be sure to visit the display of student work on the 2nd floor landing near the art room!!! From observatories to space capsules and aliens, this exhibition encourages the imagination to soar... 

Below are some photos documenting the students' process. Enjoy!

Emerson and Issyah with papier mache over re-purposed water bottles to create observatories

Daysha and papier mache

Creating a mountain terrain for the observatories, various shades of green

More terrain, painted on top of a re-purposed brown paper bag

Spiral galaxies were all the rage!!! My apologies to the elliptical galaxies...

Jessica painting the observatory white

Olivia and her observatory

Leila

Dexter and Emerson with their astronauts

Jessica's space capsule

an alien about to be born!

Olivia's miniature space capsule

Olivia's alien commander to the miniature space capsule

Nicole's astronaut

Please see the next blog post for images of the students and their alien life forms!!!

Week 6: Thursday, Collaged Creamy Crayon Drawings

Today we were fortunate to have Mike Bochner, Oak Park Artist and Chicago public school teacher, join us and share his insights about collage techniques. Mike highlighted the importance of negative space and encouraged students to think about how positive shapes and negative spaces must work together to create a successful collage. For the activity, students cut apart their creamy crayon drawings to create an entirely new collaged composition. Both the original drawings and the newly composed collages are attention grabbers! Please see the students' work below: