Endangered Species Illustrations

During the last week of September, students learned about endangered animals. Each day, a children's picture book was read to introduce the topic at an age appropriate level. Three of our favorite books are listed below:

Almost gone, The World’s Rarest Animals  written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Crocodile's Tears written and illustrated by Alex Beard

Extraordinary Endangered Animals by Sandrine Silhol and Gaelle Guerive, illustrated by Marie Doucedame    

Through these books, students learned important facts about each species, and were introduced to the connection and dependence of living things to one another.  

Two projects helped students focus on a specific endangered species of their choice:  

1. In their endangered species collages, students captured the animal as a thriving species using brightly colored paper and hinted at their threatened existence by also creating a shadow of the animal as a black silhouette.  More photos follow at the end of this post!

Norah

2. In their endangered species "batik" illustrations, students drew the animal as carefully as possible and also suggested the animal's habitat. Their crayon drawings were crumpled and painted with tempera, then rinsed to create an effect that is similar to fabric batiks. The images follow. Our apologies for the photo orientation: these were scans and the blog doesn't provide a tool to change the orientation. The work however, speaks for itself, even if you need to turn your head to look at it : )

Andrew, Iriomote Cat

Heidi, Blue Iguana

Ben, Giant Tortoise

Jackson, Golden Tree Frog

Emerson, Giant Tortoise

Mikel, Red Panda

Anika, Miami Blue Butterfly

Leila, Green Sea Trtle

Porter, Harlequin Frog

Xavier, Tiger

Patrick, Ethiopian Wolf

For students who wished to participate, their endangered species illustrations were included in a silent auction at Beye School's 1st Annual Fall Harvest Festival. Students raised awareness about endangered species and shared how all of us can play a role in saving threatened species, with a list of helpful steps attached to the back of each framed illustration. Every illustration was auctioned at the event and we were pleased to aid the Beye PTO in their fundraising efforts for the school. Congratulations to all the students who worked to promote an important message through their work! Also, a big thank you to Beye Parents who purchased these beautiful illustrations!

Leila

Amanda and son (left); Leila (center, in pink); Mss. Sigunick and daughter (background)

Montgomery (silent auction volunteer) & Ms. Freisen, placing a bid

Porter and Hayden, in front of the illustrations

 Endangered Species Silhouette Collages:

Mikel

Isaac

Isaac

Collaboration bt. Andrew & Ms. Jenkins

Ben

Norah

Joseph

Cassie

Emily

Cassie

Leila

Xavier

Maurice

Joel

 
Beautiful work Beye Discovery Students!!! We love these : ) We concluded our week-long study of endangered species with 2 additional projects: On Thursday, students created boardgames that promoted awareness of a specific endangered species. Then on Friday, students studied animal footprints of a variety of endangered species: each student reproduced one species footprint as a stamp (made with a foam sheet glued to cardboard), as a record and a warning regarding the plight of this endangered species.

Visiting Artist Margot MacMahon: Additive Sculpture

Post Contributed by Jocelyne Adkins, Program Director/Educator

We were very excited to have local Artist Margot MacMahon visit Beye Discovery on September 24^th. She taught students how to simplify complex forms such as animals into basic shapes and forms to more easily sculpt in the 3^rd dimension. First, Margot demonstrated this concept on the whiteboard, drawing simple shapes and then combining them to create a completed animal form. Then, Margot demonstrated with clay and taught the students how to create additive sculpture, with forms that are joined together to create the completed whole. The students worked with focus and created some really terrific sculptures. A huge thank you to Margot for sharing her expertise with us ~ we loved the workshop start to finish! 

Emory and Margot

Ben

Cassie

Sylvia

Laila

Isaac's sculpture, in progress

Heidi

Emory

Leila

Margot with Isaac

Daysha

Xavier

Dexter

Margot with Isaac and Heidi

Isaac's completed sculpture

Daysha's completed sculpture

Oliver

Andrew with sculpture in background

 

Zig Zag City inspired by Louise Nevelson

Post Contributed by Jocelyne Adkins, Program Director/Educator

We had soooo much fun creating these sculptural zig zag boxes and realized that together, they made a fantastic imaginary city. We began by looking at the sculpture "Luminous Zag: Night", 1971 by Louise Nevelson (see link below), in which 105 boxes contain blocks of wood that are joined/cut to create zig/zag designs within. The overall design is unified by a single color and the repeated zigzags add movement to the piece.

Luminous Zag: Night

For our designs, we used strips of colorful papers and asked students to fold them, accordion style, to create interesting designs within small cardboard boxes lined with dark blue paper. We then came together as a group, to experiment with different configurations to create a single sculptural form. There were many strong configurations. Scroll below to see our students in action : ) The final form took the shape of a city, which we populated with people, pets, insects, a body of water and a "playground". The completed work is on display in our 2nd floor exhibit case. We would love for you to stop by to see it!

Joseph

in progress desin

  

Xavier

A completed design

Cassie

Donald

Donald

Configuring of boxes

1st configuration

2nd configuration

3rd configuration

4th configuration

5th configuration

6th configuration

students demonstrating the movement in the 6th configuration!