Grade Levels: 1, 2
Subject(s):
The student will use nature guidebooks and plant handbooks to identify the names of plants found during an autumn walk.
Curriculum (subject area) Objectives: This activity may be part of a general study in science on the seasons and art on form and texture in printing.
Resources:
Art Supplies
Newsprint paper
Brushes
Brayer (6")
Black water-soluable printing ink or colored tempera paints
Paper towels
Paper with absorbent qualities
Paper strips for printing names o leaves
Colored paper or fabric
Nature Handbooks (This list may vary depending on the area of the country. In some cases, flower field guides may be more useful.)
Audubon Society Book of Trees. Abrahms, 1981.
The Complete Trees of North America:
Field Guide and
Natural History
. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1980.
Familiar Trees of North America:
Eastern Region
. Knopf, 1986.
Familiar Trees of North America:
Western Region
. Knopf, 1986.
Field Guide to North American Edible Wild Plants. Outdoor Life Books, 1982.
How Leaves Change. Lerner, 1986.
Knowing Your Trees. American Forestry Association, 1979.
Newcomb's Wildflower Guide:
An Ingenious New Key System for Quick, Positive Field
Identification of the wildflowers, Flowering Shrubs and Vines of Northeastern and
North-Central North America
. Little, 1977.
Peterson First Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and
North-Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
Trees of North America:
A Field Guide to the Major Native Species North of Mexico
.
Golden Press, 1968.
Wildflower Folklore. East Woods Press, 1984.
Instructional Roles: This activity may be completed by either the classroom teacher or the library media specialist in cooperation with the art teacher. Usually the activity is completed after a nature walk during the fall. For those living in areas of the country where there is little change in the fall season, the activity may be related to the plants and signs of the growth during that time period.
Activity and Procedures for Completion:
The classroom teacher and students may take a nature walk around the school. As they walk, they may collect signs of the season such as colored leaves, seeds, or stalks. Items such as corn stalks, cattails, and seed pods may be brought into the school also. (Students should be cautioned about picking things that are on private property.) Students may lay out the items found. Their first problem will be identification of the items. Working in small groups with the library media specialist, the students may use nature guide books to begin the identification process. The library media specialist should introduce the books available and show students strategies for using the books. As the small groups of students identify an item, they may write plant names on strips of white paper for placing on prints later. When the plants are identified, the students may begin the printing process.
The art teacher may explain about form and texture to students. Students may examine the items spread out and talk about their characteristics. Some are smooth while others are rough. Students may describe the feel of the leaves. The art teacher may explain that the form and texture are seen in art. The students will make prints of their autumn findings.The students may begin the printing process with the following procedure.
Directions for Making Autumn Prints:
1. Place materials on clean newsprint paper.
2. Spread paint or ink in large cake pan or paint pan.
3. Use the brayer to roll the paint on the leaves, seeds, or stalks. Brushes may be used on small items.
4. Lift the leaves or other items onto clean newsprint paper.
5. Place printing paper on top of the leaf or item to make the print.
6. Pat or rub gently the leaf or item to make the print.
7. Peel the paper back.
8. Make one print of a leaf or use different colors to make more than one print on a page.
9. Let the paper dry.
10. Decorate the print with a border of leaves cut out in the shape of the printed leaves using different textured paper or fabric.
11. Place the strip giving name of the leaves or materials on the print.
12. Describe the texture of the leaves based on the kind of prints made by different leaves. (Smooth leaves make different prints than those more ruffled or veined.)
(Diagram available in magazine.)
Evaluation: The student will identify autumn leaves and plants and make prints of the items to show form and texture.
Follow-up: The student may: