Enduring Idea: Throughout time and across cultures, humans have depicted animals in realistic and imaginative environments

to help tell stories.

The Adapting Animal

Grades 2-4 4 classes 50 minutes each OVERVIEW: 1. Lesson Summary:
Students will learn about the artist Micci Cohan while creating a collaged and mixed media fictional environment using the same elements the artist has used in her own artwork. Students will also learn about the artist Walton Ford while creating an animal out of clay and other various materials. The animals will be designed to have specific adaptations that will help it survive in the environment that the student has created. Students will then form a story about how the animal exists in its environment.

2. Artworks and Artists

Micci Cohan o The Native Face, (First Portrait First Ave), 2006, Oil, Acrylic & Collage on canvas o Island wind, 2009, Collage on paper o The Blue Mosque Self Portrait, 2007, Oil, enamel, acrylic & collage on tin with painted frame o Them Caf Blues Walton Ford o Loss of the Lisbon Rhinoceros, 2008, Watercolor, gouache, ink & pencil on paper, in three parts o The Sensorium, 2003, Watercolor, gouache, ink & pencil on paper

3. Key Concepts:
Animals have adapted to their environments in order to meet their needs. People can tell stories about animals in their environments by depicting real or imaginary animals and environments in artwork. Environments can influence art.

4. Essential Questions:
Why would someone create a fictional environment? How do we use environments to help tell stories about our animals? What adaptations do animals have that help them meet their needs? How can environments influence artists?

5. PA Standards:
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9.1.3.A. Know and use the elements and principles of each art form to create works in the arts and humanities. Principles: Visual Arts: Balance, contrast, emphasis/focal point, movements/rhythm, proportion/scale, repetition, unit/harmony
Students will create a background/environment that incorporates patterns, drawing and painting.

9.1.3.B. Recognize, know, use and demonstrate a variety of appropriate arts elements and principles to produce, review and revise original works in the arts. Visual arts: Paint, draw, craft, sculpt, print, design for environment, communication, multi-media.
Students will create a background/environment that incorporates patterns, drawing and painting. Students will create a 3-D animal that shows at least one adaptation

9.1.3.E. Demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts.
Students will complete a story about their animal and reflect on their artwork by telling the story. Students will explain why their animals have specific adaptations and how it relates to the environment.

6. Interdisciplinary Standards: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening

Students will develop a story about their animal and its environment.

1.5.2.F: Use grade appropriate conventions of language when writing and editing. Spell common, frequently used words correctly. Use capital letters correctly. Punctuate correctly. Use correct grammar and sentence formation. 1.4.2.B: Write informational pieces using illustrations when relevant. 1.5.2.B: Develop content appropriate for the topic. Gather and organize information, incorporating details relevant to the topic. Write a series of related sentences or paragraphs with one central idea. Ecology: Students will also learn about animal adaptations and how those adaptations help animals meet their basic needs for survival.

OBJECTIVES: Knowledge:
Students will know at least three adaptations animals have and explain how these adaptations help the animal survive by participating in a class discussion after completing a puzzle assessment. Students will define the term adaptations by examining animal habitats and making predictions about what adaptations an animal living in that environment might possess. Students will learn about the processes Micci Cohan uses to complete her artwork by viewing a slideshow depicting images from the artists and by defining the term collage. Students will learn how Micci Cohans art is inspired by the collections she gathers from the environments of foreign countries, by traveling to stations that contain images and artifacts from different cultures and countries.

Skills:
Students will choose different materials from the stations to create a 9 x 12 inch, collaged environment based on the same criteria that influenced the work of artist Micci Cohan. Students will complete a sketch and prompt sheet after learning about how artist Walton Ford uses non-living animals as drawing resources. Students will use clay and other available materials to create an animal that depicts at least 1 special adaptation that relates to the constructed environment. Students will use their finished environments in combination with their animals to create and tell a story about the relationship between the animal and its environment and how the animal adapts to its new environment. Students will understand how people can depict animals and environments in realistic and fantastical manners through art after participating in a group discussions and reflecting on their final product.

Dispositions:

ASSESSMENT:
Pre- Assessment: Students will connect puzzle shaped images of animals and habitats together to test their knowledge of how animals relate to their habitats. (See attached puzzle example) Students will define the term adaptations by examining
animal habitats and by making predictions about what adaptations an animal living in that environment might possess. Students will know at least three adaptations animals have and explain how these adaptations help the animal survive by participating in a class discussion after completing a puzzle assessment.

Formative Assessment: Students will use the Thumbs Up/Thumbs down assessment by answering a whole class question that will be used to clarify any confusion about the topic: Do you know what the word adaptation means? Do you know what the word collage means?
Students will learn about the processes Micci Cohan uses to complete her artwork by viewing a slideshow depicting images from the artists and by defining the term collage.

An Exit card will be used on Day 2 after the students have completed their environments. The card will contain the question: What did you put in your artwork that is similar to what the artist Micci Cohan uses in her artwork?
Students will learn how Micci Cohans art is inspired by the collections she gathers from the environments of foreign countries, by traveling to stations that contain images and artifacts from different cultures and countries.

Summative Assessment:
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A self-assessment form will be given to the students on the final workday. Students will be required to complete the assessment before leaving the class. (See attached form).

Students will choose different materials from the stations to create a 9 x 12 inch, collaged environment based on the same criteria that influenced the work of artist Micci Cohan. Students will use clay and other available materials to create an animal that depicts at least 1 special adaptation that relates to the constructed environment.

Students will complete a prompt sheet containing a sketch box and a story section. The sketch will show how the students animal evolved from sketch phase to final 3-Demensional stage. The story section will give the students the opportunity to reflect on their completed project by telling a story about their animal and its relationship to its environment.

Students will complete a sketch and prompt sheet after learning about how artist Walton Ford uses nonliving animals as drawing resources. Students will use their finished environments in combination with their animals to create and tell a story about the relationship between the animal and its environment and how the animal adapts to its new environment.

INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES: Day 1 (Part one) The Hook

(10 minutes) Students will arrive to class to find stations set up around the room and images on their desks. Each student will be handed a folder that is cut into the shape of a suitcase. The students will be instructed to create a tag with their name on it and then attach it to their suitcase so that it does not get lost during their traveling adventure.

Development:
(5min) The teacher will tell the students to put their suitcase aside for a moment so that they can find out why and where they are going to travel today. The teacher will say: Today we are going to learn about how different environments can influence an artists work . Each table will be instructed to look at the images on their tables and discuss what materials they think this artist used to create the images. The teacher will select a few tables to share what they have decided on. Each selected group will hold up their image so that the rest of the class can see. The group will be asked to name 1 or 2 materials used in the artwork that they are holding. After the class has covered most of the materials, the teacher will then say, Give me a big thumbs up if you know what the word collage means, or if you dont know, give me a thumbs down.

(5mins) The teacher will use a short slideshow to discuss and show samples of how the artist Micci Cohan uses different materials, like the ones they described to collage and create her artwork. When she was in college, she was influenced by her teacher s involvement with the Patterns and Decoration Movement. She is also influenced by her travels to exotic countries. Students will view images of several artworks that were created during the Patterns and Decoration Movement and images from several different countries on the slideshow. The last slide will give instructions about how the students will move from one station to another and what they should do at each station. It will also tell them to make sure they visit the pattern station and collect at least 2 different patterns to use in their artwork (15mins) Students will then be instructed to travel from one station, country, to another and collect images and materials that relate to that country and place them in their suitcase. The students will move in groups of 4 to each station. Each station will contain magazine images and other various materials that relate to the country depicted at the station. One of the stations will be designated as a pattern station, which will show images of pattern and decoration art. Each station will have instructions for the student to select 1-3 pieces of media. After the students have collected images and materials, they will be asked to have a seat. (10mins) At their seats, students will be given a white piece of 9 x 12 paper. Together, the teacher will instruct them on how to fold, cut and fold again the paper to create a background that will stand on its own.

Closure:
(5mins) The teacher will spend the remainder of class telling the students to put their images and their background paper in their folders and on a pile. Next class, the students will begin to create their background by gluing the materials, drawing and painting on the paper they just cut and folded.

Day 2 (Part one cont.) The Hook:

(5mins) Students will arrive to find the stations still in the room and music playing from different cultures: Celtic, Indian, Jamaican, Spanish, etc. Students will be invited to move around to the different sounding music and also to see if they can guess which country the music fits with by moving to the station that matches the music.

Development:
(35mins) The teacher will show the students and exemplar of a background. Students will get their suitcases and begin working on their backgrounds. At this point they will only have the instruction to create an environment using the materials they have collected. They will have glue sticks, markers, crayons and watercolor paints to work with. The teacher will pull up the slide that reminds them to use at least two different patterns somewhere within their piece. The patterns can be created using coloring utensils or they can use the pattern paper. (The

exemplar will show examples of both uses). They will also be reminded that the process of adding different materials together and overlapping them is called collaging.

Closure
(10mins) Students will be instructed to clean up all supplies, place their artwork on the drying rack and any left over supplies in their suitcase. They will then be given an exit card containing the following question: What did you put in your artwork that is similar to what the artist Micci Cohan uses in her artwork? Students will put their name on the card and write a quick response. They will get in line at the door when they have finished and hand the exit card to the teacher.

Day 3 (Part 2) The Hook:

(10 minutes) Students will enter the room to find plastic animal figurines scattered on the tables. Each table will be given a folder that contains puzzle pieces that depict animals on some pieces and environments on other pieces. Students will be instructed to work as a group at their tables to connect all of the pieces. They will also be given time to play with the figurines. The puzzle assignment will work as a pre-assessment that will help determine how familiar the students are with animals and their environments.

Development:
(10mins) On the board, the teacher will write the word Adaptations and then ask the class to give a thumbs up if they have ever heard this word before, or a thumbs down if they have not. The teacher will then define what adaptations are and why humans and animals have adaptations. Your thumb is a human adaptation! Animals have adaptations or special features like claws, long beaks, webbed feet, wings, scales, big ears and big eyes. The teacher will then hold up two big paper cut out eyes in front of her face and ask: If I was an owl, why might I have really big eyes? The teacher will encourage the students to respond with the answer, so you can see better. The teacher will then hold up two big bunny shaped ears and ask: I f was a rabbit, why would I have such big ears? After the giggles dissolve, the teacher will ask: Why do animals have special features? Prompt additional questions to gain a response similar to this: so that they can survive in their environments. Animals also have adaptations that help protect them. The teacher will then show images on a trifold board of animals that are using different adaptations to survive, like, camouflage, mimicking, etc. How does camouflage help protect an animal? (10mins) The teacher will pass out the environments that the students made during the last class, along with a prompt sheet. Last week, you created an environment. This week and next week, you are going to create an animal that might live in that environment !

The teacher will then show images by Walton Ford. This artist draws images of animals in funny places. Is your environment a place that you would normally find an animal? (No). Walton Ford learned how to draw animals by visiting museums and studying the animals on display. In the wild, it is hard to draw animals because they are always moving. Today you are going to decide what kind of animal you want to make, by using the figurines on the table. However, you also have to give your animal one special adaptation that will help it survive in the environment that you have created. On the top portion of a prompt sheet, students will draw an animal and answer the question, what adaptation does my animal have and how will this adaptation help the animal survive? (See attached worksheet). The students will also give their animal a name. The teacher will remind students: Because our environments are fictional environments, it is ok for your animal to be fictional too. Use the figurines as reference to create your drawing, but you can change them. (15mins) The students will use this time to draw and color their animals. The teacher will encourage creativity while using adaptations!

Closure:
(5mins) Students will clean up their tables. Students will then be instructed to share their animal with a partner and describe what special adaptation their animal has.

Day 4 (Part 2 cont.) Hook:

Students will come in to find jars filled with colorful materials on their tables. These materials will include chenille sticks, buttons, toothpicks, straws, feathers and markers. The students will also find the animal figurines spread out across their tables again.

Development:
(30mins) Students will be given their environments and prompt sheets. The teacher will ask students to show on their hands one example of a human adaptation. (Hopefully everyone will hold a thumb up). The teacher will select a few students to quickly share their animal drawings and its adaptation with the class. The teacher will show an example of an animal with its environment and explain what adaptation the animal has and why. The teacher will then give a few tips about how students can make bodies, heads and legs for their animals using the available materials. The teacher will also give a mini demonstration. Each student will be given a piece of white model magic. They will be instructed to use the materials on their desks in

combination with the clay to create a three dimensional animal. The students should wait until after they have finished building the animal before adding color using the markers.

Closure:
(5mins) The students will clean up all supplies, and display their animal in its environment. (5mins) The students will be instructed to complete the bottom portion of the worksheet. The worksheet will contain a few prompt questions that will help the students develop a story about their animal. (See attached sheet) (10mins) Before leaving the classroom, students will fill out a self-assessment form about their project. (See attached form) If any time remains, students will be encouraged to share their stories with the class. The teacher will collect all materials and place them into paper bags.

PREPARATION: 1. Research and Preparation

For Days 1 and 2: Research the artists Micci Cohan and artists from the Pattern and Decoration Movement. Print and laminate images of Cohans art, 1 for each table Make suitcases out of manila folders Pre-cut images from magazines of man made elements, furniture, housewares, and houses that relate to different cultures. Create stations that for at least 4 different countries/cultures. Stations should contain both images and possibly fabric or like materials that represent that dominate culture. Add any artifacts or books about the country as well. Create a pattern station with a handout containing pattern samples. Gather music from different cultures Make an exemplar of a finished background. Create a slideshow containing images from the artists Micci Cohan, Walton Ford and information about the project requirements Create Exit Cards.

For Days 3 and 4 Research Walton Ford Create puzzle pieces containing images of animals and environments.
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Make an exemplar of a finished animal with an adaptation. Create a display board containing images of different animals with adaptations in their environment. Create prompt/sketch/story handout. Cut out animal features, eyes, earsetc. Stock mason jars with markers, crayons, buttons, straws and chenille sticks. Purchase or gather small animal figurines. Create a Self-assessment form

2. Instructional Resources:
"Micci Cohan." ArtSlant. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/25168-micci-cohan "Micci Cohan's Page." - Brooklyn Art Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. http://www.brooklynartproject.com/profile/miccicohan http://www.miccicohan.net/ "Saatchi Online." Artist Micci Cohan. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. http://www.saatchionline.com/miccicohan "Art:21 Walton Ford." Interview by Art:21. Art: 21 Walton Ford. Interview Videos/PBS. 2001. 01 Sept. 2013. http://www.art21.org/videos/segment-walton-ford-in-humor. "John Berggruen Gallery: Walton Ford - Artist Bio." John Berggruen Gallery. 01 Sept. 2013. http://www.berggruen.com/exhibitions/walton-ford. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History NMNH. 10 Nov. 2013. http://www.mnh.si.edu/.

3. Supplies and Materials needed:

Animal Figurines 9 x 12 white paper (1 per student)

Pattern Paper (2 per student) Precut magazine images (many) (have students help cut during breaks) Crayons Markers Self-adhesive labels for name tags on suitcases (1 per student) Colored pencils Pencils Model Magic (1 bucket per class) Glue sticks Buttons Tooth picks Chenille sticks Straws Watercolor paints Brushes Water cups

4. Modifications/ Adaptations:
a. After teaching a lesson very similar to this one, I have made a few considerations about how I might have to adapt this lesson. During the process of modeling the animal, there seemed to be a few students who quickly finished before the rest of the class. I do not want to rush the rest of the class to finish, so for the students who finish before everyone else, I would allow them to make a second animal, as long as it also has an adaptation, or they could have the option to make mini (baby) animals. I would also offer another option. Given the space, I will almost always have large table paper taped to a wall labeled with drawing prompts. During this project the prompt would be animal related. For example: How many animals can you draw by stacking them on top of each other? I would have a drawn example of animals stacked on the paper. b. I also have been working with a specific student with a behavioral disorder. The student does have a caseworker with him most of the time. This particular student very much enjoys creating art, however he becomes annoyed and frustrated during discussions and instructions. I think the best way to keep this student engaged would be to allow him to help me with the presentation. I could let him hit the button to advance the slideshow/Power point or hold up any examples. I could also let him separate the model magic into equal shares.

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