Explore how art influences the scientific world (and the science behind the art). Learn about the lives of butterflies through dance, use mobiles to recreate the solar system, and discover the colorful world pulsing inside our own cells.
Is there poetry in the ocean? How can the wind inspire dance? How can the arts represent the change of seasons? Discover patterns and cycles in nature with these resources that address cell composition and reproduction, animal habitats, the metamorphasis of a caterpillar to a butterfly, and an artistic representation of our relationship with the planet.
Music and mobiles take flight in these resources that explore the relationship between artist, art, and the cosmos, including the special meaning behind the stars and early African-American spirituals.
In this 3-5 lesson, students will be introduced to the expanding and condensing properties of air masses and the unequal heating of Earth as the force behind the wind. Students plan and choreograph a sequence of movements to demonstrate their understanding wind and weather patterns.
In this 9-12 lesson, students will discuss the work of artist Cai Guo-Qiang. They’ll examine the science, engineering, planning, logistical, and artistic factors when creating fireworks. Students will create original art demonstrating a sequence of fireworks for an event.
In this 3-5 lesson, students explore the characteristics of the wind through poetry, paintings, and pantomime. Students will classify and measure the wind by studying the Beaufort Scale and building an anemometer. Then, they’ll reinterpret characteristics of the wind through pantomime or blow painting.
In this 3-5 lesson, students will analyze paintings depicting different types of weather to create an original landscape painting of a weather condition. They will analyze how weather influences culture, daily life, and mood. Students will use the elements of art criteria to discuss and critique paintings.
In this K-2 lesson, students learn how some cultures dance, sing, chant, pray to a rain god, or use instruments to encourage the rain to come. They will explore these cultures through literature and song, then create a rainstick musical performance with a poem.
In this 6-8 lesson, students will create a visual representation of an animal cell. They will research and gather information about animal cell organelles to understand their form and function. Students will prepare a presentation of their art and research to the class.
In this 6-8 lesson, students will create a scientific drawing as a means of communicating ideas and information. Students will investigate the process of mitosis by observing yeast cells. They will compare the growth of yeast cells in warm and cold water, and hypothesize as to which environment would be more conducive to cellular growth.
In this 6-8 lesson, students examine living cells to create original pattern art. Students will calculate cell divisions and find patterns in graphed results. They will further explore patterns and repetition in nature to generate ideas for their visual art piece.
In this 6-8 lesson, students will learn how light interacts with matter through the creation of puppets in shadow plays. Students will examine how light travels and how an object's shadow is affected by the intensity and position of the light in relation to both the object and the surface on which a shadow is cast. This is the first lesson designed to accompany the Shadow Puppet Plays lesson.
In this 6-8 lesson, students will choreograph movement patterns to express information about the basic systems, organs, and functions of the human body. They will work collaboratively to research and plan creative movements, then perform for an audience.Â
Go behind the scenes and learn about the technicians and their extensive preparation and coordination to execute pyrotechnic artist Cai Guo-Qiang's "Tornado: Explosion Project for the Festival of China," a towering "explosion installation" above the Potomac River that involves nine boats, three dragons and a "tornado" of flame.
In this 6-8 lesson, students will apply mathematical, science, and engineering concepts to experiment with balancing levers. They will learn to classify types of levers to design and build a simplified mobile. Students will explore suspended and standing mobiles by sculptor Alexander Calder and engage in class discussions about the effectiveness of his work.
Alaskan science illustrator Katherine Hocker combines her love of science and art in this video exploring the drawing cycle! Learn how you can use the cycle to observe, plan, practice, and draw anything in the world with these repeatable steps. Katherine’s process will help you create realistic depictions of objects to not only create works of art, but stretch your scientific curiosity as well.
Music has the power to motivate and soothe, no doubt about it. But how and why does it affect us? Why do certain songs trigger excitement or make us grin? Why do others bring relaxation, tears, or send shivers down our spines?
What do science and music have in common? More than you might think. NSO musicians explore science and music with the student audience.
In this multimedia performance by NSO cellist Yvonne Caruthers with her NSO colleagues Natasha Bogachek, violin, and Stephen Dumaine, tuba, explore the connections between science and music.
This conversation explores Copenhagen, Michael Frayn's 2000 Tony Award-winning play about a mysterious 1941 meeting between Nobel Prize-winning physicists Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr.
What do science and music have in common? More than you might think.
Bharatanatyam is a form of classical Indian art that, when translated into English, signifies the combination of expression, rhythm, music, and dance. Bharatanatyam dancers use gestures and expression to tell stories about love, hate, power, or something as simple as the weather. In this video, join teaching artist and performer Praneetha Akula as she demonstrates how hand gestures and footwork can tell a story about rainfall. By the end, you’ll have the tools to dance a story about your day!
Theater teaching artist Psacoya Guinn shows us that time inside doesn't have to be boring when you have your imagination. Join Psacoya as she ventures into outer space from the inside of her NYC apartment. Learn how you can engage all five senses for all your future imagination adventures!
