Integrating Art in the Science Classroom

Kids love art.  Kids love science...  Kids REALLY love when they get to use ART in the science classroom!

One of the ways I have integrated art into my science curriculum is to give "mini microscopes" to my students in the form of jeweler's loupes!  It is a fun, inexpensive way to bring the magnified world into view!

Currently, my students are involved in a study of rocks and fossils as part of a larger Earth science unit.  

Students were asked to bring a rock from home for their first rock investigation.  There were a lot of different rocks on display!

My students thought this one looked like a "butt".  Great simile!  Gotta love 4th graders!

Students then used their jewelers loupes to look closely for evidence of what type of rock they had: igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary.  They started out by just writing their observations and analogies.

 On the second day, they started sketching their rocks while still adding to their analogy list.

The second sketch was a "magnified" view of a section of their rock.

At the end of the second day, they wrote which type of rock they thought they had and their "evidence" for coming to that conclusion.

This lesson could branch into a language arts lesson, possibly a poem about their rock or a descriptive paragraph.

If you have never thought about using jeweler's loupes in your classroom you can get more information here:  The Private Eye.

I'm always on the look out for great ideas that will motive my students and integrate the arts into my science curriculum.  Using loupes for close observation has been a true winner!  The possibilities are endless!  I'll be sharing more ideas as the year progresses.  Be sure to subscribe so that I can share these ideas with you!

Do you have a great idea for integrating the arts into your science curriculum?  If so, I'd love to hear it!  Please leave a comment below!