National Gallery of Canada
Build a City of the Future!
Tap into your pupils' imagination by asking them to design futuristic, ideal cities. They must discuss and take scale and size into account, looking at some model pieces of art for inspiration and analysis. The final product for each...
National Gallery of Canada
One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words
Facial expressions can communicate complex emotions. Examine expressions in several hyperrealistic works of art before beginning a project. Learners will create their own clay faces that show an emotion using either photos or their own...
National Gallery of Canada
The Body Tells Its Story
Incorporate sculpture into your art curriculum. To start, pupils discuss the artistic process and topics of marginalization. With the discussion in mind, individuals select images to inspire sculptures of people that they will present to...
National Gallery of Canada
Home Sweet Home
What are your pupils' homes like? Incorporate their homes into a drawing lesson. Using an enlarged photograph, class members draw a grid so they can easily split their drawing in half. The final product should demonstrate cool colors,...
National Gallery of Canada
My Own Blanket
Invite your young artists to design blankets that express their own identities. Learners examine various pieces of art before brainstorming a few things that represent their identities. They use these ideas, in addition to symmetry and...
Curated OER
Learning from the past: Ancient Mosaics
Budding artists study the history and significance behind ancient mosaics and mosaic murals. They study multiple examples of ancient mosaics, sketch a design, and use clay tiles to create thoughtful mosaics of their own.
Curated OER
The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folk Tale
"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...
Curated OER
Principles of Design - Picture Assignment
Students identify, explain and use the basic principles of design. They find a large, clear picture depicting each of the different principles of design and write a complete sentence describing where they see each of the principles of...
Curated OER
Elements and Principles Using a Movie
Learners identify the elements and principles that appear in an illustration of a room and explain each concept in writing. They watch this movie identifying each of the elements and principles of design portrayed in the interiors of...
Curated OER
Principles of Design
Students study the principles of design by viewing a PowerPoint presentation and then find examples of those principles in magazines. They look through magazines or sketch clothing that exhibit the principles of design and show their...
Curated OER
Mixed Media Landscape Design
Seventh graders create mixed media representations of landscape designs in Africa and Asia. The lesson is great for cross-curricular projects with the Social Sciences and/or Literature, or can be used as a self-contained project. ...
Curated OER
Looking at French Decorative Arts: The Science of Good Design
Young scholars examine the style of an 18th-century compound microscope and its case. In this scientific design lesson plan, students look at Jacques Caffieri's, "Compound Microscope and Case" before comparing the design to a modern...
Curated OER
Bernoulli's Principle
Students explore Bernoulli's principle, how it is related to flight, and the effect of lift, thrust, and drag on flight. They design and develop an experiment that tests for distance traveled by their paper airplane, and record and...
Curated OER
Elements 'R' Us
Sixth graders participate in a Web Quest in order to examine the periodic table of elements. After collecting information about an element of their choice, they share with group members what they have learned. Groups create class...
Curated OER
Technology as a Design Tool for Abstract Artwork
Young scholars manipulate pictures using Adobe Photoshop and digital cameras to produce unique abstract works. This lesson can be modified to include a painting/mixed media element. State standards are addressed in this lesson.
Curated OER
Business: Designing Business Cards
Students design and create business cards using Adobe Photoshop. Once they have applied techniques of typography and layout design, students identify redesign aspects and its importance in the design process. In a slide show, completed...
National Gallery of Canada
Reinventing the World
After examining and discussing Guy Ben-Ner's Treehouse Kit, a contemporary art installation with a sculptural and video element, small groups work together to create short silent films. The films should be built around a particular topic...
Curated OER
Logo Design
Students create a marketing design, print communication design and a package design for a suite of products for an imaginary company. They identify the qualities of successful logos and incorporate those qualities into their own designs.
Curated OER
Robe Design
You can learn a lot from a robe, especially if that robe is from the Qing Dynasty. Examine the beauty and symbolism that covers a functional and piece of clothing entitled Winter Dragon Robe. The class will consider and analyze all of...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Balloon Astronaut
Design protection from high-speed particles. The STEM lesson plan highlights why astronauts need protection from space debris. Pupils use the design process to design, build, and test a spacesuit that will protect a balloon from a...
Curated OER
Our Client Is The Cincinnat Art Museum
Students design various commercial products for the Cincinnati Art Museum using on-line sources, past designs, and creative educational software. This instructional activity has excellent project ideas for various student levels...
Curated OER
Principle of Art Balance
Reinforce a strong art vocabulary which can also apply to aspects of math and science. Kids read about various types of balance or symmetry found in art. They analyze three paintings based on vocabulary and read a how-to for creating...
Curated OER
Traveling Through Time and the Consideration of Design
Students develop a greater understanding of how societal and environmental effects existing during each period of time impacted the development of design styles. In this technology lesson plan, students develop an awareness of what those...
Curated OER
High School Bag Design
High schoolers design a bag that they would personally use to carry needed items to school. In this bag design lesson, students observe real bags and assess needs and wants for a new bag. High schoolers brainstorm design solutions and...