Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Principle of Design

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students study the principle of design 'Emphasis' through class participation, a PowerPoint presentation, and a portfolio assignment. They add a page discussing emphasis to their professional portfolio and demonstrate knowledge of the...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

The Ideal Trophy

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Invite your pupils to represent a club, team or other group with a trophy of their own creation. Learners examine the Taylor Cup by Laurent Amiot and then prepare trophy designs. When the sketches are complete, pupils sculpt...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Transformation

For Teachers K - 3rd
Create colorful cool or warm butterflies with simple materials. Class members draw their designs, spray the marker to diffuse the colors, and attach pipe cleaners to form the shape of a butterfly with antennae. Individuals must be able...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Urban Scenes

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Select a theme together to guide and inspire works of art. Class members view images of art and discuss the images of cities. After choosing a theme, individuals create posters that reflect and contribute to the theme. They can use paint...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Under the Sea

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Tropical fish are a great subject for any art project, they are colorful, interesting, and can go along with under water themed stories read in class, learner written narratives, or Marine Biology units. This set of instructions will...
Lesson Plan
Kenan Fellows

Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – The Importance of Water

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Water is essential for life—and understanding the importance of clean drinking water is essential in understanding sustainability! Show your environmental science class the basics of water testing and treatment through a week-long...
PPT
Curated OER

Principles of Design

For Teachers Higher Ed
How to use the many design elements such as color harmony, percentage of size combinations, and lines of design are described. Composition of an attractive arrangement with a focal point is addressed. Also included, many...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Tantalizing Tessellations!

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Examine repeating and intricate patterns with a study of M.C. Escher and a related art activity. Pupils view and discuss the artwork before creating their own tessellating patterns. Step-by-step instructions for creating a template are...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Designing Balance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Teach your artists how to incorporate balance into their work through discussion and action. After viewing and discussing several works of art, learners design a balanced image for a T-shirt and follow the step-by-step instructions to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning from the past: Ancient Mosaics

For Teachers 10th
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. 
Lesson Plan
Kenan Fellows

Assembly Required and the Design Process Too!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
An engineering design lesson plan contains connected activities as a capstone engineering project. The activities revolve around the principle of improving an existing object and designing the manufacturing process in order to do so. The...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Build Me a Legend

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Legends are full of imagery and action. Transfer a scene from a legend to a three-dimensional art piece. Class members first view Inuit art and discuss  legends. They then build scenes that include action, setting, and characters.
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Lumps, Bumps, Gritty, and Soft!

For Teachers K - 3rd
Texture can really add to a work of art. Explore texture through observation and practice. Learners view and discuss works of art by M.C. Escher. They then create their own texture samplers with six different materials.
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

My Upside-Down World!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
M.C. Escher is famous for creating optical illusions. Examine this effect in several of his works and discuss the techniques involved. Inspired by the discussion, learners create an imaginary 3-D world inside of a box using various...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Picture This!

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Introduce your class to Inuit prints and use these artworks as inspiration for a printmaking activity. Pupils make stories to go along with the images and then come up with their own heroic moments to illustrate. They take moments from...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Weather Conditions Through Painting

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Your advanced class will paint a picture of a particular weather condition. For this painting lesson young scholars describe elements of art in pieces of artwork. They analyze the weather and seasons in the artwork. The students use...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Social Realism

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Examine social strife in art. Class members first observe some pieces, and then find an image to inspire their own art. They outline the picture, analyze the composition, make alterations, and color their work.
Lesson Plan
US Navy

The Science of Diving

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Introduce gas laws using the popular topic of SCUBA diving. This activity makes a connection between the gas laws and the effect of pressure and temperature changes during diving. Young engineers complete introductory experiments to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pastel Drawing like Vincent Van Gogh

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners discuss the elements of art and design found in a series of flower paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. They explore art, shading, and color as they create mirrored representations of the master's art, using oil pastel. 
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

My Own Blanket

For Teachers K - 3rd
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...
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Smart Buildings and the Internet of Things

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Is your building a smart building? Pupils learn what makes a building smart and about the internet of things. After viewing several videos on the topic, they conduct an activity collecting data from sensors and brainstorm ways to improve...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Elements and Principles Using a Movie

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students 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...
Lesson Plan
National Gallery of Canada

Reinventing the World

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Traveling Through Time and the Consideration of Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...