4th graders are learning all about outer space in science. I was so excited to tie thie project in with their curriculum especially becasue it involves planets and stars. I love outer space!
We began by learning all about our solar system through BrainPop. Students were astounded to learn how big Jupiter’s red spot is and that Pluto isn’t considered to be a planet anymore. We created our background on the first day. Students began with analogous colors of chalk pastel.
They scribbled colors to make grass in layers:
As they created the ground, I walked around with a “Star Machine”
The “Star Machine” is a mixture of white tempera paint and water in a spray bottle. When sprayed from a couple feet away very lightly, it makes the sky look like it is filled with stars.
Kids traced circular objects on a seperate piece of black paper which we used the next week for planets.
We talked about light sources and how the sun shines on one side of a planet to make it lighter and the other side is dark. Students used white and black oil pastels to create tints and shades which made their planets look like they had form. They were amazed at the values they could make by experimenting with colors. The last step was to cut out the planets and glue them down to the background. Students could overlap and add rings and even aliens on the ground!
4th grade art is out of this world! 🙂