Community Building through Art + Science with 1st and 2nd graders at Muddy Brook Elementary School

Thanks to a grant from the Great Barrington Cultural Council and the Mass Cultural Council, MAPS was able to program with all of 1st and 2nd graders at Muddy Brook Elementary School. Working collaboratively across grades, we found our way to art and play via two of the grade level science state standards.

1-LS1-1. Use evidence to explain that (a) different animals use their body parts and senses in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water, and air, and (b) plants have roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits that are used to take in water, air, and other nutrients, and produce food for the plant.

2-LS2-3(MA). Develop and use models to compare how plants and animals depend on their surroundings and other living things to meet their needs in the places they live.

Students developed their own chimera creatures, using various hand-drawn and collage body parts. A monster with ten eyes! A lizard with a cat head! Students then invented the environment where these creatures live: a poisonous lake, inside a tin can, in a forest, etc. We had a wonderful time cross-pollinating ideas as 1st and 2nd graders worked together on this magical project.

“This program is funded in part by a grant from the Great Barrington Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.”