Prairie Senses

Lesson Introduction

A natural area like a prairie is the perfect place for children to test the sensitivity of their senses. The splashes of colors on wildflowers and the swaying movements of grasses oin the wind, the sound of birds chirping or the quiet stillness of a place free from traffic, the textures of rough stems or smooth, cool leaves, even the aromas of wet plants, or the rich earthiness of the soil all make for an exciting and beautiful sensory experience.

In this lesson, students are challenged to explore these places with their senses and then express these sensations in a visual medium. The students will answer the question how does an artist describe non-visual sensations in a visual way? -- how can colors, lines, and shapes convey experiences of sounds, textures, and odors?

Illinois State Goal	Standard	Learning Benchmarks
26	B	Apply skills and knowledge necessary to create and perform in one or more of the arts.

Lesson Objectives

• use senses to explore a prairie or imaginary prairie
• draw pictures to represent the five senses

Time Allotment

40 to 60 minutes (more if a field trip is used)

Materials

• clipboards
• paper divided into four sections
• pencils, markers, crayons, art supplies
• posters or other pictures of prairies, or a descriptive narration of a walk through a prairie. Free prairie posters can be obtained through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources by calling (217)524-4126.
• for an indoor exploration, a video about the prairie, a tape of bird calls, and live prairie plants and grasses can recreate an outdoor experience

PROCEDURE

Tap Prior Knowledge

1. Have students list their five senses. What are some words to describe they way something looks, sounds, feels and smells? Write responses to each.

Share with Neighbor

2. Ask students if they can describe the way something sounds or smells using colors and pictures? Try an example and demonstrate some possibilities.

Hands-on Activity

3. Give each student gets a clipboard with the four sectioned paper, and a pencil.

4. Write "see", "hear", "feel", and "smell" in each of the four boxes.

5. Lead a silent walk through the prairie. If you are working indoors, lead students quietly to the prairie posters. After the short walk, direct the students to stop in separate places to fill in their Sense Boxes. Students should use all of their senses to draw and write what they see, hear, feel, and smell in the four boxes.

Introduce Arts Principle

6. People are like animals in that we have senses that tell us about our environment. Scientists are people who practice using these senses to learn about the world, sometimes with special tools that let them see farther, or closer up. They sometimes use tools to hear things far away, or under the ground.

When people try to describe what they observe, some senses have more words available to use than others. There are many special words for colors and shapes, but not so many for odors. An artist can try to convey their experience of smells and textures and sounds with pictures, sometimes with a drawing of the object that made the sound or smell, but also with abstract ways, too. A person might draw a flower to show a flowery smell, or maybe a mix of pastel colors. A loud, drawn out sound of a cicada might look like a series of spiky lines getting smaller and smaller. Maybe an artist could show the texture of a leaf by "rubbing" it onto the paper with some crayon.

Relate Activity and Concept

Extension

Learning Outcomes

• use their senses to explore a natural or imaginary environment
• use art to convey non-visual sensations

Internet Resources

The Senses

• Science Center Lesson - The Five Senses - Taste
• Body Science - The Senses
• Seeing, Hearing and Smelling the World

Prairie Images

• The Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois
• ESCAN: Animals of the Prairie