Category Archives: 2.1 Curriculum

Developing Effectiveness in Learning and Teaching – TDT Ocearch!

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Me and fellow student Kirsty Gallacher decided to focus on one resource from Derek Robertson’s input – that resource being ocearch.org .

This is a shark tracker which shows the real time location of sharks movements. All the sharks have been tagged on their dorsal fin and have been given names by the organisation. You can find out the length, weight and type of shark as well as its recent locations. Above this you can focus on certain geographic locations, such as countries or even continents and track the sharks who live in their surrounding waters.

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An example of Oscar the sharks recent movements off the coast of New York.

Here is a link to Oscars profile – http://www.ocearch.org/profile/oscar/

We think that this is a great ICT resource for ensuring the enrichment of learning across subject boundaries. Not only does it tap into science, for example, a topic on sharks in itself, but it also looks at geography. This resource can also link to maths and literacy.

By looking at the weight, size and types of sharks that exist in specific area, the children could look into why certain types of sharks inhabit specific areas of the world. For example, hot and cold climates.

This resource can also help children practice their map skills, and help them become familiar with continents, countries and oceans.

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We can also launch an investigation into why these sharks travel so far and so erratically, possibly discussing what they eat, how they mate and how fast they travel. By looking at distance, speed and time, this could be incorporated into their maths. Looking at their diet and how they mate is again tapping into science as they explore further into the sharks habitat.

This could be done in groups or as independent study depending on age and ability of children. This could then turn into a literacy project where they can either write up their findings in the form of a power point, a booklet, a poster or a report.

This is a brief look into how this resource can be incorporated into interdisciplinary learning. We plan on looking into this further while researching for our assignment.

By Kirsty and Samantha

Learning About Colour and Pattern! (Art 3H)

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Picture taken from Google Images – www.stationeryinfo.com

For this TDT we have been asked to research into colours and aspects of them before going in to personal research around our own favourite colours. After completing this i will then make my own colour wheel, which I will photograph and post at the end of this post.

First, I aim to define some artistic terms to be able to understand and reinforce my learning.

Primary Colours- There are 3 Primary Colours, which are Red Yellow and Blue. These are the main element of all other colours and no other colours can be mixed together to make these colours (Williams,2008).

Secondary Colours- The secondary colours are purple, green and orange. These new colours are made by mixing any two of the primary colours together (Williams,2008).

For example:

Red + Blue = Purple

Blue +Yellow = Green

Yellow+ Red= Orange

Hue- Are the 12 most bright and pure colours, the 3 primary colours, the 3 secondary colours and the 6 tertiary colours. All of these  12 colours together form the Colour Wheel (Williams, 2008). Hues can also be measured in degrees of where they are on the colour wheel, from 0 – 359 degrees (Workwithcolour,2008).

Brightness- Brightness is something which a person will determine themselves. It is often confused by the lightness of the colour. Brightness can be change by using the saturation tool as a higher saturation will make the colour brighter. The hue will also affect the colours brightness (Workwithcolour,2008).

Temperature- Temperature is expressed through the description of the lighting on a colour. This can be using either Blue (cool) or Yellow (warm) it is measured in degrees of Kelvin (Lowel,no date).

Expressive Qualities- Expressive qualities  in colour express the mood and emotion behind the piece. It can also be used to express atmosphere such as tensions surrounding the piece etc (Color, no date).

Colour Theory- Colour theory is the heading which all of these definitions come under. Colour theory is the breakdown of colour under 3 sections; colour wheel, colour harmony and the context in which colour is used (Voodoo Publications, no date).

Scientific Properties of Colour and Light – Light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is the only part of the spectrum that is visible to the human eye. The different wavelengths of light all radiate different colours, for example the shorter wavelengths give off a blue colour,where as the slightly longer wavelengths show a yellow/green colour (IES, 2011). ‘Rainbow light’ as such, can be shown through a science experiment when a ray of light is directed to shine through a glass pyramid this will split the ray of light into the coloured spectrum as shown below. This would be good to look into in the primary classroom.eejrr

Picture Taken from Google Images – mangahelpers.com

My Favourite Colour

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Picture taken from Google Images – colorpalettes.net

Since I was a young girl my favourite colour has always been pink. I have chosen this TDT specifically as I am quite interested in finding out more about it.

As the colour pink comes in many different shades and tones they all reflect different emotions and feelings. For example the darker shades of pink, express feelings of romance and passion however the less strong shades of pink, like baby pinks, are more childish and show fun and excitement (Smith, 2015). Smith (2015) also tells us that pink has connotations of happiness and times of being carefree and childish.

The colour pink can also have a physical affect on us by promoting energy and confidence. As well as this pink is also known to be used in prison cells to calm erratic behaviour (Smith,2015).

The colour pink is also known world wide on a ribbon, which signifies hope in the hunt to find a cure for breast cancer.

My Colour Wheel

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References

Color (no date) Elements in art – color. Available at: http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0072965258/340806/color.html (Accessed: 23 September 2016).
IES (2011) Discover lighting! The science of light > color. Available at: http://www.ies.org/lighting/science/color.cfm (Accessed: 23 September 2016).
Lowel (no date) Lighting Resource Centre. Available at: http://lowel.tiffen.com/edu/color_temperature_and_rendering_demystified.html (Accessed: 22 September 2016).
Smith, K. (2015) All about the color PINK meaning, psychology, symbolism. Available at: http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-meaning/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-pink-4342#.V-U7H5MrJPM (Accessed: 23 September 2016).
Voodoo Publications, C. (no date) Basic color theory. Available at: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory (Accessed: 23 September 2016).
Williams, S. (2008) Primary colors « color wheel artists. Available at: http://color-wheel-artist.com/primary-colors.html (Accessed: 22 September 2016).
Workwithcolour (2008) Color properties: Hue, tint, shade, saturation, brightness, Chroma. Available at: http://www.workwithcolor.com/color-properties-definitions-0101.htm (Accessed: 22 September 2016).

Ephemeral Art!

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Who knew something so simple as making pictures out of leaves, twigs and other natural resources can make you think so much?!?

In our most recent expressive arts module we learned about the artist Andy Goldsworthy and his passion for art in nature otherwise known as Ephemeral art. Goldsworthy’s work was always transient so would not last very long, this is because he uses only natural resources. This, however, meant that his work could only be documented through his use of photographs.imgres-1Picture Taken From Google Images – prezi.com

Goldsworthy had an obsession with shape, line, texture, form and colour and would express this through his work.

Trying to decide the meaning for some of his pieces turned out to be the most difficult part…

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This piece of Goldsworthy’s was one which we took forward as a group to try to recreate. This piece really captures just how impermanent his work really was.

This piece was created by Goldsworthy, himself, laying on the dry surface in the rain only to move himself when the rain had passed to leave his silhouette printed on the surface.

When  trying to decipher the meaning of this piece, we struggled but  came to the conclusion that it represents the short nature of life itself.

Picture Taken from Google Images – www.pinterest.com

Our Turn!

In this tutorial, we formed a group of 3 and tried out some of our own ephemeral art pieces. First we stared by gathering leaves and grouping leaves together by colour. Then we tried finding some sticks to use before deciding on what our project would be.

Next we had a discussion about what we could try and make. Me, I am nothing close to being an artist and you would struggle to find an artistic bone in my body. However, this task was easier (and more enjoyable) than first thought.

We then decided on our first project… the human outline made entirely from leaves… which wasn’t entirely our idea (although we’d love to take credit) but a take on one of Goldsworthy’s pieces pictured previously. We had Kirsty lie on the ground while the two of us laid leaves all around her.

The meaning of this was, like our interpretation of Goldsworthy’s piece, was to show that life does not last long.The fact that the wind could blow away at anytime represents this.

As well as this, we also were careful to use colours which fade downwards. This was to show the developments we make in our lives and the changes and choices we have to make and go through every single day. The way in which we grow as people are also represented in the leaves.

Finally our last original piece we created was a large tree.img_9810

This piece was one we made to reflect the changing of the seasons we felt like the colour of leaves were correct to show the time of year. As well as this we also thought this represents the passing of time, through the seasons and our time through this university course also.

This task would be simple and effective to recreate in a class of pupils. I also feel like the children would benefit from this artistic activity with being given extra time outside to explore their own surroundings… putting safety first of course!