Middle School Students Experiment with Boat Designs

Thinking about buoyancy, displacement, density and stability, the middle school students experimented with boat designs. Beginning with several iterations of paper boats the students tried them out in the stream table to figure out which designs worked well, were stable and efficient moving through the water. After figuring out which designs worked best the students will build small models and then scale one up to culminate in the construction of wooden paddles and a single coroplast and wood boat large enough for a student to paddle across the Parker pond.

Early trial with paper and tape

Tape to help with waterproofing

Figuring it out together

Checking buoyancy by adding pennies for weight

An ark-like creation

Figuring proportions  and folds for the scale model boats

Hot gluing the stern flaps up

Fitting the breast hook to give the boat its shape

Fitting the gunwales

Naming the model boat

A finished model

And one more

Working on the final boat....folding the coroplast with the help of Ron Ishkanian, a local boat builder and friend

Attaching the breast hook

Sawing a paddle handle

Trying out the finished boat (in the art room)!

And in the pond!

4/5s Work on Self-Portraits

Looking closely at their image in a mirror the 4/5 students observe the proportion and placement of their features, the color and texture of their hair and their general expression as they try to capture their likeness in colored pencil for the annual self-portrait project.

Moving from a sketch to final paper

Checking the expression

Skin tones

Wavy hair captured

Four finished portraits

The self-portrait wall

K/1s and 2/3s Begin Self-Portraits

Each year every student in grades K-8 work on a self-portrait  This is a wonderful way to get a glimpse into the way the students see themselves, as their drawing and observational skills mature. When all the work is hung together in the school hallway, the viewer gets a terrific look at the different developmental stages from those just entering school all the way through to those who are about to graduate.  All the students focus on proportion and placement of facial features. They progress from tempera paint to colored pencil to just graphite, working on values and shading. The portraits become the pages of the school calendar for the coming year so they can continue to be appreciated after the original work is returned to the artists.
Here are some pictures of the k-3 student work in progress.

Working on skin tones

Painting hair

Looking in the mirror and beginning the pencil drawing

Checking back to the mirror

Mixing colors