Lesson Idea: Students will already be familiar with the concept of collage, but this piece will take it to another level. The class will study the intricacies of DuCett's work by observing how the small and large "objects" work together to form the bigger picture. This will be juxtaposed with how biotic and abiotic elements interact to form an environment. Students will be inspired by this artwork and recreate an artwork in a similar style, but using details that depict parts of an environment. 

Ecosystem, environment, abiotic, biotic, organism, collage, detail, parts to a whole

Materials Explored: tissue paper, construction paper, cardboard, ink, graphite, colored pencil, white paper

Cross Curricular Connections: Art and Biology

Historical Connections: NA

Lesson Idea: Students will learn about perspective by painting views from different perspectives. Inspired by a short story about different points of view and Schlemmer's painting, students will choose one (or more) of the girls in the painting and draw what she is looking at. Upon completion of the artwork, students will reflect upon what their model was looking at, and speculate as to what she was thinking. 

Grade Level: 5-6

Key Concepts/Vocabulary: perspective, point of view, proportion, description

Materials Explored: pencils, colored pencils, canvas, watercolor, brushes of varying thickness, short story

Cross Curricular Connections: Language Arts

Historical Connections: Perspective is a key historical concept because "history is written by the victors"

Lesson Idea: The instructor will read the legend of Pandora's box. After being inspired by the artwork, students will write a short story and draw what is inside this "mystery" box. 

Grade Level: 2-3

Key Concepts/Vocabulary: perspective, point of view, guess, tell a story

Materials Explored: white paper, oil pastels, pencils

Cross Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Social Studies

Historical Connections: This jewlery box is a work of art and a historical artifact that can give students a glimpse of European life in the 18th Century. 

Lesson Idea: Students will study this piece in a unit focusing on how things are related. An example of a lesson like this is focusing on how all of the planets are related in a solar system. After being inspired by this artwork, the students will choose a theme that is important to them, and create a small sculpture using "everyday" things to create a model similar to Nick Cave's. 

Relation, connectedness, parts to a whole

Materials Explored: Clay, wooden stakes, everyday objects such as pencils, paper, small toys, etc. 

Cross Curricular Connections: Art, Science, Literature

Historical Connections: How things are related is a common theme throughout history, and is relevant in this lesson. 

Lesson Idea: The class will study ancient art such as cave drawings and mosaics and try to determine what the art is saying. This will help the instructor to teach the class about how people in ancient civilizations lived. The students will then use small pieces of colored paper to glue together mosaics that depict the student's lives. 

Grade Level: 4-6

Key Concepts/Vocabulary: mosaic, ancient, parts to a whole

Materials Explored: tan "aged" paper, glue sticks, small pieces of colored construction paper

Cross Curricular Connections: Art, Language Arts, Social Studies

Historical Connections: Mosaics are used to help scholars to understand the past. This is exactly what will be done in the classroom with this artwork.

Lesson Idea: The instructor will read a short story that demonstrates setting and characterization. After being inspired by the artwork, the students will make a short video explaining what the boy in the painting is like (characterization) and what is happening around him (setting). Afterwards, the teacher will inform the students of the historical significance of the painting. 

Grade Level: 3-4

Key Concepts/Vocabulary: point of view, characterization, supporting details, setting. 

Cross Curricular Connections: Language Arts, Social Studies, Art

Historical Connections: The boy in this painting likely has a story of historical significance. Given the time period that the art was made, as well as the appearance of the setting, the teacher will research some supporting details about the painting and share them with the class.