Lesson Plans - Subject: History - Social Science
Ansel Adams and the American West
In this two or three-session lesson, students will be introduced to Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) and the photography of Ansel Adams. Using photographs from his work depicting the American west, students will discuss and analyze the subjects, the time period, and the relationships between nature, the environment, and works of art.
Grades: 4, 5, 6
Medium: Drawing, Photography
Related Subjects: English - Language Arts, History - Social Science, Science, Visual & Performing Arts
Time: 2 X 50 minute sessions
Ansel Adams, American Artist and Activist
In this multi-session lesson, students will be introduced to the work of acclaimed photographer Ansel Adams. Ansel Adams was a dedicated artist-activist who played a decisive role in the growth of environmental consciousness and in the development of a citizen environmental movement in the United States.
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Medium: Drawing, Painting, Photography, Sculpture
Related Subjects: English - Language Arts, History - Social Science, Science, Visual & Performing Arts
Time: 3 X 50 minute sessions
Become an Ethnographic Photographer
Ethnography is the study of specific cultures. An ethnographic photographer uses photography to study the traditions, customs, daily life, ceremonies, and people of particular cultures. In this lesson, students will document their own culture through photography.
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Medium: Mixed Media, Photography
Related Subjects: English - Language Arts, History - Social Science, Visual & Performing Arts
Time: 2 X 50 minute sessions
California Landscape Mural
This one-session lesson deals with the visual art standards of using complementary colors and contrast successfully in an artwork. In this lesson, students will create a collaborative mural of a landscape.
Grades: 4, 5
Medium: Drawing, Painting
Related Subjects: History - Social Science, Visual & Performing Arts
Time: 1 X 90 minute session
Portrait in Fruit
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593) was born in Milan, Italy. He is most famous for his paintings completed for the Hapsburg Court of Vienna between 1562 and 1587. His distinctive style combined fruit, vegetables, meat, and other organic objects in the form of the human face.
Grades: K, 1, 2, 3
Medium: Drawing
Related Subjects: English - Language Arts, History - Social Science, Mathematics, Visual & Performing Arts
Time: 2 X 40 minute sessions
