Science in the Art Room: Creative Zoology--- UPDATE!!!

My 3D student have finally finished their creative creatures, critiqued them and displayed them! I've received such excellent feedback from the students and from my colleagues. I'm really happy with the results.

For the painting portion of this project, students worked on their wet-on-wet painting techniques and also learned a little about dry brushing. The shading is a little difficult to see in some of the pictures, but the kiddo really did an excellent job!

I usually have 8th graders write artist statements for each of their pieces, but for these pieces I had them write discovery stories. I have included a few of the student's stories with their images. Check out those crazy Binomial Nomenclature (scientific names)! They are so creative!

"Carreta horologium"

(Rattlesnake + Clock)

"Vermiliphinae anacusis"

(Ant eater+ Antelope)

"chinchilladraco velociferox" 

(Chincilla + Dragon)

"Equoton feros"

(Frog + Unicorn+ Rattlesnake)

I, Autumn Teal, discovered the Toothless Dramurta on a boat trip to the Great White Sea,

(thats located by the Chimpanzee Island), during the 1980 time period. This ferocious beast took

flight from a tree off of Chimpanzee Island, he swooped through the water and came back up

with seaweed swarming his mouth. The beast looked between a ring­tailed lemur and a dragon,

this is why I have named it Toothless Dramurta. You're probably wondering why on earth I would

ever put the word toothless in front of the name of such a scary beast. Well, I would put it there

do to the fact that yes indeed, this creature had NO teeth. Although this ring­tailed dragon had no

teeth it still had the jaw of an snapping turtle, it would rip you to shreds if you were to harm it or

anything else it loves. Fortunately, the Toothless Dramurta was not at all evil, yes it had wings as

pointy as the needles used to sew your ripped clothing, but it was as gentle as a baby kitten

sitting your lap. Anyways, the creature saw me looking at him and swooped over and dropped

seaweed over my face, then he laughed with this dopey look in his eyes. This beast was pretty

cute, it had fur running down its tail and wagged it around like a little puppy dog.This creature

never grew old, he stayed with me through my entire life, so I told him that if I ever did die to go

back to Chimpanzee Island and be with his family. So, I am 100% positive he is sitting at

Chimpanzee Island with seaweed dangling out of his mouth right now, you just won't be able to

find him.

"Monoclonius ferox"

(Dragon + Unicorn + Snake + Candy)

Long, long, long ago (like we’re talking 1990) I found the Macropus Sylrilagus habros, which I call the Dunnyroo. The Dunnyroo was native in the Midwest. It’s long, fluffy ears had the best hearing in the whole wide world, but that doesn’t mean it listened to you. The Dunnyroo had the attention span of a toddler that just began to crawl/walk. The Marcropus Sylrilagus habros had a long, flexible tail that allowed it to knock stuff down, not only was the animal small and cute, it was destructive. Talking about its smallness and cuteness, this animal happens to be six inches tall, and its body is formed into a ball. The Dunnyroo’s nose and mouth is made like a duck. The reason it’s called a Dunnyroo is because it’s mixed, with a bunny, duck, and a kangaroo. I, Danielle Stadler, was the first person to find this animal. On September 11^th, 2000, I popped out of my mom and I traveled back in time. I traveled all the way back to 1990 (I know, you are all wondering how I could go that far back in time, well I did it.) I landed right on top of a Dunnyroo, and I killed it. So not only was I the first to find the Dunnyroo, but I was the first one to kill, the Dunnyroo. After a while (yes I am still back in time) people started noticing the crazy small animal and then they realized it was a destructive, non-listening animal, so they killed them till they were extinct. After the last one was killed, I was sent back to the hospital room, much more stupid then the average baby. 

I am super excited with the outcome of this project and I know the students are proud of their work. I hope you enjoyed their creations. They would love to hear some feedback from you. Leave them in the comments sections!