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'Drawing From Nature'
A SCIENCE AND ART LESSON FOR KIDS
This appeared on February 5, 2005 in the Los Angeles Times
THE KIDS’ READING ROOM
By Carol Felixson,
Special to The Times
When your parents were young they were
entertained by the cartoon antics of Mickey and
Minnie Mouse. Today's kids know about Stuart
Little by E.B. White and Scabbers from the Harry
Potter series. What do all these characters all
have in common?
They're rodents!
Tuolumne, 8; saw a
dusky-footed wood rat and its nest near his
mom's office in Topanga Canyon. He decided to
sculpt it in modeling clay. First he learned a
little about the rodent.
"They are also called 'pack rats' because they
use lots of leaves, twigs and trash to make
really big nests," Tuolumne explained.
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When wood rats are disturbed inside their nests,
their teeth chatter and their tails rattle
against the vegetation. They are nocturnal,
which means they are active at night.
For the background, Tuolumne made a ball out of
green and brown clay. He softened the clay by
kneading it with his hands, then flattened it
onto a board using his fingers and a rolling
pin.
Next he made a ball out of tan and gray clay. He
got a cutting board and flattened out the clay.
Using a plastic knife, Tuolumne carefully
outlined the image of a rat in the clay, then
cut it out. He used a spatula to carefully lift
the rat from the cutting board and pressed it
onto the background piece of clay with his
fingers. He added white clay to represent its
belly.
To finish off, Tuolumne made fur lines in the
clay, then placed pink clay on the inside of the
rat's ear and on its paws, and black clay on its
nose and eye. He rolled a small coil of clay
between his hands for the tail and whiskers and
glued on pieces of trash, leaves and twigs for
the rat's nest.
"I think rats and mice are cute!" he said. But
he also knows that wild rodents are dangerous,
so he doesn't touch them or play with them.
Good job, Tuolumne!
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About the series: Each month, Carol Felixson
introduces children to a subject from nature and
an art technique. She is director of education
and community outreach for UCLA's Stunt Ranch
Reserve and Mathias Botanical Garden. March 6
lesson: purple sage and a collage puzzle. |
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Carol Felixson
Director of Education/Community Outreach
UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve & Mildred E. Mathias Botanical
Garden
310 206-3887, nrs.ucop.edu/Reserves/stunt.html,
www.botgard.ucla.edu
LA Times Science/Art Lessons for Kids:
http://nrs.ucop.edu/Reserves/stunt/newsforkids.html
Contributing to the
understanding and wise management of the Earth and its
natural systems
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| Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times |
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