An "Eggs"traordinary Sculpture

This lesson uses a sculpture located at the North Carolina Zoological Park as the springboard for an inquiry involving eggs and egg-layers. Several measurements and calculations are incorporated. A visit to the NC Zoological Park is preferred.

A lesson plan for grade 8 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Mathematics

By Eddie Hamblin

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Related topics

• Learn more about English language arts and mathematics.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• identify and categorize different types of animals which lay eggs.
• use a five step method for viewing and interpreting a piece of artwork.
• use an indirect method to find the mass of a large object.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

4 days

Materials/resources

• Pictures of eggs / Corresponding pictures of egg-layers
• Chart paper and markers
• Measuring devices (meter sticks and/or calipers)
• Tracing paper and pencils
• Specimen of marble
• Triple-beam balance
• Calibrated beaker and water

Technology resources

• Computer with spreadsheet application (MS Works or MS Excel)
• Computer presentation device with MS PowerPoint

Pre-activities

None

Activities

Day One:

1. Divide class into groups of 3 or 4 students each

.

2. Give each group a set of egg pictures (Eggs-Part 1; Part 2; Part 3), a sheet of chart paper, and a marker.
3. Instruct students to write down everything they observe about the images. Also have them list questions they still have about the subject.
4. Have each group share their findings with the class. Teacher monitors the discussion and notes common themes on a chart or overhead.
5. Next show the students the list of organisms represented by the pictures which lay eggs--birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, mollusks, arachnids, crustaceans, insects, and monotremes. Tell them that there are egg pictures representative of each type. Have each group separate the egg pictures into the nine types. Guide the students to look at similar characteristics which distinguish each type. (Teacher may need to explain the different types of animals.)
6. After students have sorted all the egg pictures, have them explain why they made the combinations they made. Instruct them to complete and write their explanations on their observation sheet. (Egg match)
7. Next give each group a set of pictures of the organisms which lay eggs. (Egg layers-Part 1; Part 2; Part 3) Have students match the egg with its layer. Students should not change egg pictures from one group to another at this point.
8. Discuss reasons that make identification from photographs difficult (e.g. no relative scale, variance in color, cannot touch, etc.) Have students switch incorrectly categorized eggs and discuss features which characterize each type. Note: Each PowerPoint presentation can be printed as a handout with up to 9 pictures per page. The last 2 slides of “Egg layers” contain identification keys.

Day Two:

1. Divide class into groups of 3 or 4 students each.
2. Give each group a sheet of chart paper and a marker.
3. Introduce the Zoological Egg Rest sculpture found at the North Carolina Zoological Park. (Introducing the Zoological Egg Rest)
4. Use the PowerPoint presentation to have the students look at the sculpture. (Note: On slide 6, use a stopwatch to time the first hand raised and the last hand raised. Give this information to the students on slide 7.) The students will write their observations on the chart paper.
5. Complete the PowerPoint presentation. Pause on slide 20 and discuss the writing assignment. Allow students to use the word processor to write their rough drafts. Edit as necessary and have students complete their final copy.
6. Ask students if they have determined which eggs are represented in the sculpture. Use the PowerPoint presentation to discuss the 5 different eggs in the sculpture. (Whose egg is it?) Although students want to know the identity of the 5 eggs, the primary focus in this activity is observation.

Day Three: Field Trip to the NC Zoological Park.

1. Take students to the Zoological Egg Rest sculpture located near the the North American marsh area.
2. At the sculpture, discuss their first impressions upon seeing the sculpture in person.
3. Have students measure the length, width and height of the sculpture marker.
4. Have students measure the length and width (at the widest point) of each egg sculpture. Large calipers make this an easy task although meter sticks will also suffice. Students should record their data. Stress the importance of accuracy although there will be variance among group measurements.
5. Using tracing paper, have each group trace the actual size of the eggs from the sign.
6. Have the students measure the length and width (at the widest point) of the actual-sized egg. Students should label and write the measurements on each tracing.

Day Four:

1. Have students enter their data into the “Egg Dimensions” spreadsheet. (Egg dimensions spreadsheet-MSWorks format; Egg dimensions spreadsheet-MSExcel format)
2. Use the spreadsheet to review how to find the mean and how the formula in the spreadsheet works.
3. Use the mean length and width of the sculpture eggs (data from the spreadsheet) and the length and width of the tracings to determine the proportion of the sculpture eggs to the real thing. Expressing the dimensions of the sculpture egg as a ratio and then reducing to lowest terms will determine that the sculpture is 10 times lifesize.)
4. Use the measurements of the marker to calculate the volume of the marker. (Use the formula V=w*h*l)
5. Ask students to hypothesize how to calculate the mass of the marker.
6. Use water displacement method to calculate the volume of a marble sample. Place the sample of marble in a graduated cylinder or beaker containing a specific volume of water. Note the volume level after adding the sample. The difference is the volume of the sample.
7. Find the mass of the marble sample using a triple-beam balance.
8. Calculate the density of marble using the volume from step 6 and the mass from step 7 using the Calculating Density spreadsheet. (Density spreadsheet-MSWorks format; Density spreadsheet-MSExcel format) Review the formula: Density=Mass/Volume. Explain that since mass is expressed in grams and volume in cm3, density is expressed in gms/cm3.
9. Using the density of the marble sample and the volume of the marker in step 4, calculate the mass of the marker.
10. Ask students to hypothesize how they could find the mass of the “eggs” in the sculpture. Teacher should guide the discussion to a comparative process using the volume of the “eggs” and the mass of the marble sample.
11. Once a viable solution is ascertained, have the students enter the mean width and length into the “Egg Volume” spreadsheet. (Egg volume spreadsheet-MSWorks format; Egg volume spreadsheet-MSExcel format)
12. Use the data on the spreadsheet to discuss how the 3 radii and the volume of an ellipsoid are calculated.

Optional extension lesson:

1. Show the images of the three avian eggs from the Zoological Egg Rest.
2. Have students list differences and similarities in the shape of these eggs.
3. Have students hypothesize why the murre egg is so pointed.
4. Using modelling clay, have each group form an “egg” shaped like the owl, crane, and murre eggs. They should refer to their tracings to approximate the size.
5. After hardened, have the students roll each egg on craft paper. After repeating several times, have them use three different colored pens to trace the path of each egg. Have them label each path or create a key.
6. Visit the murre habitat located in the Rocky Coast of the North American area. They are located with the horned puffins and the parakeet auklets. At the exhibit, discuss the nesting habits of each bird. Students will learn from the display that the murre does not build a nest and lays its eggs directly on a cliff ledge. If rolled, the pointed egg has a small turning radius and, therefore, is less likely to roll off the ledge.

Assessment

• Day One: Completed observation sheet.
• Day Two: Completed writing assignment.
• Day Three: Completed measurements and tracings.
• Day Four: Printouts of completed spreadsheet.

Supplemental information

None

Related websites

North Carolina Museum of Art
http://www.ncartmuseum.org
The Ackland Art Museum, UNC-Chapel Hill
http://www.unc.edu/depts/ackland
The North Carolina Zoological Park
http://www.nczoo.org

Comments

The “Looking at Art” activity was adapted from a lesson by the Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.