Lesson LEAFlet

Teaching/Learning Resources

Subject Area:  Science
Grade Level:  K through 4

Curriculum Integration:

1. This lesson integrates Science with art (making tee-shirts)

Lesson Objectives: 

1. Students will know that leaves have colored pigment in them.

2. Students will know that they can extract the pigment out of the leaves by pounding on them with a wooden hammer or mallot.

3. Students will collect a variety of leaves in order to have the pigments placed onto a surface.                              

4. Students will pound on the leaves and have the color put on to a plain white tee shirt.

Materials Required: 

1. Leaves of a variety of colors                                

2. flower pedals of a variety of colors.                                

3. pounding implements such as wooden mallots or rubber hammers.

4. plain white tee-shirts.

5.  newspaper

6. different stencil designs (letters and pictures)

Lesson Outline: 

1. The students will go around collecting leaves of different shapes, sizes, and colors.

2. Students will also collect different colored flower pedals to extract pigment from the leaves.

3. Students will gather all of the leaves/flower pedals together in a basket.

4. Individual students will get a tee-shirt that fits them from the pile, or bring one in that fits them. 

5. The tee-shirt must be a plain white shirts.

6. Each student will get a pile of leaves and/or flower pedals from the basket.

7. Students will get stencil designs and letters to make designs on their tee-shirts.

8. Each student will take a hammer or a mallot and pound the leaves/pedals over the stencil designs onto the front of the plain, white tee-shirt.

9. Students can use free designs as well if they wish. (without the stencils).

10. Students will bring their tee-shirts over to the teacher when they are done so the teacher can glaze the shirt with a sealant to seal the design and the
    color onto the shirt.

11. Student will hang the tee-shirt up to dry.

Submitted by:  Nina Bish, Theresa Tssario, Brent Vargo, and Ed McMahon
 

For:
Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park

Send plans to:

Dr. Charles Elliott, Director
       Educational Technology
       Gannon University
       109 University Square
       Erie, PA   16541