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Grade 7 Art: Little Voices

Grade 7 Art: Little Voices

Written by Petr Dimitrov 

 

What is the job of a scientist? And what is the job of an artist? 

What is it that binds the two disciplines, and what is it that makes them unique? 

Creative thinking. Critical thinking. Imaginative skills. Problem solving. Investigation. Observation. Noticing and making connections. While each discipline is powerful on its own, learning about the world, and our forest through the lens of both at the same time made our interdisciplinary unit deeper, stronger, and more complex. 

 

 

Like all good stories, this one, too, begins in a forest. It’s September, and the 7th grade class spends an afternoon in the nearby forest. We look for any interesting sign of life, and we quickly realise that life is everywhere around us. The forest is filled with mushrooms of all shapes and forms, plants, bugs, ants and spiders. It is loud with bird songs, and as we walk back to school, even a dashing hare shows up to say hi.

 

While in the forest, we collect specimens, measure, compare and draw. We take our time to listen to the voices of this forest - a forest called “HLÁSEK” - a “Little Voice.” And we start hearing its many little voices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back within the school walls, we take the next baby steps. Among the many organisms inhabiting our local ecosystem, we look for endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable species. We learn more about these wondrous organisms and we start asking questions. A big question arises. 

 

Did you ever wonder…

 

What makes an apple bumblebee different from other bumblebees?

Why are turtle doves going extinct while the pigeons are doing just fine?

What would our world be like if there were no butterflies?

Why does the steppe eagle have feathered legs?

 

Over the next six weeks, our Grade 7’s explored ways to ask questions, inquire into the topics that fascinated them, and communicate what they learned through artwork.  In addition, students also created short presentations to shed light on their topic or organism. 

 

 

In their science classes, students investigated a wide range of topics related to their organism, and in Visual arts classes they crafted a multitude of individual visual responses, varying in material and technique.  From multimedia pieces to sculpture work, paintings, and installations, the collection of artwork from the Little Voices exhibition was aesthetically stunning, thought-provoking and at times, surprising. 

 

 “Mr. D said that if our art is successful, you will pause and gasp a quiet (or loud) WOW. Wow, how beautiful! Wow, how strange! Wow, how gross! Wow, wow wow! We hope that our artworks will make you gasp! That they will speak to you! That they successfully carry an echo of the little voices.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ISP community toured the show with enthusiasm and wonder, and the pieces continued to draw attention, questions, and admiration throughout the exhibition and beyond. Little Voices not only inspired students to learn more about the forest ecosystem and the often-overlooked creatures we coexist with but also sparked a lasting curiosity about the natural world.