Title: Cave Painting Done Today the Old Fashioned Way Description: Students will discuss images of cave

art, design homemade paint and painting tools, and develop an understanding for how cave art might have been made and what it could possibly mean. They will use their new understandings to predict what aspects of time and place might have affected the art of other cultures in different time periods. Goal:

Content Standard 4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures a. know and compare the characteristics of artworks in various eras and cultures c. analyze, describe, and demonstrate how factors of time and
place (such as climate, resources, ideas, and technology) influence visual characteristics that give meaning and value to a work of art Time: 3 class periods, 45 minutes long Grade: 6 & 7 Detailed Plan: Day 1: (25 minutes) Students will look at and discuss cave art. They will work in table teams to generate cultural, historical, procedural, and material questions and then formulate possible answers to their own questions. They will discuss their questions and answers with the whole class. Students will draw conclusions about how and why cave art was made. They, with the teachers guidance, will work towards a conclusion of the meaning the symbols possibly held for the cave-dwelling communities. (20 minutes) Students will work in assigned teams of two to plan recipes for natural, homemade paint in two different colors. They will design two different painting or drawing tools using only natural things. Assignment: make two different-colored paints and two painting tools using only natural materials. They must pre-test their products before class to make sure they will be effective in the next class period when being used to paint faux cave walls. Day 2: (10 minutes) Students will decide as a large group what symbols or motifs could represent something in their lives today that is of similar value or importance as the hunting symbols were to the survival of the cave-dwelling artists. (35 minutes) Students will use handmade natural paint and tools to paint on faux cave walls made of brown bags or construction paper taped to the bottom sides of the classroom tables. Some tables will be sitting upright and some on their sides, allowing students to either lie on their backs or rest on their knees while painting.

Faux cave wall designs will be simple, repeated symbols that represent aspects of either a spiritual value or the highest, even survivalist, levels of importance in their lives. Day 3: Reflections. First, in original two person teams then in a large group discussion, students will assess the new understandings that were achieved throughout the lesson. Students will follow the guiding questions on the Reflections handout to discuss the cave painting lesson with their partners. They will explain how factors of time and place did affect their own art and how it could possibly have affected the art of the cave-dwelling cultures. They will predict how other time periods affected the art of other cultures. Finally, they will make an audio recording of their answers to the reflection questions. Audio recordings are for the teacher only. They will not be published, as they are the students assessments. Pre-activity: observation and discussion of historic cave art Completing the Thinking and Discussion Organizer Completing the Plan your Paint and Painting Tools organizer Completing the Draw your Own Symbols organizer Follow-up Activity: (20 minutes) Tape the "cave walls" to the sides and undersides of the classroom tables, turn off the classroom lights, and let elementary students crawl through the "caves" with flashlights to inspect the middle school cave art. Middle school students can guide the elementary cave tours and explain what the symbols mean about the people who created them. Material and Tools: handmade natural paints and painting tools, brown paper bags or brown construction paper, tape, paint shirts, cleaning supplies, computers Tier 1 Vocabulary: cave art, symbols Tier 2 Vocabulary: symbolism, natural materials, historical, media Tier 3 Vocabulary: procedural, cultural, survivalist Bibliography: Google image search for cave art Visuals: Lascaux Cave images online my examples and my students' work on Internet and artsonia

Thinkingand DiscussionOrganizer What do the images seam to say about the following things? Work in table teams. TALKER will read the question to the team. RECORDER will write the answers that the team agrees on. MEDIATOR will stop arguments, interruptions, and other unproductive behavior. TIME KEEPER will pace the teams progress on answering the questions. 1. When and where was this art probably made? How can you be sure?

2. What shapes do you see? What kinds of stories could the shapes be telling?

3. What kind of culture or people made this art? What clues helped you decide this?

4. What could this art made out of? How could this art have been made?

PlanYourPaint and PaintingTools

Finish THIS section by the end of class. Let the teacher check it before you leave. Two or More Very Good Paint Recipes Two or More Very Good Painting Tool Construction Ideas

DrawYourOwnSymbols Draw one shape per box. TRY to finish THIS section by the end of class. Decide what is vitally important in your lifestyle and for your survival. Decide what shape would best represent that and then draw it. Draw with pencils. Draw neatly. Avoid deep, dark drawing scars in your drawings.

Cave Painting Done Today the Old Fashioned Way Reflections What do you know about making your own paint and painting tools now that you have tried it for yourself? What challenges might the cave dwelling artists have faced when creating their cave art? How easy must it have been for them to make their own art on the cave walls? 1. Now that you have had to make and use your own paint and painting tools for this lesson a. describe how you felt and what you thought when you were making your own paint and painting tools? b. explain what happened when you were using your own paint and tools to make your art on the cave walls? c. list the problems you had and how you overcame them. 2. Think about what the cave dwelling artists might have been thinking, feeling, and doing when they were making their artworks. a. What feelings and thoughts might the cave people have had when they were making their own paint and painting tools? b. What obstacles or problems might they have faced when they were making the cave paintings? c. How might they have overcome those challenges? We know they did, because they successfully made amazing paintings on the cave walls. 3. Compare your feelings, thoughts, and problems with those that the cave dwellers might have had in the process of making cave paintings. a. Which of your thoughts, feelings, and problems were probably similar to the ones the cave dwelling artists might have had? b. Which of your thoughts, feelings, and problems were probably different than the ones the cave dwelling artists might have had?

4. Did this lesson give you even a small idea of what it might have been like to make art 30,000 years ago? a. Explain your answer by saying either, Yes, because or No, because and then saying your reasons for your yes or no answer. b. List at least one way to make this experience feel even more like you are actually cave painting, and then say why you think your idea would really be helpful.