Metropolitan Museum of Art: Earth Materials and Ancient Cultures
Wayne Powell
, Brooklyn College
Summary
Students investigate properties of earth materials through the lens of art and archeology. It allows ties to other required core curriculum courses, and integrates the use of NYC's cultural resources
Context
Audience
This is a two-week lab exercise for an undergraduate, required course for non-majors that is part of a core curriculum.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Students require an introduction to rocks and minerals, weathering, and plate tectonics.
How the activity is situated in the course
It is a stand-alone exercise in a series of 12 labs.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
Origin and properties of rocks and minerals
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Synthesis of concepts between science, art and social science.
Other skills goals for this activity
Use of basic maps (floor plans); working in groups
Description of the activity/assignment
Students in a learning community that includes classics and geology complete labs involving rocks and minerals. The class meets at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a weekend; in groups, the students document and describe the earth materials displayed in art halls of ancient cultures. The following week reformed groups meet in class to compare and contrast their museum-based findings and explore the geological concepts that underlie the use of materials by ancient cultures (jigsaw assignment).
Determining whether students have met the goals
The students present the work of their teams in two report-out sessions, after which the instructor can support or redirect student perceptions.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Download teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment (Microsoft Word 1.7MB Apr30 08)
