A Balance Between Art And Science

This activity is designed for students to explore the properties of balance. Students will learn how to place two or more objects on a woven center in balance.

Vocabulary:

-Balance

-Mobile

-Equilibrium

This lesson would be appropriate for all primary grades. (I even plan to adapt this lesson to do this with my pre-school class) It would be appropriate for any class size. I plan to teach this in two 55-minute periods. It could be extended to three class periods and could be combined with a field trip to the Walker Art Museum. I will teach this as part of my art curriculum's space and form unit.

Materials:

-2 sticks per student

-Various colors of yarn

-Found objects and/or tag board to cut to size

-Paperclips

-Hole punch

-Scissors

-Beads

-Feathers

-Other fun embellishments

Procedure:

Teach, explore and play with the Foss Unit on Balance. Discuss briefly "The Ojo de Dios, or God's Eye, which is a simple weaving made across two sticks and is thought to have originated with the Huichol Indians of Jalisco, Mexico. The Huichol call their God's eyes Sikuli, which means "the power to see and understand things unknown." When a child is born, the central eye is woven by the father, then one eye is added for every year of the child's life until the child reaches the age of five."
Step One: Cross the sticks and glue them together.

Step Two: Hold the crossed sticks so it appears as an "X". With the yarn hanging from the bottom, wrap it diagonally over the top of the cross point, going over one stick and behind it.

Step Three: Turn the cross one clockwise turn to the second stick and repeat step two. Continue on to the third and fourth sticks. As you wrap the yarn, make sure each row of yarn lies side by side and not on top of the row next to it. Continue to wrap the yarn until you see an 'eye' forming at the center.
"If you are using different colors of yarn, tie the next color to the end of your yarn and continue to wrap as before. Change your colors as desired. If you are using multi-colored yarn, continue wrapping till you reach the ends of the sticks. Tie off at the end and tuck under." -(http://www.christiancrafters.com/copyright.html Sarah Keith 2001)
Before the students turn their Sikuli into a Mobile, introduce Alexander Calder and show examples of his art. This website has images of Calder's mobiles, http://www.chess-theory.com/encprd03234_chess_practice_reflections_debates_arts.php

"Alexander Calder (July 22, 1898 - November 11, 1976), also known as Sandy Calder, was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile. In addition to mobile and stabile sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys and tapestry and designed carpets." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Calder)
After the Sikuli is finished the students will attach various lengths of yarn, one from each stick. They can then tie, glue or thread objects onto each string to create a balanced mobile. Paper clips, beads and feathers can be added to adjust the balance on a smaller scale, and of course add beauty to the finished piece of art.
Extensions- Your Class could take a field trip to the Walker Art Museum to see Alexander Calder's work in person. Explore the historical and cultural aspects of the Huichol people and their Sikuli weavings.

For younger students and to save time, you may want to have precut materials with holes already punched already to tie onto the strings. (Or you could use the paper clips to attach instead of tying). This lesson is different than the lessons that I typically teach because of the science content included. I don't typically include as much science vocabulary in my art classes.

This lesson will be graded by students level of participation. Teacher will review student mobile.

6.II.D. 3. unbalanced forces acting on an object change the object's speed and/or direction.
5.II.D.1. investigate the use of a lever to move objects.