Lesson Plans

Bird's Eye View

Grades: K-2

Objectives:

• Exercise will introduce students to the concepts of distance and perspective
• Exercise will allow students to look at objects from a different point of view
• Students will express creativity through collage and mixed media
• Students will improve fine motor skills by tracing and cutting

Materials Needed:

• Goggle Pattern (see attached)
• WonderFoam® Peel & Stick 12” x 18” sheets - cut in half lengthwise
• WonderFoam® Mosaic Tiles
• Maribou Feathers
• ½ “Glitter" Pom Pons
• Pencils
• Safety Scissors

Introduction:

1. Start a discussion with students about birds. Talk about how they fly and how they walk on land. Talk about how they eat, drink and where they live.
2. Next ask students how objects on the ground look different when the birds are up in the trees. Are they bigger? Smaller? Can they see the details? Ask the students to close their eyes and imagine they are a bird in a tree looking down at their house and neighborhood. What do they see?
3. Explain how an artist can show something is far or near by changing the size. Show examples of paintings or photos that illustrate perspective.
4. “Perspective” is the way an artist looks at things.

Procedure:

1. Pass out the 6” x 18” WonderFoam® Peel & Stick sheets, scissors, pencils, and goggle patterns.
   
2. Demonstrate how to trace and cut out the goggles. (Hint: make sure the goggle will fit around the ears of the student.)
3. Demonstrate how to fold the Circle (eye glass) in half and cut a triangle for the eye opening (it will be a diamond shape.)
4. Peel off the backing.
   
5. Give students the miscellaneous supplies - pom pons, WonderFoam® Mosaic Tiles and Maribou feathers.
6. Instruct children to place feathers on first. (Feathers may be trimmed at the base if they are too long.)
7. Use the pom pons around the eye holes.
8. Have children place the tiles along the bottom and ear pieces.
   

Guided Independent Practice:

• Invite students to put on their new goggles.
• Ask them to imagine they are birds and let them think about what they would see.
• Where do birds go?
• What does the world look like from those places?

Conclusion:

• Tell students they can wear their “goggles” to help them look at things from a different perspective.
• Discuss other animals and what things might look like from those perspectives.
• Invite students to describe how the size of an object changes (i.e.: looks smaller) if it is in the distance.
• Students will begin to understand how distance, depth and three dimensions can be communicated on a two dimensional surface through the use of size.