The library is my friend when I need to simplify concepts in science for Mark. I am teaching him from a high school textbook because it gives us a structure and helps him learn to analyze graphs and data. Many weeks we just use the book as a guide and seek material at the library to make it more interesting.
I love to pick up books of colorful microscope images. Our world is intricate and beautiful at every level. Mark and I spent a few extra days studying microorganisms through art. This is a collage of diatoms, which are single-celled and diverse, representing 10,000 species. They are producers, which mean they photosynthesize and are an important food source in aquatic environments. We couldn’t get over how colorful, intricate, and symmetrical their silica shells look under a microscope.
To do this project, we pulled out papers we had painted before, cut them into shapes, added more color with pencils, and made an Eric Carle style collage. Eric Carle art is something I have done for years with the kids because it is fool-proof. Every collage is a success.