A Look Back on our Arts in Nature STEAM Program
We recently finished reporting on all the work we did with 3rd-5th grade students over the last year, and here are some highlights! 3rd to 5th grade students from Louisa Boren K-8 STEM School created a variety of projects that connected to classroom- and field-based ecological and ethnobotanical lessons. This program was part of the Delridge Wetland Park project, an integration of arts and STEM environmental science curriculum, or STEAM.
The 3rd grade students created blotted ink projects this past winter. These ink designs were inspired by wetland plant roots that students viewed under microscopes earlier in the year.
The 4th grade students worked on weaving projects that coincided with learning about Coast Salish people’s tradition of weaving cedar bark into mats.
Finally, the 5th grade students created “parts of the ecosystem” puzzles this spring. Students drew a plant, animal, or landscape feature from a variety of ecosystems found in Western Washington. Once completed, the puzzle pieces were mixed together with other student puzzles to illustrate how ecosystems are made up of different and interacting parts.
Over the course of the school year, our program brought multiple artists out to interact with students. We worked with nearly 150 students over the course of the year.
This project is funded by ArtsWA‘s Arts in Education Partnership program and National Endowment for the Arts. We are grateful for ArtsWA’s continued support in the 2022-2023 school year.