Environmental aesthetics: recreating the rain forest.ENVIRONMENTAL AESTHETICS: Recreating the Rain Forest STUDENTS AS WELL AS ADULTS OFTEN learn more quickly when they experience learning through multi-sensory stimulation. Imagine walking into a dimly lit room with a canopy of green leaves above you, three-dimensional trees standing in front of you, and gigantic butterflies flying around you. Primitive music with birds and monkeys chirping chirp n. A short, high-pitched sound, such as that made by a small bird or an insect. intr.v. chirped, chirp·ing, chirps To make a short, high-pitched sound. in the background makes you feel like you are in a different world thousands of miles away--a tropical rain forest. This sensory experience is part of a cooperative project between the art education program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Elm Creative Arts School. Elm is a K-5 Milwaukee Public School with emphasis on the arts in the curriculum. The Elm School art specialist carries out a different educational gallery theme four times during the school year. The school has a classroom-sized space devoted to this gallery. It is a visual focal point focal point n. See focus. of the school as well as a learning environment. The theme approach aims to integrate many kinds of learning and erase the boundaries dividing traditional school subjects. The themes span the arts, sciences, social studies and literature. University students from an Art Theory and Curriculum class formed three committees to make the gallery an exciting learning space for students. A research group gathered background information and pictures that would be appropriate for instructional displays. A writing group produced the posters, labels and a teacher's guide. And an implementation group obtained the art materials Techniques and materials related to art: Traditional techniques:
As you walk quietly through the gallery--like the Yagua Indian hunting with his blowgun blowgun, hollow tube from which a dart or an arrow is blown by a person's breath. The arrow was usually tipped with a poison, such as curare, which would stun or kill the struck prey. Blowguns were widely used by prehistoric peoples. in the tropical rain forest--you can't help but be impressed by the sensory stimulation sensory stimulation, n in acupuncture, the practice of inserting needles into skin and tissue to coax the body into using its energy to heal itself. around you. The huge broad-leaf trees in front of you have air plants and climbing vines that twine twine: see cordage. in and around the tree branches and trunks. A large world map pinpoints the location of the worlds' rain forests in Central and South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Asia, Africa, Madagascar and Australia. A native "hut" built out of natural bark, palm fiber and straw offers a temporary shelter for protection and rest. Peeking out from the camouflaged foliage next to the hut are dozens of student-made clay masks, expressions of human emotion in natural materials. Under the over-head canopy of large tear-drop shaped leaves one sees an array of rain forest animals and insect life from the orangutan orangutan (ōrăng`  tăn), an ape, Pongo pygmaeus, found in swampy coastal forests of Borneo and Sumatra. , sloth sloth (slōth, slôth), arboreal mammal found in Central and South America distantly related to armadillos and anteaters. Sloths live in tropical forests, where they sleep, eat, and travel through the trees suspended upside down, clinging to and howler
monkey howler monkeyAny of several species of slow-moving tropical American monkeys (genus Alouatta) noted for their roaring cries, which carry over a distance of 2–3 mi (3–5 km). to the anteater anteater, name applied to various animals that feed on ants, termites, and other insects, but more properly restricted to a completely toothless group of the order Edentata. , parrot and walking stick. One wall called "Tropical Images" displays related paintings by Henri Rousseau, Mori Sosen Mori Sosen (1747-1821[1]) was a Japanese painter of the Shijō school during the Edo period. He is famous for his many paintings depicting apes and other animals. , Edward Hicks and Milwaukee's John Colt. From the art teacher's point of view, there is much cross-cultural understanding to be gained from the Rain Forest Gallery. Students view primitive masks and photographs of faces painted for festivals, for mourning and for battle. They realize the universal desire to adorn and change the human face, whether the substance comes from tree bark or from a cosmetic counter. They learn about utilitarian vessels made from available and easily-formed material that is much like the red clay they mold with their own hands. After studying a painting that reflects Henri Rousseau's love of the jungle habitat, they sit and lie on the gallery floor, surrounded by a similar habitat to create their own rain forest images with oil pastel on large paper. Our classroom teachers use the gallery as a motivational force for their own teaching. The fourth graders study climatic regions of the world in social studies. What better way to make the experience real than to visit our own tropical forest habitat and respond to it? Another class enters the gallery with clip-boards and pencils to search out answers to questions regarding animal and bird life and map-reading skills. Small children listen to fables from Brazil and Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (păp`  ə, –y that teach basic human values through imaginatively animated
stories. A drama class plans an expedition to the rain forest and
pantomimes encounters with animals and problems with equipment. The
rain forest touches the children's learning in multiple ways,
creating a holistic experience.
Elm students are continually adding to the gallery: butterflies with brightly colored wings are clinging to the tree trunks. Large papier-mache birds are being constructed, painted and hung from the tree tops. Bead necklaces made out of dough represent native ones made from seeds, bones and teeth. Air-plant orchids grow in tree branches. Dance students improvise movement to the sounds of native percussion and original chants by the music students. Students and staff from other schools tour the rain forest to complement their own studies and enjoy this multi-sensory experience of a tropical rain forest. PHOTO : Children entering the forest. PHOTO : Exotic flowers of the rain forest. PHOTO : Painting the wall murals. |
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