A Taste of Soil

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Sid the Science KidDirt Detectives

Create a sketch book/journal for researching,

documenting and planning/sketching.Students will: Tour and explore the travel site: “Round America Tour”

ending up on “The Enchanted Highway” by Regent, ND. Learn about one (or more) regional artist(s) while creating

art that supports the knowledge they are gaining about North Dakota (or the state chosen).

View and discuss Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Create artwork. In doing so; Science, Math, Social Studies and Language

Arts will be integrated into this unit of study.

Unit Overview

Preparing the Soils

An example of a soil painting

USDA Calendar 2004 http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/lewisandclark/paintingwithsoil.html

Soil Painting

Put 1-2 Tbsp. of soil into each cup (approx.. 2/3 full) Add enough water to each cup to make a batter the consistency of a “mud brownie”.

Stir until combined Add about one tablespoon of acrylic medium to each cup. Stir until combined and

smooth. More medium can be added to get the right consistency. (Add liquids sparingly so not to dilute the soil too much so the color does not come through well when painting). Cover until needed.

--------------To create the book covers you would proceed to the following directions--------------------------

Dilute plain acrylic medium with water in 3 oz. cups to a creamy consistency. Cover until needed. Tear the 12 squares of toilet paper into 1 inch strips all at the same time Paint gray construction paper with watered down acrylic medium Overlap the 1 inch strips of toilet paper on top of the acrylic medium, covering the entire piece of gray

construction paper. Using one or more colors of soil paint, paint soil paints on top of the toilet paper strips, covering the

entire page once again. Put on drying rack to dry. (Opt. When dry, more layers can be added to make the covers look more like tree bark.)

Down and Dirty!

Core Curriculum Connections