Using Art To Teach Science.

This booklet describes 14 student art projects to be used in science classes. Creative skills involved in the process of artistic expression seem to translate very well into the problem solving world of technology. Even in the elementary level it can help build confidence, as well as the development of abstract skills that so often lead to concepts and conclusions. The first project consists of building dioramas in which the third dimension plus imagination and a few facts are combined in a box to make parts of the universe more immediate and real. Another allows students to construct globes of planets in the solar system. A mural project is described in which each grade is assigned a place in the solar system. Other projects suggest that students attempt to draw what various events like the ice age, comets, and asteroid collisions might have looked like from space or earth, design space habitats, or how their classroom could function without gravity. Patches from six space flights are pictured with suggestions for events that students could design patches for. Imagination exercises are included dealing with scientific subjects. Instructions are given for making a book in which the students fill in the pages. Ideas for creative writing, observations with instruments such as a telescope or binoculars, and photography are suggested. Descriptions of planets and moons are the basis for creating landscapes. All of the projects listed are complete with instructions, and suggestions. Many projects include lists of necessary materials and supplies. (DK)