​A variety of student art from various grades is featured this week.  

Second graders are shown with their paper weaving projects.  Students measured and cut half-sheets of cardstock to create a loom for weaving color patterns with 1/2-inch x 5 1/2-inch  strips of colored paper.  This project served to reinforce 2nd grade math content involving measurements.

The plant cell pillow by 6th grader Lana Schemerhorn is part of an interdisciplinary science-related project. Pillow sculptures by sixth graders Allison Blum, Ellie Grace Garner, Emily McMinn, Cooper Worthington, and 8th grader Brinn Skalak are personally creative expressions in the medium of sewing and cloth sculpture.  Works by Nyla Makanangot and Athena Workman are explorations into historical fashion design and human figure drawing.  The watercolor by 7th grader Sevvy Ludwig effectively creates the illusion of the deep space of a landscape.    

The Tinkercad model of Tryon Palace by 7th grader Sal Infinito demonstrates the successful manipulation of simple shapes to create a complex and accurate virtual model.  Tryon Palace was the first permanent capitol of the colony of North Carolina.  This 7th grade computer-aided design project was part of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Art Tech and Social Studies classes.  Students used photos of their computer-aided design models to illustrate research papers in Mr. Thomas's class.

Eighth grader Arturo Saucedo-Trinidad created his Vanadium Atom video for an assignment that was a collaboration of the middle school Art Tech and Science classes.  For the Atom Video project, students creatively combined art, science, math, and engineering.  Students built virtual 3D Bohr models of atoms with the Tinkercad computer-aided design app.  Students used their atom models in videos, which provide information about elements the eighth graders are researching in science class.  

Seventh grade Art Tech students have recently been creating virtual 3D models of historically important architectural structures with Tinkercad computer-aided design (CAD) software.  This work is being done in collaboration with Mr. Thomas's Social Studies classes.  Photos of students' models are intended to be used as illustrations for US History research papers.  Students used only the basic tools of Tinkercad to create the complex forms in their models.

Third, fourth, and fifth graders are currently programming and running robots.  Middle school students who meet in the art room every Friday after school to work with robots built and tested the machines that the intermediate students are using.  

The intermediate students write code for programming Lego Spike Prime robots with Lego Education Spike 3 software on their Chromebooks.   They copy a general code framework that they must modify to make their group's robot run successfully.  They typically need to make decisions about turning angles, motor speeds, and travel distances. Code is downloaded to the robots by Bluetooth from Chromebooks. These robots have catapults that shoot ping-pong balls.
 
The goal is to program the robot to drive autonomously from one location to another and then shoot a ping-pong ball through a hole in a Styrofoam board. Students are offered safety glasses in case they wish to put their head in the goal when the robot is shooting the ball.  Once they can make a goal consistently, students begin to write code for the robot to return to base.  If successful with that, the next challenge will be to pick up an object after shooting the ball and return to base with the object.  Third, fourth, and fifth graders will be using the same robots during the next few weeks.  The coding challenge is adjusted to fit each grade level.  Students work in teams of 2-4 students.  They are instructed to take turns and help each other.

These videos show 5th graders of the 5-Green and 5-Blue Art Tech class in action with their robots.