4th grade students designed a repeat pattern using plant and animal images from their ecosystem research in science class. They learned about Batiks - a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeingtechnique found in Indonesia, Japan, China, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, and Singapore. Each student was assigned a specific biome (i.e. ecosystem) in their science class and they continued that learning as they drew from images of their specific biome compiled on each table. After talking about compositions of repeat patterns, each student designed a composition of their biome containing 1 plant image, 1 animal image and 1 image of an essential element to their biome. The entire surface of the composition must be thickly covered in crayon in order for the batiking process to work. After working hard for 2 class periods, students had tocrumple up their drawing carefully both vertically and horizontally. We then painted the drawing with a combination of equal parts black tempera paint, water & liquid soap. We then rinsed the paper off immediately... the result was a fabulous faux batik!
We then created a 4th grade community "quilt" by combining all of our biome batiks together.
We then created a 4th grade community "quilt" by combining all of our biome batiks together.
