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Schueler: About the Sky Main Page

Jon Schueler Site

Jon Schueler: About the Sky

Ice Cube Painting by Courtney

Activities & Experiments

Developed by Nancy McDearmon and Carla Fitzgerald, the following activities and experiments were part of the Jon Schueler Tour Program. "About the Sky" provided an excellent opportunity for students from nearby elementary schools to learn about art and the weather.

Puzzles
  3 Schueler paintings were made into large piece puzzles. Pieces were placed in a container just inside the gallery. Students were instructed to

Ice Cube Painting by Jason

pick up a puzzle piece and try to match it to a painting in the gallery. When students gathered in front of the painting, they were encouraged to assemble their puzzle. Most 2nd graders were able to take part in this activity with little adult interaction. All students needed reminders and supervision, however, when it came to remembering not to touch the paintings -- with hands or puzzle pieces.
(10 minutes)

Ice Cube Painting
  This part of the tour required a flat surface area for painting and trays of ice cubes colored with food coloring. A popsicle stick was added during the freezing process to serve as a handle. A separate room or covered

Ice Cube Painting by Jesse

outdoor area is appropriate for this activity.
  Each student was provided a piece of poster board or tag board -- 11"x14" to 12"x18". Using the popsicle stick as a handle, students created their own painting. This took place immediately after viewing the Schueler works; students were motivated to produce their own paintings using unfamiliar materials and encouraged by the color of Schueler.
(15 minutes)

Be Molecules!
  Students were briefly reminded that molecules move at different speeds as temperatures rise and fall. In this active game, students were water

Ice Cube Painting by Robin

molecules. They began "frozen solid" then as they "warmed up," they moved slowly (liquid), then faster as they were told they were getting hotter and hotter. They were brought to a "boil," producing steam (gas), and then the temperature was allowed to drop back down to a refreeze.
Source: Frankel Hauser, Jill. Super Science Concoctions. Williamson Publishing: Charlotte, VT, 1997.

Rain Game
  Each student was identified as a particular kind of molecule found in our atmosphere -- N for nitrogen, O for oxygen, H2O for water, or D for dust particle. Simple vests were made out of colored tall kitchen size, plastic trash bags. These would slip over the clothing and were identified by color and

Ice Cube Painting by Turina

a large letter written on the front. To play the game, the students began to move within a defined space. As in the "moving molecules" game, temperature affected the speed at which "molecules" moved. As it got colder (when the leader said it was), "molecules" slowed down and water drops began to stick to dust particles (adults -- no costumes were made for them). That meant instead of continuing to move around the space, water and dust particles formed raindrops (gently hold onto the dust particle). If 3 water drops attached themselves to a dust particle, that group would drop ou of the "cloud" and sit on the floor as a "puddle." When there were no more dust particles or water molecules, the rain was over.
Source: The Weather Dude -- www.lnwlink.com/~wxdude/

Balloon, Vacuum Pump & Bell Jar
  This experiment was demonstrated after explaining that air is made up of small particles called molecules. We cannot see them but we can see their work. The 3 parts of the demonstration were shown and explained that the

Ice Cube Painting by Tyesha

vacuum pump pulls air out of a closed space, the bell jar is the closed space, and the balloon has air trapped inside it. Students have had experience with balloons, so they were asked:

• What is inside the balloon?
• Why can't the air get out?
• Can you blow it up bigger once it has been tied?

Moving Molecules
  This experiment allows children to observe that heat makes molecules move faster; before the demonstration, it was explained that water

Ice Cube Painting by Molly

molecules are always moving even when the water appears still. Boiling or very hot water was poured into one of two jars. Very cold water was poured into the other. With plenty of water so the observation could be enjoyed, several drops of red food coloring was added to the hot water. It was NOT stirred. Then several drops of blue food coloring were added to the cold water. Again, no stirring. The colors drift down in swirling shapes. Students were asked if they could explain why these were mixing when we didn't stir. Some evaporation and condensation takes place on the insides of the hot jar. Allow students time to make observations. With enough time, a different color was added to each jar.