Schools Workshops
Earth Explorers is The Ark’s flagship visual arts
project for 2009. By participating in Earth Explorers,
you will be involved in a large scale programme which hopes to inspire,
in the youngest of our citizens, a long term interest in the visual arts
and a caring commitment to our natural surroundings.
We hope to encourage children to engage with concepts relating to our natural
environment, and the impact that we all have on the places that surround
us – to explore topics of environmental awareness, natural surroundings,
sustainability, and the reusing and recycling of materials - exploring these
themes through visual arts and science.
All workshops are visual arts based, with many strands of the Visual Arts
Curriculum incorporated within each of the workshops. Further cross-curricular
links are outlined with each workshop description.
For Junior and Senior Infants
| Clay Adventures with artist Terry O’Farrell | |
| Dates: | Tuesday 5 – Friday 8 May |
| Times: | 10.15am & 12.15pm |
| Duration: | 1 hour |
| Age Range: | 4 – 6 years |
Enter a world of small adventures, BIG heroes and perfect ecology. How
does a worm use the earth? How does a bird make a nest? Experimenting
with clay modelling processes, consider how animals, insects and birds work
in harmony with their world, and make your own clay adventure!
Curricular Links: Science
Strand – Living Things / Strand Unit – Plants and Animals
| Whirly Windmills with artist Jole Bortoli supported by Exploration Station | |
| Dates: | Tuesday 19 – Friday 22 May |
| Times: | 10.15am & 12.15pm |
| Duration: | 1 hour |
| Age Range: | 4 – 6 years |
Windmills inspire thoughts of summer days, sunshine and playing outdoors! In
this workshop, imagine, create and decorate a miniature windmill in your
own style which you can then bring to life through the natural energy of
wind.
Curricular Links: Science
Strand – Energy and Forces / Strand Unit – Forces
For First Class – Third Class
| Fossil Art with artist Orla Kelly | |
| Dates: | Tuesday 26 – Friday 29 May |
| Times: | 10.15am |
| Duration: | 1 ½ hours |
| Age Range: | 6 – 9 years |
Explore fossils of animals and plants, including some creatures that no
longer exist. Make drawings of animals that could have lived thousands
of years ago, and create your very own fossil using clay and plaster moulding.
Curricular Links: Geography
Strand – Natural Environments / Strand Unit: Rocks and Soils /
Third Class
Strand – Natural Environments / Strand Unit: The Local Natural
Environment / First & Second Class
For Fourth – Sixth Class
| Weathervanes with artist Jole Bortoli supported by Exploration Station | |
| Dates: | Tuesday 12 – Friday 15 May |
| Times: | 10.15am |
| Duration: | 2 hours |
| Age Range: | 9 – 12 years |
Decorative and ornamental weathervanes are usually placed on the highest
point of a building and show us which direction the wind is travelling. Their
designs can be inspired from the natural world: animals, birds, insects,
flowers and plants. Join us to observe and explore various natural
forms, through drawing and photographs, as well as creating your own weathervane.
Curricular Links: Science
Strand – Livings Things / Strand Unit – Plant and Animal
Life
Strand – Energy and Forces / Strand Unit – Forces
Tickets for all schools workshops are €6.50 / €4.50*
(*price for Schools Serving Disadvantaged
Areas and schools travelling from outside County Dublin)
The science element of the Earth Explorers exhibition is supported by Exploration
Station.
