Phase Two: Egyptian Amulet STEAM Collaboration with the North Carolina Museum of Art!

Above the first set of 3D printed amulets made by NRC technology teacher, Mr. Baldwin. 

Participating students and teachers at NRC have now completed their pre-activities for this week's virtual visit from the North Carolina Museum of Art, the first of two planned visits.

This is Phase Two of the ongoing NRC/North Carolina Museum of Art STEAM Collaboration.  The general theme of this STEAM collaboration is "Why Do Humans Make?"  LINK 

This collaborative STEAM art project, entitled, "Gaining STEAM from Ancient Egyptian Artifacts," began last June when WPU Art Professor in Residence Triada Samaras met North Carolina/NC Museum of Art Acting Director of Education Michelle Harrell in Raleigh, NC, where the art museum is located. LINK

 Image above from the NC Museum of Art LINK

Students of NRC Art Teacher Ms. Senopole, NRC Technology Teacher Mr. Baldwin, and Social Studies Teacher Mr. Fusco have all examined and wondered about two Ancient Egyptian Amulets from the Egyptian Wing at the museum.  The teachers are collaborating with Distance Educator Emily Koteki, Ms. Camille Tewell Art Educator, both from the NC Museum of Art Education Department and Art PIR Triada Samaras.  This coming Tuesday, in the virtual visit, Ms. Koteki and Ms. Tewell will interact directly with these NRC students in their classroom, "broadcasting" from the museum's Egyptian wing.

Last week, Ms. Senopole and Mr. Baldwin asked their students questions about the amulets and the material, faience.  Students were urged to make educated guesses about these amulets and to think about the objects according to whatever knowledge they already have.  Mr. Baldwin made a questionnaire form (at left.)

Students viewed these amulets in two formats: 2D and 3D.  First they saw these images projected on their classroom Smartboards (2D) from the NC Museum of Art Website.
Above images of Amulet of Nehebkau and Isis and Horus from NC Museum of Art Egyptian Collection.  LINK

Next they held these amulets in their hands!  Mr. Baldwin 3D printed out replicas of the works from plans sent to him by the Education Department at the Museum.  He printed both small and large versions of the works.  His large-scale royal blue amulets were quite a hit with the students!

 


































Above the large set of 3D printed amulets made by NRC technology teacher, Mr. Baldwin. Each large amulet too 14 hours to print!

Lastly students watched a video on the oldest man-made material found in the world, faience, and they learned about and wondered about this material as well.  Students had many interesting thoughts and comments.  They wondered about the reason for the amulets, the makers of the amulets, and the fluke that caused the invention of faience.

This Tuesday, Nov 29, when the NC Museum of Art visits NRC via technology, the speakers will discuss the works with the students, and inspire them to create their own amulets in the near future.

This exciting STEAM art project has been several months in the making and has required a many planning meetings and strategies at NRC, with Art PIR Samaras and with members of the NRC staff working together to organize all.  Now all of the various pieces are coming together and many students, teachers, and administrators at NRC are very excited to see what this long distance collaboration between a museum and a school will yield! 

Mr. Baldwin's students have already begun using the software "Tinkercad" LINK in anticipation of the NC Museum of Art virtual visit.  This free software allows them to brainstorm and create 3D objects on their screens.  They are planning to design their own amulets in technology class using Tinkercad.  Then they will send their designs to the 3D printers in their own classroom and print them out!

This is a true STEAM activity that crosses several disciplines:  Technology (Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Selino), Art (Ms. Mandal and Ms. Senopole), and Social Studies (Mr. Fusco.)

Emphasizing the “T” in STEAM at the WPU Ed Tech Conference

On November 18, 2016, Janette Selino, New Roberto Community Middle School Technology Teacher, and Dina Scacchetti, WPU Geraldine R. Dodge Grant Coordinator, jointly presented "From Paint to Pixels and Back:  Integrating Art and Technology" at William Paterson University's 7^th Annual Educational Technology Conference.  

The theme of the conference, which was co-chaired by Dr. Heejung An, Professor of Learning Technology, Elementary Science Education, and Educational Research, and Dr. Pei-Lin Weng, Assistant Professor of Special Education and Counseling, was 

Are You Ready to Invent?: STEM + ARTS = STEAM!  

The conference was intended to deepen participants’ understanding of new directions in teaching science and mathematics by integrating engineering, technology, and the arts. 

Scacchetti (at right) highlighted the success of WPU's Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation grant, which has expanded the case for the importance of art to student engagement and achievement.  

Selino (at left) then shared successful efforts to use art-related applications and programs that provide students with 21st century skills and content.  






Several on-line applications were offered that permit and encourage art integration across all content areas.  Participants were encouraged to engage in hand-on experimentation with these applications, either by using the University's computers or their own devices.

'Improbable Combinations' Make for Intriguing Artworks at SOIT

In Ms. Simon's art class at SOIT, students recently created unusual artworks combining aspects of two art genres: still life using interesting objects from nature and landscape art.   

Triada Samaras, Art PIR, interviewed this STEAM art teacher about this project:

Mrs. Simon said "I decided to do an 'improbable combination' so I asked STEAM students to compare and contrast still life and landscape art, and then put them together into an 'improbable combination' artwork.  There is an art historical movement that set a precedent for this type of art project called Surrealism."

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality". [See  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism.]

Mrs. Simon continued, "What I wanted to do was to have my students realize that natural objects are organic shapes.  These shapes, which they can use in a still life, could be successfully integrated into a landscape.  This is a nature-based activity which segues to content they will learn in their biology classrooms." 

"I wanted students to really perceive the shapes, colors and textures of the natural objects and to theorize where these objects came from, and what might be their function in nature. Perceiving is more than seeing.  Perceiving is seeing with more acute concentration and detail, as a scientist would do in a laboratory or in the field." 

Art PIR Triada Samaras also interviewed Dycquan Dookie, an art  student in Ms. Simon's class.  Dycquan is also an athlete at SOIT, and plays soccer and football on the school teams.

Ms. Samaras:  "How did the world you created in your art work come about?"
Dycquan:  "The dinosaur, an extinct species, first came to my mind and I decided to use it.  Dinosaurs had to look for food a lot, and that is what this one is doing.  As for the shell, it is in the hill because it is in hills that you could find things like that. The cheetah is in the grass hunting. And I drew a tree and put the tree-like object looking as though it belonged there.
Ms. Samaras: "What did you learn about yourself while creating your art?"
Dycquan:  "As I created my artwork, I learned that I have a good imagination, and that I could choose whatever object I wanted to include in my drawings."