hubba bubba hubble.

Since it is the 25th anniversary of the Hubble telescope being put into earth's orbit, I thought it would be cool to revisit a project with my 5th graders that I did a couple years ago. With this project they continued their value unit and created 3d volumes with tints and shades.

I started the lesson with a quick review of the Julien Colombier inspired project they did right before winter break. We talked about how they used light and dark to make shapes appear 3d and how they used one point perspective to create 3d space in their drawings. At the end of the Hubble lesson they had to identify how this drawing was similar to the Colombier drawing they did, so this review was important. (and heck, it was important just to jog their memory, since they did that project over a month ago;)

I then shared some background info on the telescope. Talked about how all this money and time was put into it and when they got it into space the darn thing didn't even work! Talked about how the telescope is like a time machine because what we are seeing in the photos actually happened a LONG, LONG time ago. It's always a trip sharing images from the telescope and looking at the deep reaches of outer space with the kids.

After that, we practice a few techniques with the chalk pastels. They are required to use each technique at least once in their final drawing. When they are done practicing, students draw their outer space scene on a larger piece of paper (11x15"). I have photos up on my smart board for inspiration. They aren't expected to copy the photos, but they can borrow elements from them and get inspiration from them.

When students finish their drawings they must complete an exit slip with the following questions-
1.  How is this drawing similar to the Julien Colombier inspired drawing?
2.  Which drawing project did you enjoy more? Explain why.
3.  What do you think of the Hubble telescope?