How do we remember the Civil War? Whose stories are told in the art and memorials from and about the time period? In this resource students will examine works of art from and relating to the Civil War era. Students will also learn about the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts, an all-Black regiment, and compose a written response to a cause they are passionate about.

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

This lesson plan is intended to encourage learners to integrate the visual arts with science and appreciate nature. Students will create a round or square stepping stone using colored glass pieces with a mortar and sand mixture.

Students' eyes are opened to the value of creative, expressive and succinct visual presentation of data, findings and concepts. Student pairs design, redesign and perform simple experiments to test the differences in thermal conductivity (heat flow) through different media (foil and thin steel). Then students create visual diagrams of their findings that can be understood by anyone with little background on the subject, applying their newly learned art vocabulary and concepts to clearly communicate their results. The principles of visual design include contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity; the elements of visual design include an awareness of the use of lines, color, texture, shape, size, value and space. If students already have data available from other experiments, have them jump right into the diagram creation and critique portions of the activity.

State and National resources for the National Art Education Association Interest Group Public Policy and Art Administration

This collection uses primary sources to explore social realism in American art. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

For over a decade, the National Gallery of Art has been exploring art’s potential to inspire and strengthen critical thinking in teachers and students. Using Artful Thinking routines with original works of art in the museum, and with art reproductions in classrooms, we have empowered all kinds of teachers to transform how they teach.

For this one-of-a-kind course, we've used our experience with Artful Thinking to build a unique online learning environment. Inspired by Artful Thinking's inquiry method, you will have the opportunity to look, reason, and wonder about works of art, just as the routines ask students to do. To make this possible, we've integrated an innovative tool, called iiiF, that allows you to zoom in and explore each high-definition work of art from the National Gallery of Art's free, online database. You'll also watch real lessons unfold with teachers and students in our original videos. And you'll receive everything you need to put the routines into practice with your students.

Trivium Art History is a free, online art history textbook designed for discovery. Meet history's greatest artists, browse artwork, and explore the timeline of human creativity. Trivium offers short, conversational essays and artist biographies and encourages exploration by artistic movements, mediums and themes.

Uncovering America
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AMERICAN?

Discover compelling stories of creativity, struggle, and resilience in this new set of resources for K–12 educators featuring works of art that reflect the richness and diversity of the people, places, and cultures of the United States. Encourage creative, critical, and historical thinking in your students as you examine works of art from the country’s creation to the present day.

Thematic modules contain:

Introductory essays
Downloadable high-resolution image sets featuring background information
Essential questions for students
Classroom activities
Selected additional resources
What’s your American story? Share with #AmericanStoriesNGA or send your stories to classroom@nga.gov for the chance to be highlighted here.

Students learn the value of writing and art in science and engineering. They acquire vocabulary that is appropriate for explaining visual art and learn about visual design principles (contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity) and elements (lines, color, texture, shape, size, value and space) that are helpful when making visual aids. A PowerPoint(TM) presentation heightens students' awareness of the connection between art and engineering in order to improve the presentation of results, findings, concepts, information and prototype designs. Students also learn about the science and engineering research funding process that relies on effective proposal presentations, as well as some thermal conductivity / heat flow basics including the real-world example of a heat sink which prepares them for the associated activity in which they focus on creating diagrams to communicate their own collected experimental data.