Students will learn about the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter Reformation as related events. They will analyze works by the artists Rubens and Rembrandt, and use the artworks to illustrate the divergent beliefs and philosophies of the two movements.

Students will view three works of decorative arts and complete the accompanying activities to better understand the Age of Exploration and the Scientific Revolution, and how these "revolutions" and their discoveries influenced the new European world view.

Students will use visual analysis to examine two images of rocks. They will make their own observations of individual rocks through drawing, and understand how the same observation skills can be used in the study of geology.

STEAM stands for "Science & Technology interpreted through Engineering & the Arts, all based in Mathematical elements," and aims to bring FUNctional literacy to students. Founder/teacher Georgette Yakman describes how her immigrant grandparents, brother with Asperger syndrome, and artistic stepfather led her to bring Arts into STEM.

In this art meets science activity, learners pack silver, ball-shaped ornaments in a single layer in a box to create an array of spherical reflectors. Learners can use this as a tool to study the properties of spherical mirrors while creating colorful mosaic reflections. This is a great optics activity to use during the holiday season or any time of year.

Ms. Castellano and Ms. Wielopolski see art as an expression of student lives and leverage that expression to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Viewing art as a set of conscious decisions, both teachers ask students to explore and experiment with artistic elements such as color, texture, space and technique, making decisions about use of these elements purposefully. This experience is different for students because they must think critically and plan around a subject that is non-linear in nature.Emphasis is placed on the importance of the arts in developing traditionally academic skills and ideas, making connections to studentsŐ ability to think analytically, write and understand poetry and express ideas verbally and in writing as a result of this learning.

Students will examine an image of civilians affected by the Vietnam War. They will research and discuss the reasons the Vietnam War began, why America became involved, and what some of the long-term effects of this war have been

Students keep journals in which they respond in writing to Dorothea Lange's photographs.