Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes	Part A: The seasons
30 minutes	Part B: Favourite place, favourite season
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: The Seasons

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by asking students to share what they already know about the seasons, including:

How many seasons are there and in what order do they occur?
What are the key features of each season?
What happens to the weather in each season?
What happens to the plants, animals and landscape in each season?
Which is your favourite season and why?

Year 2 Differentiation:

What happens with water in each of the seasons? How do the seasons affect the amount of water in our environment?

Record student answers on the board ensuring that the following key points are addressed, highlighting issues relating to water for students in Year 2:

Spring – Warmer weather starts to arrive, spring rains, lots of flowers and blossoms, baby animals are born, plants do a lot of growing.
Summer – Many hot days and nights, less rain, standing water (dams, lakes etc) starts to dry up, grass turns from green to brown, heatwaves and bushfires.
Autumn – Cooler weather arrives, frosts, some rain, leaves on deciduous trees turn gold/orange/red/brown, some green grass with the rain.
Winter – Cold weather, lots of rain, plants growth slows down, lots of mud!

Step 2.

Now explain to students that many artists have been and continue to be inspired by the seasons and the weather. Display the Art in different seasons flashcards to students, using the discussion points on the flashcards to guide the discussion.

Step 3.

Now explain to students that all these images describe the seasons in other parts of the world. Although in Australia we do get different seasons, nature doesn’t know that it should be following four seasons. In fact, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities typically don’t use four seasons to describe the general changes in weather over the course of a year. Some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities will describe three seasons while others will describe six.

Tip: This website shows some of the different ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders divide the year into seasons. Consider exploring this website with students, or use this as the basis for further inquiry.

Part B: Favourite Place, Favourite Season

Step 1.

For the next part of this lesson, students will be asked to create an artwork (drawing or painting).

Differentiation

Foundation and Year 1 students should choose a place in nature that they love and that is familiar to them. They should create a picture of this place in their favourite season.
Year 2 students need to think of a place that has water that is special and is familiar to them. It could be the beach, a lake, a river or a fountain in a park. Students should create a picture of this place in their favourite season and annotate the picture to describe what is happening to the water in this picture in the season described.

Students should choose a range of mediums (e.g. pencils, paints, crayons etc.) that helps them to represent their work (e.g. what medium will be best to show a wet, rainy landscape? What would work best for a hot, dry landscape?)

You could extend this activity by inviting students to create a series of images that represents this place in the different season and that shows the way the different season affect this place.

Step 2.

Once complete, work as a class or break the class into groups of three or four. Invite students to share their artwork, talking about:

where this place is and why they chose this place
what season is represented and how it affects this place
the medium they chose and why.

Reflection

As a class, invite students to think about the special place that they created an image of and why this place needs to be looked after. Depending on age and ability, invite students to complete the following sentence either through discussion or in writing:

I would like to look after my special place because…
One way I could look after my special place is…

Take it further

Work with students to design and create a gallery of work to share with other students and teachers at your school.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn’t work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Creative Sustainability - Art Through the Seasons

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