The Art Room can be a very cool place...at least as long as we are visiting Antarctica.  Our Amazing Race for Art got started at the South Pole.  How cool is that?  (hahaha)  We have learned about the weather, the animal life, the scientist who live there and the landscapes of this icey continent. 

Kindergarten through 2nd grade are making penguins.  Did you know there are 17 kinds of penguins that live in Antarctica but only one of them stays there 12 months a year?  It is the only animal that inhabits the south pole all year long--the Emperor Penguin which grows to be 4-5 feet tall.  Each of the children are making at least one penguin and painting a habitat for it to live in.  We will even be adding some southern lights (Aurora Australius) to the sky.

Grades 3-5 are creating landscapes of Antarctica.  Their pictures will have a foreground, middleground and background.  Many techniques will be used to create a feeling of depth, such as overlapping, placement on the paper, degree of detail and size.   The use of shading will also make the ice, hills, mountains and wildlife feel three dimensonal.  They will only be using pencils and erasers to begin with.  Ink and paint may be added towards the end to the project. 

One of the most important parts of this adventure is that we have been invited to participate in a very special project.  The children have an opportunity to recieve a postcard from the South Pole.  This won't be just any old postcard--it will be one they design and make themselves.  The cards will be packaged up and sent to Antarctica where a research scientist from Seattle will send them through the postal system from the mail station closest to the south pole.  They will come to your homes postmarked from there.  The postmarks themselves are valuable--after all, how many people in the world ever go there to send out mail?  All that I am asking is for you to donate stamps (a $.23 stamp is all that is needed for a postcard) for your child to get his or her postcard mailed back to them.  (Of course, extra stamps will go a long way to be sure every  child can participate.)

It will be an exciting adventure, and I can't wait to see all the finished projects.

Thank you,

Ms Elaine Flett Perez