Drawn to Nature: A Developmentally Based Exploration of Art and Science

ABSTRACT

The Drawn to Nature program is a collaboration between the museum and a local school district that encourages first graders to explore the ponds, meadows, forests, and sculpture on the 145-acre nature preserve of the Nassau County Museum of Art in two seasons. Students engage in active, developmentally appropriate learning through movement across the grounds, observational sketching of the various elements of nature, close analysis of the natural world in two seasons, and collective discovery of our outdoor sculpture. First graders discover seasonal changes and the world around them through the lens of both science and art.

KEYWORDS:

• School collaborations
• museum teaching
• outdoor learning
• mindfulness
• child-centered learning

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Port Washington School District, the first grade teachers and their students from all five elementary schools for collaborating with us to create Drawn to Nature, with special thanks to Kevin Scully, the district’s Director of Creative Arts for his steadfast support of the program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

About the authors

Katherine Aragon, M.S.Ed. is the School and Family Program Educator for the Nassau County Museum of Art and has been at the museum for five years. Her interest in process-based art and interdisciplinary teaching methods is an important element of her teaching philosophy and program development at the museum.

Rebecca Hirschwerk, M.Ed. is the Manager of School programs for the Nassau County Museum of Art and has been at the museum since 2007. In her role she develops and implements programs for school age visitors as well as professional development workshops for teachers and administrators.

Notes

1 Wood, Yardsticks, 75–6.

2 Waite, “Teaching and Learning Outside the Classroom,” 75.

3 New York State Science and Visual Arts Standards.

4 Hagen and Nayar, “Yoga for Children,” 5.

5 Land, “Full STEAM Ahead,” 549.

6 Leather, “A Critique of Forest School,” 6.

7 Wood and Hedges, “Curriculum in Early Childhood Education,” 399.