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Swirls: Nature's Designs

Art and math combine in this activity where students explore patterns and nature and create a spiral design using a sgraffito technique.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Paper Clip(s)

Steps

  • Step 1

    Introduce the concept of the Fibonacci sequence. In the early 1200s an Italian mathematician known as "Fibonacci" (possibly short for "filius Bonacci" meaning son of Bonacci) solved a problem involving the growth of a rabbit population based on idealized assumptions. It resulted in a sequence of numbers that can also be found throughout nature. For example, the number of seeds in sunflowers follows the same spiral pattern as defined in the Fibonacci sequence. Ask students to think of examples of spirals in nature, such as pinecones, flower petals, artichokes, and others.

  • Step 2

    Explain that "sgraffito"(plural: sgraffiti) is an art technique defined as scratching through a surface layer to reveal a contrasting color or colors underneath. It is from the Italian word "graffiare" meaning to scratch. Artists such as Caravaggio used the technique in their paintings, and during the Renaissance it was fashionable to decorate walls with sgraffiti.

  • Step 3

    Have students create scratch art with swirling designs using a sgraffito technique. They can begin by covering a piece of paper with a thick layer of crayon mapping out where they would like to have the final art reveal various colors. When the full sheet of paper is covered with crayon they will go over the whole drawing with a layer of black paint. After the paint is dry, students will use a paper clip that is bent open or a toothpick or other simple tool to scratch spiral designs into the black surface. This will reveal the various colors beneath. Remind students that they do not need to press too hard when they scratch the surface, since they only want to remove the top paint layer.

  • Step 4

    Display the artwork on a Fibonacci bulletin board.

Standards

ARTS: Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.

MATH: Analyze, compare, create, and compose math ideas using written, oral, and drawn lines, shapes, forms, and patterns.

Adaptations

Have students look at examples of sgraffito in architecture such as on the Palazzo Nasi in Italy or the Hôtel Albert Ciamberlani in Belgium.

Challenge students to go on a Fibonnaci scavenger hunt. Ask them to look for examples of the sequence around the school, their home, the supermarket, or anywhere else they visit.