Asteroid Belt Art
Of all the subjects we study in science, space seems to be a particularly fascinating one. But of course it would be! It's absolutely incredible! Just think about all the quarks and spirals and ever-expanding bits. Absolutely nuts! Mind boggling! When things are this brain exploding (read: difficult to grasp), we find that art helps to not only solidify the learning but to bring a greater perspective. Check out the Asteroid Belt art we created in an attempt to understand size differential between Mars and Jupiter. This also gives us a tactile, visual representation of the Asteroid Belt placement!
Can you guess what we made our asteroids from? CHALK! It works really well and it looks super cool!
Gather:
Large pieces of chalk in white, grey, black, tan
Butter knife
Cutting board
Black, orange and red construction paper
Scissors
White glue
White, silver and gold/yellow/red acrylic paint
Brushes
Create:
1. Use a knife to scrape apart large chunks of chalk. Make smaller pieces and dust too!
2. Add white acrylic paint to a small bowl. Add enough water to thin. Use a thick paint brush to "splatter" white stars onto the paper. You can do this by either scraping your nail across the bristles or hold a finger out on the opposite hand and bang the middle of the brush against it.
3. Cut a large circle from the orange construction paper. Now cut a much smaller circle from the red construction paper.
4. Paint strips or otherwise make marks on the orange circle to represent gas. We used a small bit of foil scrunched up to stamp a gassy effect.
5. Glue Mars and Jupiter on opposite corners of the paper.
6. Squirt white glue across the paper from one side to the other. Sprinkle on large and small pieces of chalk and chalk dust.
Allow to dry. Hang on the way and admire! And don't forget to look up into the sky!! So many beautiful things to see!
Have a wonderful day!
Mary Alice xx
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