Visual Arts 7
Materials, Technologies, and Processes

It is expected that students will:

• evaluate the use of materials, tools, equipment, and processes in a variety of artworks
• demonstrate an understanding of safety and environmental considerations in the use of materials, tools, equipment, and processes
• use appropriate vocabulary to describe materials, tools, equipment, and processes

(Creating/Communicating)

It is expected that students will:

• select materials, tools, equipment, and processes to make images
• demonstrate a willingness to experiment with a variety of materials, tools, equipment, and processes
• use and maintain materials, tools, equipment, and work space in a safe and an environmentally sensitive manner

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Materials, Technologies, and Processes in other grades click on an icon below.

• Ask students to construct action models depicting some aspect of a high-profile school event (e.g., school dance, musical presentation, theatre production). Have students plan and develop images, then construct the models using a variety of materials.
• Display and discuss several cubist paintings by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Have students brainstorm other media that might be effective for creating similar images. Ask each student to choose a medium to create a work in the cubist style. As a class, discuss why collage and print media might have been chosen by the cubists. Create a class show with the artists' reproductions alongside student work.
• Display examples of Inuit prints (e.g., a Kenojuak calendar). In their visual journals, ask students to work in the style of the Inuit prints, then use these images as the basis for styrene printmaking. Have them print multiple images to use for calendars or card sets. Students follow the clean-up and storage processes required when working with print- making inks.
• Provide students with images of jewellery from Egyptian times. Discuss the materials, colours, and design shapes used in making the jewellery. Have students select a modelling medium (e.g., Fimo, clay, play dough, baker's clay) with which to make beads to decorate in a similar style.
• Have students conduct a class debate on a resolution that focusses on safety awareness and environmental sensitivity in the use of materials, tools, and equipment. For example:
  • "Artists are responsible for the environmental impact of their art form."
  • "Trees are more important than art on paper."
  • "Society should compensate or care for artists injured or made ill while practising their art form."

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• As students view and discuss the work of other artists, note the extent to which they:
  • speculate about how an artist achieved a particular effect
  • ask questions about media and materials
  • show respect for the effects and processes in the work of others
  • use increasingly precise language to describe materials and processes
• When viewing students' work, note the extent to which they have:
  • chosen a variety of materials to achieve specific effects
  • taken risks by using materials in unfamiliar and innovative ways
  • adapted processes and materials they observed in the work of others
• As students work, ask questions and provide feedback about the ways in which they:
  • make connections between what they want to achieve and the materials, tools, or processes they use
  • speculate about different possibilities
  • experiment with tools and processes to solve problems
  • use materials and tools safely
• Ask students to reflect on their developing skills by making sketches in response to one or more of the following prompts:
  • A process I am ready to teach others is ------------.
  • A material or technology I want to use more often is ------------.
  • A process I am especially proud of having learned is ------------.
  • A piece of work that best shows my skills with materials is ------------.

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