Supplement for Family Go Guide
You are an Artist for the Desert Museum
(a supplemental activity from the Family Go Guide!)
The artists who create natural history graphics and exhibits learn all they can about their subjects so that their work is accurate. Pretend you are an artist for the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and you are asked to work on a Desert Museum exhibit. Select an animal or plant you want to learn more about. Research your subject by reading books, using the internet, or visiting the Desert Museum. Choose one or more of the art projects shown below.
- Create a Mobile
- The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum hires you to design a mobile that displays an animal plus interesting facts about it. It should be colorful, attractive, and informative so that it catches visitors' attention. (A mobile is movable art. The figures are tied to strings which are attached to a hanging coathanger in such a way that they balance and move with air currents.)
- Build a Diorama
- The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum asks you to make a diorama depicting an animal in its natural habitat. A shoebox is a good way to make a sample to present to them for their approval. (A diorama is three-dimensional miniature scene depicting figures and background in a naturalistic setting.)
- Write a Children's Book
- The Desert Museum is publishing a series of children's book and gives you
the assignment of writing a story. Here are the details. You must pretend YOU
are an animal and write a story about your life. Here are some of the things
you could include.
- a description of yourselfwhat you eat and how you find your foodadaptations that help you live in the desertwhere you live and why it is a good habitat
- dangers you must look out for