By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Gina Louthian-Stanley’s Art 2D I and Art 2D 2 students at James River High School recently learned about patterns by way of cells. The cross-curriculum lesson allowed students to learn about science and art at the same time.
“I’m trying to do some cross-curricular activities in my classes,” she said, adding that this is the first time she has used cells to teach patterns. “A lot of patterns are found in cells, so I talked to one of the science teachers who gave me some websites for the students to research cells.”
After analyzing the patterns of cells, the students were required to sketch out four patterns of their own. Once they settled on a pattern, they embroidered it onto a three-inch in diameter piece of fabric.
Stanley noted that she was surprised by just how many of the students had never heard of embroidery before.
Pattern, she said, is one of the principles of design. The cell structures that the students researched ranged from mineral, animal, and plant cells. “Looking at the patterns helps them in a lot of different ways. They’ve really been engaged with it,” she said.
