Last updated: December 16, 2021
Lesson Plan
George Washington Carver - The Artist: The Plant Doctor
- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- State Standards:
- Missouri Learning Standards Visual Arts:
3.VA.1.A,B; 3.VA.2.A,B; 3.VA.10.A
4.VA.1.A, B; 4.VA.7.A; 4.VA.9.A
Missouri Learning Standards Social Studies:
3.H.3.B.b; 3.H.3.C.a; 3.EG.5.D; 3.RI.6/E
4.EG.5.D; 4.EG.5.F - Additional Standards:
- National Visual Arts Standards – Media Arts:
CR3.1.3; Pr6.1.3
CR3.1.4; Pr6.1.4 - Thinking Skills:
- Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Applying: Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to a prior experience. Creating: Bring together parts (elements, compounds) of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for NEW situations.
Essential Question
How did his time exploring the natural world help develop George Washington Carver's artistic skills during his childhood?
Objective
This is one lesson from the unit plan, George Washington Carver - The Artist. Students will appreciate Carver’s ability to use natural materials in his artwork. Students will use items found in nature, as well as modern art supplies to create a collage.
Background
George Washington Carver created artistic works from childhood in Diamond, Missouri, and throughout his lifetime, deriving inspiration from beauty in nature. Carver had a great passion for art, possessing the soul of an artist and an appreciation for the fine arts. George Washington Carver’s love for art began when he was still a young boy growing up on the Carver farm.
One morning George was sent on an errand to the Baynham farm, known locally as a mansion. George went into the parlor and there a new world opened to him. He saw family portraits on the walls, the first paintings he had ever encountered. Along the way home he mused, “A man made those pictures. He made them with his hands, I want to do that.” He painted his first pictures with paints he made from bark, roots, and wild berries. Having no canvas, he used boards, tin cans, glass, and flat rocks. His early drawings of his home and the landscape allow us to see what it looked like then. They may be the only visual representations of the 240 acre farm where he grew up as a child.
George was a frail and sickly child. Susan and Moses Carver were his caretakers after his mother, Mary, was lost during a kidnapping. Because of his illness, George was given only light tasks as a child and Susan became his most significant role model, teaching him the “womanly” skills of sewing, cooking, laundering, and needlework. Moses’ influence can be seen in George’s love of music and his disgust at “wastefulness.”
George was allowed considerable freedom merely to be a boy. This freedom fostered his natural curiosity and zest for life. Hours were spent roaming the woods on the Carver farm. As he explored the woods, he collected things he found beautiful. He was fascinated with the unusual and the stalking of “wild game”, usually of the reptile or insect variety. George carefully concealed these and other treasures in his pockets, to be secretly hoarded away in the Carver’s cabin. After a few unpleasant encounters with George’s creatures, Susan required George to empty his pockets at the doorstep.
George was an orphaned, African American, sickly child - a unique combination in that frontier town. Three factors set George apart from his young, white neighbors: his frailness, his genius, and his color. Almost from the beginning he was recognized as being special. His curiosity seemed to run deeper than average, and he mastered whatever was taught him.
In a little plant nursery in the woods he called his secret garden, he carefully transplanted and cultivated many native plants. Keen observations born of curiosity led George to an understanding of the needs of each plant and an ability to nurse sick plants to health. This skill was widely appreciated in the neighborhood and caused him to be called the Plant Doctor. Throughout George’s young life he pursued learning and had a great desire to attain an education. By the age of about 10-12 years, he had learned everything that he could, not only from Moses and Susan Carver, but from a private tutor as well.
Preparation
Supplies needed:
blue construction paper, 12x18
scrap construction or colored paper
glue
items found on nature hike: leaves, twigs, flowers, rocks, shells, etc.
a container for collecting items
Provide each student with a large sheet of blue construction paper, glue, and assorted colors of scrap construction paper.
Locate a nearby area for a nature walk.
Provide students with a small sack or pail to collect nature items.
Teacher Notes: This is a very simple and fun project. Collage may be created from anything that you can glue onto the background. You could incorporate pieces of fabric or lace for the flowers.
Materials
Download George Washington Carver - The Artist Curriculum
Lesson Hook/Preview
Who likes to go on nature walks?!! If you did not have any art supplies such as paper, paints, and a paint brush, what items in nature could be used to create works of art?
Procedure
- Take class on a nature walk and have students collect small twigs and leaves along the walk. If a nature walk is not possible, bring in twigs and leaves for student use.
- Conduct a short lesson using the information from the Background section, thinking about young George and his resourcefulness in creating art from readily available items in the woods and prairie fields.
- Have students create nature art.
- Glue twigs onto 12x18 inch blue construction paper background to look like a tree limb. (You may use more than one in varying sizes to create the look of a tree with limbs.)
- Glue the leaves onto the branches.
- You may also have students cut and glue construction paper blossoms or apples onto the limbs.
Vocabulary
texture - the way things feel or look as if they might feel if touched
line - the most basic element of drawing; an identifiable path of a point moving in space
shape - an area that stands out because of a defined boundary; may be geometric or free form
space - the distance between points on a surface; emptiness around, above, below, or within objects
Assessment Materials
Interpreting ArtworkAsk students to interpret their artwork, sharing it with the entire class, in small groups, or individually to the teacher. What does their artwork represent? Is it literal or imaginative? Why did they choose this? Are any of their materials the same types of materials that George Washington Carver used when he was a child?
Additional assessment ideas:
Give students a contour of a flower and have them label the parts.
Compare and contrast life for George Washington Carver as a child to their life today.
Supports for Struggling Learners
This is an excellent activity for most learning styles because it is a multi-sensory walk and art activity.
For visually impaired students, some assistance may be needed during the nature walk to choose what items to collect.
Some students may need extra assistance with applying glue or other materials, especially if there are fine motor skill challenges.
Additional Resources
For more art lessons based on George Washington Carver’s life, download the unit, George Washington Carver – The Artist from this lesson plan.
Related Lessons or Education Materials
Watch the film George Washington Carver - A Man of Character:
https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=6FA1262D-CD71-4C9D-A77C-D477D96D7727
Distance learning is available. Request a virtual visit with the park rangers at George Washington Carver National Monument: 417-325-4151