Journal # 8 From All Sides Now

From All Sides Now Weaving Technology and Multiple Intelligences into Science and Art By Carol Lach, Ellen Little, Deborah Nazzaro Learning and Leading with Technology Volume 30 Number 5 Pgs. 32-35, 59-61.

The premise of this article deals with the power of technology which gives it the ability to merge it with the curriculum and create unique learning opportunities. This article describes how teachers used the Internet to create a powerful feeling of discovery and allowed students to proceed at their own pace. By weaving together technology, multiple intelligence, and curriculum they were able to help students work in their own "magical learning environment" and accomplish the objective of science and art units. The project was designed to teach the patterns and structures in nature along with symmetry, contrast, balance, and shape in art.
Howard Gardner believed that each person had at least some degree of each of the intellectual competencies. He defined them as "frames of mind" as a means of mapping the range of abilities of the human brain. All of the Multiple Intelligences (MI) meet these criteria.
1. Each person possesses all of them to some degree.
2. Famous people can be identified as highly intelligent in each intelligence, and/or combination of these.
3. Each intelligence is mapped to a specific part of the brain.
4. These develop naturally at different ages.
5. MI are inherited to the extent that certain individuals have a predisposition for a high degree of certain ones.
6. MI are developed: that is with appropriate opportunities, they can be nurtured and expanded.
The project described covered a lesson that included science and art. They studied the naturalist painter Andy Goldsworth while they studied trees and structures in nature and science. Using the artists work for inspiration they created their own nature sculptures, modified these in a paint program, wrote poems about them, and created alternate art forms based on their original. They then assembled a multimedia project using these works. Students need more than just directions telling them to look something up on the Internet. Including an activity like a scavenger hunt can provide directions while giving students flexibility. Students were asked to use different search engines and viewed several of his works. Students could have additional or bonus work if they completed tasks ahead of the others. This additional work could include more description and/or visual notes, or produce a pencil sketch.
Students were encouraged to bring their own collections to share with the class. Students viewed more examples of Goldsworth's nature sculptures in a book and then demonstrate how to approach creating them by showing them a collection of the teachers. Students worked together as a group to design their own nature sculpture.
Students wrote poems, gave names to sculptures, took digital photographs and experimented with special effects. Later they converted these to other art forms to express the same theme or composition. Students also used KidPix and HyperStudio to create portions of their projects. Students identified the MI styles of learning through each stage of the project. They successfully used a rubric to help themselves understand goals and objectives and to keep themselves on track over the course of the project.

Questions
1. How can I find out about different types of technology tools like those talked about in the article?
You can find a variety of resources on the Internet. I have included a number of websites that introduce these tools.
http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/mac/kidpix.html
http://www.education.umd.edu/blt/hyperstudio/
http://www.cap.nsw.edu.au/kidpix_folder/kid_pix_web.htm

2. How can I help my students to identify the different styles of learning as exemplified by the Multiple Intelligences?
You can make a series of visuals or realias that give the name of a particular MI. Prior to showing the realia you can provide a description of the MI and allow the students to name it.