Hidden Safari

This project required the construction of our magic ruby red glasses in order to see the finished hidden safari animal. They were made of construction paper and red cellophane.

The procedure for this project:

• glue the red cellophane to the construction paper to make magic ruby red glasses
• have the students choose a cool color to draw with
• choose what safari animal they want to draw
• have them draw the safari animal they have chosen upside down using the whole piece of paper
• students now choose warm colors to make patterns with in order to hide the drawn animal
• teacher demonstrates how to apply the pattern over the animal by the use of lines and shapes - do not make the pattern too large or too small
• put on the ruby red glasses as you are making the pattern in order to make sure you can still see the animal through your pattern
• glue animal paper to a colored piece of construction paper making about a one inch border all around the drawing
• students write three clues as to what their safari animal is on a note card

 

Here is my hidden safari animal, ruby red glasses, and my clue card.

 

 

 

Here is my safari animal as seen through my ruby red glasses. It is an elephant.

 

 

This was an enjoyable project. I had never heard of drawing upside down, and it felt strange at first. I was amazed at how much easier it was to draw the elephant upside down. The proportions were easier to see, making the lines easier to draw, so I didn't erase as much. I was also amazed at how the warm colors hid the cool color.

 

An extension activity for this project could be having the students make smaller sized pictures with hidden science vocabulary words. Along the bottom of the border would be the science vocabulary word, and hidden in the picture would be the definition to the word. The students would give the definition of the word and then put on the glasses to check themselves.