Georgia Standards

 

South Carolina Standards

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Materials

• Sketchbooks or STEAM journals/pencils
• Styrofoam sheets
• Dull pencils or ball point pens
• Brayers
• Water based printing ink
• Printing paper (white, colored, textured; mixed media paper works well)
• Colored pencils or art sticks
• Drying racks or designated drying space
• Paper towels to wipe ink off of styrofoam plates
• Colored index cards
• Trays for ink
• Optional: Colored pencils. art sticks, watercolors and paint brushes, etc.

 

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Activator: The "Survival Game"

• Objective: Help students understand carrying capacity and competition for resources.
• Activity instructions:
  • Set the scene:
    • Tell students they are deer living in a forest. The classroom represents their habitat.
    • They must "find food" (colored index cards scattered around the room).
  • Rules:
    • When the teacher says "Go", students must pick up only one card at a time and bring it back to their seat.
    • After each round, some students will be "eliminated" (didn’t find food).
    • Increase competition by adding/removing "food" cards in each round.
    • Introduce a "predator" (teacher or student) who can "tag" students (eliminating them from the population).
  • Reflection: Discuss what happens to the population when resources become scarce or competition increases.
• Connect to lesson: This game simulates carrying capacity—when resources run out, populations decline.
  • Ask students, “How does this apply to real ecosystems?”. Transition into a class discussion about biotic and abiotic factors that influence populations.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. What factors determine how many organisms an ecosystem can support?
2. How do species interact in ecosystems (predation, competition, symbiosis)?
3. What happens when a species population grows too large?

Work Session

Research & Brainstorm: 

• As a class, students will choose one of Earth’s major biomes or aquatic ecosystems:
  • Tropical Rainforest
  • Desert
  • Grassland
  • Taiga
  • Tundra
  • Freshwater
  • Estuary
  • Marine
• Students will research the biotic and abiotic factors in their chosen biome.
• Students will then sketch a food web/chain with at least:
  • One producer (plant)
  • Two primary consumers (herbivores)
  • One predator
  • One decomposer
• Before students begin their printmaking, they will complete a short written response:
  • What biome did you choose?
  • Which biotic and abiotic factors did you include?
  • How will your print show interactions in the ecosystem?

 

Give students the following instructions to create their prints:

• Create a Printing Plate:
  • Choose one species from your ecosystem and sketch it on paper.
  • Use a dull pencil or ballpoint pen to carve design into the foam—press firmly but avoid puncturing all the way through.
  • Encourage students to sketch lightly first before carving to avoid mistakes.
  • Add textural details to represent how the species interacts with the ecosystem.
• Carving Techniques:
  • Keep lines simple and bold for clear prints; intricate details may not transfer well.
  • Reverse letters or numbers if including text, as prints will be a mirror image.
  • Vary line thickness for added depth—thicker lines hold more ink, while thinner lines create subtle details.
• Inking the Plate:
  • Roll out a thin, even layer of ink on a tray before applying to the styrofoam plate with a brayer.
  • Roll the inked brayer over the styrofoam plate. Make sure ink covers the entire design, but avoid excessive ink, which can cause smudging.
  • Test prints on scrap paper before making the final print.
• Printing Process:
  • Place the inked plate face down on the final paper and press evenly with hands or a clean brayer.
  • Avoid shifting or sliding the plate while printing to prevent smudging.
  • Lift the plate carefully to reveal the design.
  • Encourage students to appreciate the imperfections as part of the artistic process!
• Creative Enhancements:
  • Try different colors – Experiment with layering multiple prints in different colors.
  • Overlap prints – Print the same design multiple times on one page to create patterns.
  • Use mixed media – Combine printmaking with drawing, collage, or watercolor backgrounds for unique effects.

 

Collaborative Ecosystem Model:

• Assemble a class biome display:
  • Each student’s print represents one species in the biome.
  • Arrange prints based on interactions (e.g., predator near prey, plants near decomposers, etc.).
  • Use labels or speech bubbles to explain each species’ role in the ecosystem.

 

Closing Reflection

• Facilitate a discussion around the following questions:
  • How does your species interact with others in the ecosystem?
  • What factors affect the ecosystem’s population size (predation, competition, disease, etc.)?
  • How does your print visually represent the species’ role?
  • What happens when the carrying capacity is exceeded in this biome?
• Students will complete a short reflection (written or through video) explaining:
  • What biotic and abiotic factors are represented in your collaborative ecosystem model?
  • How does your print demonstrate carrying capacity, competition, or species interactions?
  • What challenges did you face in printmaking, and how did you overcome them?

 

Assessments

Formative

Think-Pair-Share (during brainstorming)

• After students sketch their food web or ecosystem interactions, students will pair up and explain their choices.
• Teacher circulates to assess understanding of content and the printmaking process.

 

Mini-Checkpoint Questions (before printing)

• Before students carve their print, they must complete a short written response:
  • What biome did you choose?
  • Which biotic and abiotic factors did you include?
  • How will your print show interactions in the ecosystem?

Summative

Final Print and Reflection (Written or Video)

• Students will create a short reflection explaining:
  • What biotic and abiotic factors are represented in your collaborative ecosystem model?
  • How does your print demonstrate carrying capacity, competition, or species interactions?
  • What challenges did you face in printmaking, and how did you overcome them?

 

Differentiation

Accelerated:  Create multi-layered prints with multiple species interacting. Research and add how climate change affects the chosen biome. Create a digital ecosystem infographic. Using Canva, Google Slides, or Adobe Express, students can create a digital infographic explaining the ecosystem they represented. It must include: Their print Key species and roles A description of carrying capacity   Remedial: Provide visual examples for reference. Allow students to present their reflections orally.

 

Additional Resources

Virtual Field Trip

• Use Google Earth or National Geographic’s Explorer Classroom to explore different biomes. Students can take notes on species and environmental factors.
• What Is Printmaking? The Met
• Printmaking - Tate Museum

 

Credits

Ideas contributed by: Shannon Green

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  May 2025 @ ArtsNOW

 

 

Georgia Standards

 

South Carolina Standards

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Materials

• Science food chain reference materials
• Pencils
• Copy paper
• Styrofoam sheets
• Dull pencils or ball point pens
• Water based printing ink
• Brayers
• Newsprint or packing paper
• Paper for printing (mixed media paper works well)
• Colored pencils or art sticks
• Drying rack or space to lay prints
• Paper towels to wipe ink off of styrofoam plates
• Trays for ink

 

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Engage (Explore the Food Chain)

• Show a video or diagram of a food chain in different ecosystems, such as forest, ocean, grassland, etc.
• Have students brainstorm different organisms that would exist in these ecosystems and categorize them as producers, consumers, or decomposers.
• Discuss how energy moves from the sun to plants/producers, to animals/consumers, and then to decomposers.

Work Session

Explore (Sketch & Plan):

• Each student will choose an organism from a specific ecosystem.
• Students will sketch the organism and simplify it into bold shapes for printmaking.
• Ask students to think of examples of symbols and how symbols represent ideas. Then have them think about how to represent their organism symbolically (e.g., arrows or the sun to represent energy flow).

 

Create (Printmaking Process):

• Introduce and demonstrate the printmaking process:
  • Carving the styrofoam plate:
    • Draw lightly with a pencil before pressing into the styrofoam to avoid mistakes.
    • Use a dull pencil or ballpoint pen to carve designs—press firmly but avoid puncturing all the way through the styrofoam.
    • Keep lines simple and bold for clear prints; intricate details may not transfer well.
    • Vary line thickness for added depth—thicker lines hold more ink, while thinner lines create subtle details.
  • Inking the plate:
    • Roll out a thin, even layer of ink on a tray before applying to the printing plate with a brayer.
    • Then, using the brayer, roll a thin, even layer of ink over the styrofoam plate. Too much ink can make details disappear!
    • Students should take turns rolling ink on the plate while their partner watches for even coverage
  • Printing process:
    • Carefully place the inked plate face down on paper—one student can hold it while the other presses.
    • Use hands or a clean brayer to press firmly and evenly over the entire plate.
    • Lift the plate slowly to reveal the print!

Students may need to repeat this process, experimenting with different amounts of ink and application of pressure when transferring the print.

• Cleanup and reflection:
  • Lay prints flat to dry before handling.
  • Have students compare their prints and discuss what worked well.
  • If needed, allow students to re-ink and try again.
  • Once prints are dry, add color and details with art stix, crayons, or colored pencils

 

Classroom Tips:

• Students can work in pairs to create prints.
• Encourage students to work carefully.
• Make sure there is a piece of newsprint under each printmaking station.
• This process works great as a center. Set up a station and allow student pairs to rotate through to create their prints.

 

Closing Reflection

Reflect (Gallery walk and discussion):

• As a whole group, arrange the prints in a large food web display.
• Discuss how each organism connects and how energy moves.
• Have students write a response to the following reflection question: What role does your organism play? How does it depend on others?

 

Assessments

Formative

• Review student sketches.
• Think-Pair-Share: Observe whether students can explain their organism's role in the food chain before printing.

Summative

• Final print and food web display – Does the print clearly represent an organism in the food web?
• Written reflection–Students can describe how their organism interacts with others.

 

Differentiation

Accelerated:  Research and incorporate multiple organisms into one print, including producers, consumers, and decomposers. Add habitat details in the background of the print. Create an Interactive Food Web using Google Slides or Canva.   Remedial: Provide pre-drawn templates to trace onto styrofoam. Offer sentence starters for the written reflection (e.g., "My organism is a ____. It gets energy from ____.").

 

Additional Resources

• What Is Printmaking? The Met
• Printmaking - Tate Museum

 

Credits

Ideas contributed by: Shannon Green

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  May 2025 @ ArtsNOW