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Colorado 2nd Graders Connect Science and Art

Cloud paintings and poetry grace NOAA's Boulder facility


Barry Reichenbaugh
Office of Communications
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

Second graders in Clare Schoolmaster’s class at Mesa Elementary in Boulder, Colo., have been studying clouds – and Van Gogh. And they have found that the two go together like tomato soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches.

Visitors to NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory on Earth Day were able to enjoy the 2nd graders’ creations, on display at NOAA’s David Skaggs Research Center lobby. The next day, NOAA scientists and staff hosted a reception for the young artistic scientists/scientific artists.

The children integrated scientific watercolors of clouds at high, middle, and low altitudes, and also renderings of the clouds in the colors and style of an Impressionist painter. In the middle of the images they added an acrostic poem on the subject, using the first letter of a cloud type to guide the literary – yet informative – works.

An acrostic example from Marcella:
Curly soft
Icy cloud
Realizing it in the sky
Riding high
Usually white
Slippery feeling

Dr. Sandy MacDonald greets the 2nd grade artists/scientists. Photo credit: Will von Dauster.

Sandy MacDonald, director of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, greets the 2nd grade artists/scientists, and tells them that he was about their age when he first became fascinated with weather and natural phenomena.
Photo credit: Will von Dauster.

 

2nd graders point to their paintings and poems. Photo credit: Will von Dauster.

Showing off their own work, these 2nd graders point to their paintings and poems, with realistic clouds on the left, impressionistic clouds on the right, and an acrostic poem about clouds in the middle. Photo credit: Will von Dauster.

 

Scientist/artist reception. Photo credit: Will von Dauster.

What scientist/artist reception would be complete without some refreshments? This 2nd grade class came from their school on the local city bus, and such a trip is bound to build a powerful thirst. Photo credit: Will von Dauster.


Poem and artworkd by 2nd grader. Photo credit: Will von Dauster.

This 2nd grade painter/poet chose two cloud types – cirrus and stratus -- to initialize her acrostic poem. Photo credit: Will von Dauster.