Grand Canyon, 5th Grade

Fifth graders have been recently studying the layers of the earth. When I was asked to come up with an art lesson with this topic, I was at a loss of what to do. After much consideration, I came up with this lesson. I began this lesson by showing students photos from the Grand Canyon. We noticed how sedimentary layers can be seen in the canyon.

To create these, I had the students draw a horizon near the top of the page. Mountains or plateaus were added on top of the horizon. Then, I had my students draw the rest of the canyon. The sedimentary layers were then added. Everything was colored in oil pastels. This was the fun part. I allowed the students to experiment with blending different colors together. Also, students used tooth picks to scratch into the oil pastels to add more details to the sedimentary rock.