Earth Sciences & Astronomy Interactive Art created in collaboration with kids
In April 2016 Ben Beeton who was an artist in residence at Yulara near Uluru and Nathaniel Butterworth who is an astronomer at the Astro-hub visited Yulara Primary School. Ben and Nathaniel spoke to the students about the deep time history of life on earth and our place in the universe. Ben and Nathaniel brought images for kids to choose from which they could draw. This artwork is a collage of those drawings.
Objectives
Inform the students on how the stars, the rocks and life on Earth are all connected through deep time
Include the students in the research and creative process through their own discoveries and art
Create an earth sciences/astronomy artwork
Leave a legacy in the form of interactive online art
Process
1) Teach students about how the age of the periods of Geological time relates to the when light that is reaching us now left selected stars or galaxies.
2) Teach students what the world might have looked like where their school is at the beginning of each geological period of time.
3) Teach students about the local geology and ecology through students selecting something to draw in the environment.
4) Incorporate the kids drawings into a digital artwork about the ecology, geology, deep time history and relevant astronomy to the region
5) Embed short films into the artwork which teach the kids more about what they have drawn
