Assembly Line Art

In Social Studies we have been learning about needs and wants, goods and services, and the importance of doing a job well. In one lesson we talked about assembly lines. We discussed that if one person does not do their job, and do it well, then it affects the other people doing jobs. To make this concept real to the students, we created art in an assembly line. One group of students were responsible for laying out the mini canvases in rows. Another group of students was responsible for adding strips of painters tape all over the canvases. Another group was responsible for connecting the strips of tape with other pieces of tape. Then the students were divided into groups. The groups were each given a color. They were responsible for their color and had to go to each canvas and fill in a blank space. After all of the canvases were painted, we waited for them to dry. While we waited for them to dry, we discussed the roles of producers and consumers. In this part of the lesson, they were the producers. Once the paint dried, we pulled off the tape. At this point, the students then became the consumers. They were able to "shop" and decide which of the paintings they wanted to keep. I loved this lesson because it incorporated so many concepts but was also cross-curricular and fun. Their final products turned out fantastic!