Rationale:
This unit was born from both a personal and professional conviction that students deserve opportunities to explore their identities through culturally affirming curriculum while engaging in rigorous academic inquiry. Many of my students are bilingual, bicultural, and come from immigrant families. They also live in a neighborhood plagued by drug and gang violence. Their lived experiences and cultural knowledge are often excluded in all of the art curricula. This project bridges that gap where art meets science. Students will be challenged deeper into their knowledge learned in science classes and really heavily on close observations of their first day in the zoo - a field experience to look closely and think critically like a zoologist.
As a Mexican immigrant I am deeply committed to teaching to the standards provided by the state of Illinois, however; for importantly staying true to what my students' needs are and their culture. Alebrijes, rooted in the vibrant tradition of Mexican folk art, offer students a culturally relevant entry point to explore animal adaptations, habitats, and ecological systems.
Exploring zoology through the lens of visual art provides students with a unique opportunity to develop agency and voice—particularly those who may find it challenging to express themselves in traditional academic settings. The process of designing a hybrid creature based on scientifically observed animals cultivates imaginative thinking, symbolic reasoning, and cross-disciplinary insight. This pedagogical approach aligns with ideas discussed in the Yale National Initiative seminar, where Professor Tim Barringer, drawing upon the work of nineteenth-century critic John Ruskin, emphasized that “art tells the truth” and asserted the intrinsic connections between art and biology. While not a direct quotation, the essence of this claim resonates deeply: can students not be both scientists and artists? Must they choose one identity at the expense of the other? I contend that these fields are not only compatible but fundamentally interconnected.
In practice, the art studio becomes a site of scientific exploration. When teaching painting, for instance, I provide students only the primary colors—red, blue, and yellow—alongside black and white. From these limited materials, they are tasked with hypothesizing and experimenting to create secondary, intermediate, tints, and shades of color. As they mix, they observe and document the results in their sketchbooks, noting the exact combinations used. This method mirrors the scientific process: forming predictions, testing variables, recording data, and drawing conclusions. The artistic practice thus becomes a laboratory where students learn to manipulate materials, analyze outcomes, and refine their understanding through iterative experimentation.
Moreover, students begin to grasp the scientific principles embedded within artistic techniques. They come to understand that mixing paint involves more than aesthetic choices—it involves chemical reactions and material interactions. They learn that capturing the human form is most effective when drawing from observation of living organisms. They also discover that improperly fixed photographs will solarize or disappear when exposed to light, revealing the chemistry behind the photographic process. These examples illustrate how art provides a tangible, experiential gateway into scientific knowledge.
Ultimately, integrating art and science not only deepens content understanding across disciplines but also empowers students to inhabit multiple intellectual identities. It affirms that creativity and inquiry are not mutually exclusive, but rather, mutually enriching.
In many traditional science curricula, zoology is presented in abstract terms, disconnected from students’ daily lives or cultural frames of reference. Similarly, art instruction often emphasizes technical skill over creativity, context, or personal meaning. This unit aims to change that by offering a unique opportunity for students to explore zoology through the lens of art—blending scientific observation with imaginative thinking and cultural storytelling.
Through the study of animal classification, structure, behavior, and adaptation, students will investigate how animals live and thrive within specific ecosystems. They will conduct observational research, engage in life drawing, and integrate scientific reasoning into the creative process of designing an Alebrije—a mythical creature made by combining anatomical features from real animals. By doing so, students not only develop a deeper understanding of the animal kingdom but also make meaningful connections between science, identity, and culture.
This unit is taught with the WIDA English Language Development Standards in mind to ensure that all students, especially Spanish-speaking learners, can access and engage with the content. Bilingual vocabulary supports, visual aids, sentence stems, and scaffolded instruction are embedded throughout the unit. These tools help students strengthen both their scientific and artistic literacy while developing academic language in a way that honors their multilingual abilities.
In short, this unit empowers students to see themselves as zoologists, artists, and cultural thinkers—curious, creative, and capable of understanding the natural world through both scientific inquiry and cultural imagination. This unit also encourages students to grapple with larger questions: What does it mean to create something new from the familiar? How do animals reflect culture, myth, or power? What impact do humans have on animal life? These are essential questions for young learners who are growing up in a world of climate crisis, mass extinction, and rapid cultural change.
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