GOEDEMORGEN VANYA!

We began by discussing the weather, and Vanya asked if anyone had started to notice any significant Spring signs. The children had noticed that the leaves on the horse chestnut tree were getting bigger and that flowers were growing too.

The weather in Belfast has been dreadful recently:  rain, hailstones, thunder and lightning, rain, wind, rain, cold, rain, overcast skies, more rain; and then, on my way to school this morning I noticed a series of beautiful, colourful signs of Spring.  Feast your eyes on these marvels.

    

     

    

     

    

     

Our next discussion centred around the seaside – moss, seaweed, lichen – all strong plants. We talked about the benefits of seaweed, how it is full of iron and used in cookery, medicine, dog food and also for spa treatments. Vanya told us that there are several places in Sligo which people visit from all around the world in order to get treatments in seaweed baths! It is very good for skin disorders! I said that I would like to try it. ( Not that I have a disorder of any kind!)

She also told us about two Danish designers who had made furniture and pendant lamps from paper pulp and seaweed. When seaweed is boiled up it produces gelatine/jelly/glue….. this is a topic for another session???????????

Jonas Edvard and Nikolaj Steenfatt harvest fucus seaweed, dry it and grind it into powder and then cook it until it becomes glue. It is combined with paper pulp and the material that is produced is moulded into products such as chairs and lamp shades.

    The image below shows the products made from seaweed!

This is a photograph of dulse which I took when I was in St. George’s Market Belfast on Sunday 10th. April, 2016. Dulse is full of iron and very tasty! (in my opinion)

 

Vanya showed us some images of lime green moss which is beautifully coloured because of the sea air. It grows slowly on rocks. We looked at plants which grow in salt water. We learned 3 new words today. They are PHYCOLOGY and ALGOLOGY. They are names for the study of seaweed. Look at the man covered in seaweed- kelp. He is a PHYCOLOGIST. We found out that there are lots of different types of seaweed.

Observations: Very strong plants grow in sea water as it is very salty.

Someone mentioned that when we cry our tears are salty too.

Vanya showed us paintings of seaweed which were very interesting and colourful.  The boys and girls said that the images reminded them of wheat/corn, tulips, and moss. Natalia said it was like “grass of the sea,” which we agreed was a super description.

Then we looked at some art work by HENRI MATISSE. He is a very famous French artist. When he was old he couldn’t paint anymore, so he began a new form of art, using scissors. He cut out paper and produced fantastic pictures using this method.

Vanya said that the shapes reminded her of seaweed.

   

The image on the right was made in 1952 and is called “The Parakeet and the Mermaid.”

How did Henri Matisse make these shapes? The children suggested: he used colouring in pencils, he got seaweed and drew around it, he drew around his fingers.

Juliette thought that he used coloured paper. Well done!

  

   

OUR ACTIVITY: Vanya demonstrated what she wanted us to do. She got coloured paper and cut out shapes like the ones which Henri Matisse had made. We got organised and had fun cutting out shapes in the style of those in the painting.

Some children found this task quite difficult because it was not easy cutting out one positive shape, leaving one whole negative shape.

The children learned another new concept: positive and negative shapes.

{What does that mean ? When you cut out a shape you end up with two copies of your cut-out, one is positive and the other is negative as this is the hole that is left after cutting the shape.}

There is a You Tube video showing Henri Matisse making a paper cut out!

            

            

      

      

      

  

 

   

We looked at photographs of weeds and tree roots. Vanya said that these dandelion weeds look like stars. Now that is a different way of looking at things, isn’t it?

She told us dandelion flowers are the first flowers that bees can find in Spring.

Some children said they thought the leaves looked like the rays of the sun and snowflakes.

Roise drew snowflakes over the dandelion leaves and Vanya drew over the tree roots.

We were shown something that Vanya had found in the woods near her house. We had to guess what it was. GUESSES: a hook, a really sharp thorn, a mammoth’s tooth. It turned out to be an antler which Oscar wanted to chew! Jamie said it might have belonged to one of Santa’s reindeer at Christmas. Vanya replied that deer lose their antlers in Winter and grow new ones in Spring.

We moved on to SALT and the You Tube video of the little girl demonstrating how to make crystals with Epsom Salts. We followed the recipe and each table had their own mixture to whisk. A lot of stirring was involved as all the salts have to dissolve. We will leave the glasses and check them out over the next few days. We talked about how precious salt was long ago – as valuable as gold! And how it was used for trading for other goods. We discussed the properties of salt, how it is used for preserving food and for making food taste better, especially on chips, with vinegar (which Vanya is using to make crystals), so we are really putting crystals on our chips!

      

We looked at a wonderful nest which the little puffer fish makes with sand on the sea bed.

People in different cultures use sand to make beautiful patterns – Aboriginal people, Tibetan monks dye the sand, Hindu children make Rangoli patterns on their doorsteps during the Festival of Diwali.

        

    

These photographs show patterns made with snow and sand…..and the people who made them.

SIMON BECK is a English engineer and artist from Somerset. He wears snowshoes to create his patterns in the snow. Some of his work is bigger than 6 football pitches! I thought the pattern on the bottom right hand side looked like lace.

Vanya told us that an American artist and chef called JIM DENEVEN makes huge temporary land art with sand.

   

These patterns on sand were made by an artist called Jose Vial Armstrong. He used a contraption similar to something which Vanya had previously made for another project from wooden triangles and elastic bands. Triangles are very strong shapes.

     More beautiful patterns.

Oisin went to the camera to ask Vanya a question. Then it was time for break.

 

After BREAK the children had a table salt table top activity. This encouraged the boys and girls to make multiple patterns. When they finished one pattern, they just had to smooth out the salt on the table and have another try. The white patterns against the blue tables reminded me of Morocco and Greece.

        

         

         

            

       

Aimee and Dillon made a symmetrical pattern.

             

         

         

         

         

         

Why does 12.05 come around so quickly?  Tidy up and PLENARY next.

In one word describe today’s session.

FAITH – fun

CIARAN – cool

COURTNEY – fantastic

JESSICA – exciting

CHRISTOPHER – fun to make

NATALIA – pretty fun

AIMEE – making the patterns on the table top was harder with a partner.

Vanya suggested that the boys and girls should think of how they would like to display the seaweed cut-outs next week.

Some IDEAS:

• Mounted flat on a wall.
• Put them on top of each other like what we did with the snowflakes.
• Suspend them from the ceiling.  How could we do this? Pearse thought they could be tied to a rope or string and nailed to the ceiling.
• Standing up. Again, how could this be achieved?
• A 3D type display.

TSPC: Lots of things to think about. Many opportunities for sharing ideas,  problem           solving, creative thinking and partner and team work.

Look what I spotted on my way to the dinner hall…

    That proves it! It is Spring!

Who knows what fabulous ideas will be revealed next week. Watch this space!

DANKE SEHR VANYA!              

DOEI!