Lesson Title/Unit: Cave Painting
Cites/Sources:
www.lessonplanspage.com/printables/PARTSSCAVEPainting
Grade Level: K-4
Overview:
Students will gain an understanding of the place that art
took in history. Students will gain information of the
Stone Age and the cave drawings that accompanied that era.
Students will be asked to create a work of art from their
new knowledge.
Objectives:
#16: The learner will describe natural features (such as
caves and their uses).
#19: The learner will describe and develop an
understanding of human made places
and why they were made.
#11: The learner will discuss the lasting contributions
of the Earth’s earliest
inhabitants. (recreation, food, art, pictures,
names, location, etc.)
#1 : The learner will discuss different period of art.
(ex. Renaissance, Pre-Historic or
Stone Age Era, Native American, etc. )
#2 : The learner will compare symbols used by different
cultures to portray common
themes. (ex. Printed symbols used by Indians of
Alabama).
#3 : The learner will interpret the lives and times of
artist from the content of their
artwork.
#16: The learner will observe and discuss the content of
a variety of works of art. (ex.
Cave painting in Lascaux).
#21: The learner will analyze ways art is created as a
response to images, forms, nature
and experiences.
Materials/Resources:
Artworks/Exemplars: Chasm in the Colorado by Thomas Moran
The Lascaux Cave
Paintings such as:
The Head of the Great
Black Aurochs,
The Chinese Horse,
The Great Black Cow,
The Falling Cow, and
The Swimming Stags.
Content Information: The cave paintings worksheet and
handout of painting from internet. (
www.hominids.com/clickphotos/engravings )
Media/Tools: Rolls of brown craft paper or large brown
grocery bags
Tape
Charcoal
Lumber crayons, and earth tone chalk
can be used (optional)
Procedures:
1. To begin, set up the room. Create a cave in the
room by turning the tables or desk on their sides and facing
the tops of the tables toward each other. Have the tables
touching at the edges to create an enclosed cave. Crumble
brown paper slightly to resemble a rock wall and cover the
wall with previous cave paintings. A fire may be created by
using flashlight and tissue paper. Intercept the students
at the door before they enter. Lead the students into the
room with an introduction, “We are entering a sacred cave,
we must be very quiet - sit in a circle inside the cave and
close your eyes” - students may open their eyes for the
discussion. Ask these questions: “What are some of your
ideas about people who lived in the Stone Age? What were
these people called? What did they look like? What did
these people wear, and what did they do in everyday life?”
2. Have the students look at the pictures on the
walls of the cave. Discuss the ways that the people of the
Stone Age created these pictures. Explain to the students
that they did not have pastels, markers, or paintbrushes.
Tell the students to imagine that the stick of charcoal is a
stick from yesterday’s fire that has cooled, and that is how
the people of the Stone Age created their drawings, by using
the charred wood to draw. Introduce the painting by Thomas
Moran, Chasm in the Colorado to the students. Have them
discuss what features this painting may have that reminds
them of the Stone Age.
3. After the discussion, have the students close their
eyes once again, and tell them that we are going back in
time. “It has been a long time since we have been on a
hunt, and our family is getting very hungry. We have
entered our sacred cave to ask the spirits to help us catch
some large animals to feed and provide clothing for our
family.” Explain that by drawing the animals we will hang
on the walls of the sacred cave, we will have power. We will
be as fast as deer, as strong as the bear, and the mighty
buffalo. Our drawings are sacred and will be as special as
this cave we are in.
4. Students will open their eyes and begin to draw on
the walls what they think the Stone Age people would have
drawn for food and clothing. Ask them “What is the
difference between the two drawings they created today?”
Modifications: Varied
Assessments: Display completed drawing
Informal questioning and
discussion