This is the first Investigation of the LabLearner CELL Science and Art. In it, students will begin an exploration of perspective and the illusion of depth in paintings.

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A. Begin the Investigation by explaining to students that this CELL will explore some of the techniques and characteristics of art. 

Pose the following questions to prompt student recall about art and perspective:

1. Ask students: What do you think of when I say the word “art?” Student answers may vary. Allow students to share their concepts and definitions of art. Examples may include drawings, paintings, movies, dance, theater, etc.

2. Ask students: What do you think of when I say the word “perspective?” Do you think art and perspective are related? Why? Student answers may vary. Students may or may not have previous background knowledge about perspective. Listen to students and guide the discussion to include an explanation of perspective as the way in which people may view an object, event, or situation. Students may suggest that art and perspective are related because a painting, drawing, dance, etc. is created by an artist and reflects the way in which he or she sees the world or an event. 

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B. Continue the discussion of art by encouraging students to consider why art, specifically drawings or paintings are not all the same.

1. Ask students: Does all art look the same? Student answers may vary. Students may suggest that different artists choose to paint or draw different objects or persons.

2. Ask students: What does an artist think about when deciding what to draw or paint? When deciding how to draw or paint? Student answers may vary. Accept various answers. Include in the discussion that artists may think about how the objects appear, whether objects or an event should look exactly like the real object or event or should represent a fantasy or specific emotion.

3. Draw students’ attention to the following words in their Scientist’s Glossary: point of view, field of view, and perspective.

a. Briefly review the definitions of each term.

Point of view: The direction from which an object or scene is observed.

Field of view: The entire area that is able to be seen at any one time.

Perspective: The way in which objects appear in a person’s view. In art, perspective is thought of as a way to show on paper how an image appears to the human eye.

b. Ask students: Why do you think point of view, field of view, and perspective might be important for creating and observing art? Student answers may vary. However, students should suggest that the way in which an artist views an event or object will affect how he or she represents or draws it.

c. Encourage students to explore this question by performing an activity.

d. Divide students into five cooperative groups. Distribute one of the Perspective Drawings to each group.

e. Tell each student group to look at their drawing and create a story about what is happening in the picture. Provide five to ten minutes for this activity.

f. Once students have completed their tasks, invite each group to hold up their drawing and share their story. Invite student groups to share in the following order:

Perspective Drawing A

Perspective Drawing B

Perspective Drawing C

Perspective Drawing D

Perspective Drawing E

Note: It is important that the group with Perspective Drawing E be the last to share their story.

g. Ask students: Were the events in your stories the same? It is likely that the events in the stories will be different. For example, students viewing Perspective Drawing A may relate a story about a boy or girl going to the store to buy balloons for a party. Students viewing Perspective Drawing B may relate a story about a boy or girl chasing after a cat who had gotten out of the house. Students viewing Perspective Drawing E may relate a story about a surprise birthday party or a story in which a boy or girl is worried that a cat will trip two children holding a birthday cake and balloons. 

h. Ask students: Look at the figures in Perspective Drawing E. Did these figures appear in your drawings? Students should indicate that the figures in Perspective Drawings A, B, C, and D all appeared in Perspective Drawing E. However, not ALL of the figures in Perspective Drawing E appeared in the other drawings.

i. Encourage students to think about the words point of view, field of view, and perspective again. 

Ask students: How do each of these words apply to the series of drawings and the stories that each group created? Student answers may vary. Discussion should focus on the fact that each Perspective Drawing showed an event from a different point of view and may have had a different field of view. In other words, the artists that drew each drawing had a different perspective of the event. For example, Perspective Drawing E had a large field of view. All of the figures were present and all of the pictures could be seen. However, Perspective Drawing A could be described as being seen from a different point of view- one in which a person saw only the figure holding the balloons. In this case, the person’s field of view was smaller because all that was seen was the one figure holding the balloons. Each artist had a different perspective of the event.

j. Ask students: How would your story have been different if you had had a different point of view or field of view? Student answers will vary. However, students should be able to explain that changes in the field of view may have resulted in them seeing more or less of the figures. Students should be able to imagine that the drawings may have been different because the artist was standing in a different place, in other words, had a different point of view or perspective. As a result, if the artist’s point of view or field of view were different, different figures may have been included in the drawings and given additional information about the story. 

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C. Continue the discussion about perspective by focusing students’ attention on several paintings from the course of history.

1. Explain that point of view, field of view, and perspective are important when creating and portraying events in a painting or drawing. In addition, there are many parts of perspective, points of view, and field of view that artists must consider.

2. Tell students that one part of perspective is how artists portray a feeling of depth. Encourage students to review the term depth in their Scientist’s Glossary and to think about depth as they view the pictures in the presentation. 

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Begin the presentation by simply telling students that you would like them to look at some pictures of art from various times over the course of history.  As students view each of the pictures you would like them to think about the concept and appearance of depth.  You would also like them to consider which pictures may look the most “real” to them. 

This first slide shows an Egyptian painting from over three thousand years ago. Notice how flat the picture looks.  Even though each subject looks to be the same distance from us, notice how small the two soldiers or servants are compared to the Pharaoh (king) in the chariot. This is to signify the lower stature/importance of these individuals compared to the Pharaoh.

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This is a type of painting called a fresco.  It depicts herds, shepherds, warriors, and a shipwreck from the bronze age excavation at Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, Greece. The fresco is dated to have been created between 3200- 720 B.C. Again, as with the preceding slide of the Egyptian scene, notice how flat and depthless the painting looks.

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This is another fresco. The artist is Guido da Siena. This painting was made in the 13th century, well over a thousand years after the paintings in the previous two slides were created.

Notice that there is still very little depth in a painting like this from the middle ages (medieval art). Even though buildings and mountains are seen in the background, they do not appear far away and the painting as a whole feels flat.

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Now we come to the Renaissance. This painting is a fresco painted by the artist Raphael on a wall in the Vatican. It is known as The School of Athens. While the subjects are dressed in somewhat biblical-looking robes and clothing, this 16th-century fresco is not devoted to religious subject matter. The two central figures are the Greek philosophers Plato (on left with a red and blue robe) and Aristotle (on right with a blue and brown robe). 

The renaissance was a period in which many of the ancient Greek and Roman books and manuscripts were rediscovered by Europeans. Ancient Greek and Roman themes were popular topics in the art of the renaissance, as were depictions of scenes from the old and new testaments of the Bible. 

Look at the highly-developed sense of depth in this painting. There is a clearly established “vanishing point”, which students will become very familiar with in Lab. Objects get small the farther away they are. Notice, for example, the two central archways. The one under which Plato and Aristotle pass is much bigger, with clearer detail than the identical archway shown in the distance. 

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Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper is one of the most well-known paintings in the history of western art. It was painted at the height of the renaissance as a very large fresco. 

The depth in this picture is remarkable. Notice how the archways get smaller as they recede into the background of the large room. A similar perspective is seen in the ceiling beams. All of this depth is based on clearly-defined vanishing points as was the case in the School of Athen fresco on the previous slide. 

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In addition to depth of field, this painting is also an excellent example of bilateral symmetry in art, something students will study later in Investigation 4 within this CELL. Notice how the left and right halves of the painting are nearly identical in composition with Christ as the center between the two halves. He is also at the precise location of the vanishing point. This naturally draws one’s eyes to the most important part and focus of the painting. 

To further the symmetry, note that there are two groups of three apostles to Christ’s left and right. da Vinci chose to portray the exact moment during the supper when Christ announces that he would be betrayed by one of those seated at the table. The concern and alarm on the faces, as well as the body language of the apostles, make this one of art’s greatest masterpieces.

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3. Once students have viewed the pictures on the previous slides, inquire as to which ones seemed the most like “real life” to them. 

Ask students: Why do some pictures appear more “real” or more three-dimensional than others? Student answers may vary. Encourage all answers at this time. Some students may realize that the feeling of depth or dimension adds to the “real life” quality of a painting. Others may not have reached this conclusion. This concept will be discussed in further in the next part of the activity.

4. Conclude this part of the activity by encouraging students to read the selection in Problem 1 of their Student Data Record. Once all students have read the selection, discuss its contents with regard to the pictures they viewed. The passage from the Student Data Record is reproduced below:

“As you can imagine, art has changed in many ways throughout history. One of the most interesting is a period of time between the 14th and 16th centuries called the Renaissance. 

“You’ll probably recognize the names of some of the artists that lived during the Renaissance; names such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. One of the names that you might not recognize is Filippo Brunelleschi. However, it is his work that many people say changed the way in which artists painted and the way in which we view their work. 

“What is it about Brunelleschi’s work that makes it so important? Well, think about this. Most people see the world in three dimensions. Yet, drawings and paintings are done in two dimensions. For a long time before the Renaissance, paintings were “flat.” They appeared as two-dimensional images. 

“However, Brunelleschi and other artists of the Renaissance are credited with changing that. They painted so that paintings appeared to have three dimensions. Many people believe Brunelleschi was the first to create a way to show depth in paintings and drawings. 

“Seeing “depth” in a painting is one of the reasons that we may think of the painting as more “real.” As you perform your experiments in the lab, think about how objects appear and how you might draw them so that they look “real.” Brunelleschi did this when he observed the world. To think like him, think about how objects appear when they are close and when they are far. This is part of understanding how we see depth.”

It may be helpful to review the pictures in the Pre (slides 5-7) and Post (slides 8 and 9 and this slide) Renaissance periods at this time. The pictures are in chronological order. One of Brunelleschi’s paintings is highlighted in the presentation. A painting by Brunelleschi is shown on this slide. Once again, notice both the bilateral symmetry and the perspective using vanishing points to suggest depth.

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E. Explain to students during the lab portion of this Investigation, they will investigate how humans view depth of objects at different distances from our eyes. In addition, they should think about how artists are able to illustrate differences in depth on a two-dimensional surface. Students should consider the following questions as they prepare for the lab.

• How does your point of view affect how objects appear?
• How does distance from an object change its appearance? Does the field of view change?