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Alberta Environments Dioramas

Our students recently went on an exciting journey to discover the amazing natural world right here in Alberta. We spent time exploring four main types of environments that make our province so special: the tall mountains, the wide-open prairies, the thick forests, and the busy lakes and rivers. The students learned that each of these places has its own special "personality," with different weather, plants, and animals that call them home. For example, they discovered how animals in the mountains need thick fur to stay warm, while plants on the prairies need long roots to find water in the dry soil. After becoming experts on these landscapes, it was time for the students to show what they learned through a creative art project.

We turned the classroom into a workshop where everyone planned and built their very own dioramas. To be kind to the earth, we used recycled cardboard boxes as the base for our projects. This was a great way for students to see how "trash" like old cereal boxes or delivery packages could be turned into something beautiful and educational. They had to think like engineers to make sure their cardboard mountains stood tall and their riverbeds looked deep. To bring the scenes to life, the students used all sorts of different art supplies. They used blue paper and shiny materials to create sparkling rivers, and they used green sponges or twigs to make miniature forests. Some students used clay to mold tiny grizzly bears for their mountain scenes, while others used yellow grass and cotton-ball clouds to show a sunny day on the prairies.

This part of the project helped them remember which animals belong in which home, like making sure a trout was in the river and not in the middle of a forest! By the time the projects were finished, the classroom looked like a mini-version of Alberta. Through this project, the students didn't just learn facts from a book; they got to use their hands and their imaginations to explore the world around them. They learned that all these different environments work together to keep Alberta healthy, and they felt proud to show off their hard work. It was a wonderful way to connect science with art and to help the students appreciate the beautiful province we live in.