Two-Sided Seasonal Triarama

Compare seasons with a changeable folded-paper triarama.

• 1.

  Describe (or research) how the outdoor landscape changes from one season to another in temperate climates. How do trees and other plants differ in color and shape? Make a chart or collect paintings and photographs to record vegetation differences among seasons.

• 2.

  Measure with a ruler, and then use Crayola® Scissors to cut a large piece of construction paper into a square. Fold the square diagonally in both directions, from corner to corner, and crease, creating an X in the center. Cut along a fold line from <b>one</b> corner to the center, making two triangle flaps.

• 3.

  One triangular flap will be designed to look like the "ground". The other flap will be left blank. The two upper triangles (the connected ones) will be the background scenes for your seasonal landscape. Use Crayola Colored Pencils and Crayons to design your scene. Think ahead about how the folded triangle will meet the other side to make sure the ground scene matches the side. Choose colors, shapes, and details that characterize the season. Include images such as grass, paths, roads, and streams.

• 4.

  Turn the triarama over and create a different season on the back, including the ground triangle.

• 5.

  Fold the legs one over the other and loosely tape the scene. To change scenes, remove the tape, reverse the fold so the matching ground triangle is on top, and lightly tape.

Benefits

• Students increase their awareness of dramatic seasonal changes in temperate climates through research and viewing art.
• Children measure, create, recognize, and work with common geometric shapes.
• Children use art elements of color, shape, texture, and line to illustrate landscape elements in two different seasons.

Adaptations

• Young children, or those with learning disabilities, may still be learning the names of seasons, especially if they live in tropical or arctic climates. Use lots of concrete examples and artwork to help them picture seasonal changes.
• Use the triarama as a background for animal models, as a doll house, or for model vehicles that can move between time and space. Set four triaramas, each with a different season, together in a pod, and use as backgrounds for these figures.
• Write stories about the changing seasons from the perspective of a plant, an animal, or a fence, for example. How do temperatures and precipitation differ? Which animals hibernate? What is going on inside plants when it is cold?