Look and wonder
Notice, Think, Wonder
Study a strange little alien, then sort your ideas into what you notice, what you think and what you wonder.
Thinking sheet · Look and wonder
Zoom In, Zoom Out
Pick one object. Draw a tiny part of it huge, then draw the whole thing small in its place.
- Grades
- 1–5
- Time
- about 25 minutes
- Topic
- Look and wonder
- Kids practice
- careful looking, changing scale, describing detail
What kids do
“Pick one thing in the room. Look at it like a bee would, really close up.”
- The thing I picked is:
- Zoom in: draw one small part really big
- Zoom out: draw the whole thing, small
- Up close I saw something new: …
How to run it
- Good objects: a shoe, a pinecone, a pencil sharpener, a leaf, a sweater cuff.
- Hand out magnifying glasses if you have them.
- Remind kids that the zoom-in box should be full of lines and texture.
Talk about it
- What did you see up close that you never noticed before?
- Could a friend guess your object from the zoom-in alone?
- Where do artists and scientists both zoom in?
Take it further
Make a class “guess the zoom” wall: post the zoom-in drawings and hide the zoom-out boxes under a flap.
Pairs well with
Free for home and classroom use. Print as many copies as you need.
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Spot Ten Details
Find ten small details in one character. The last few are the hardest and the most interesting.
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