Art Lesson: Youth Climate Hero Portraits
Lesson Plan
8 hoursGrades9, 10, 11, 12Visual and Performing Arts
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Written by Carolyn McGrath
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn various art techniques and then create portraits of youth climate heroes.
Inquire: Teacher reviews examples of youth climate leader portraits and discusses their impact.
Investigate: Students research reference images and practice using proportions, composition, colors, and art media.
Inspire: Students create their final “Climate Hero” portrait and create a display.
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Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Suggestions
- The timing of the lesson can be altered according to teacher preference and class structure.
- The lesson is designed to take several days with teachers extending specific art techniques into separate lessons. The Investigate and Inspire sections can each be extended to different amounts of class periods and times.
- Teachers can use this lesson as a mini-unit on sketching and creating portraits.
- This lesson can be taught or extended into art analysis of portraits where students consider expression, color, proportions, composition, and shadow.
- Students use real-world problems as the sources of their art-making and use their art to impact others through education, influence, and inspiration.
- This lesson provides numerous choice-based approaches, from the content of the artwork, to the media used, to the composition and presentation of the work.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 3 of 3 in our 9th-12th grade Art Unit: Portraits.
- Basic knowledge of drawing/painting art materials is required (such as pencil, colored pencil, pen, watercolor, acrylic, etc.). This lesson should only be attempted after students have some basic media familiarity.
- A basic understanding of elements of art/principles of design, composition, and use of thumbnails should be established prior to this lesson.
- Students should have some prior experience drawing facial features such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc.
Differentiation
- The Investigate section offers various supports for students about different art techniques. Teachers can eliminate or add to this depending on student ability.
- The Investigate section includes an advanced study of portrait composition that is 52 minutes long. It is sectioned into chapters, so teachers can select which clips are most relevant for their class.
- If students are overwhelmed with the choices, teachers can assign a specific type of art media.
- Teachers can use various art supports for students needing additional guidance.
From the scientist review
The content of this lesson plan focuses on artistic techniques and uses climate activists as the inspiration. The activists’ stories and the video featured are accurate. Resources and the bulk of science information come from previous lesson plans in this series. This is recommended for teaching.
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About the teacher writer
Carolyn McGrath
K-12 Art Teacher
Carolyn McGrath has been an art educator since 1998. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Art, English, and Psychology from Rutgers University, a Certificate in Art Education from Parsons School of Design, and a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art from the Maine College of Art. She is a certified K–12 Art Educator in the state of New Jersey and has received multiple honors for her teaching, including the Governor’s Educator of the Year Award and recognition from the New Jersey Art Education Association for excellence in arts education.
