4th Graders Invent Like Leonardo Da Vinci
Photos by Shelly Newman
 
Fourth grade students in Pam Shea’s class at Sea Cliff Elementary school got to experience the thrill of inventing, constructing and dissecting as part of a study on Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. The students said, “Leonardo da Vinci inspired young artists by creating inventions that we still use today.”

Ms. Shea said, “The skills of inquiry and creatively solving problems were all required in this art history lesson. My students experienced what happens when a person acts upon the things they wonder about using their skills and knowledge in new and challenging ways.”

Like, Leonardo da Vinci, the fourth graders created simple machines or dissected electronic equipment or unusual fruits and vegetables, and sketched their observations and discoveries in their journals. Some of the projects included an organizer, mouse trap (that does not kill mice), hamster playhouse, cat house and a dissection of a keyboard.