Connect to Art > Michelangelo

Grades 3-5.
Preknowledge: Up to 4-integer calculations. Reading a measuring tape. Basic fractions. Independent writing.

Reading

Read Michelangelo from Masterpieces: Artist and Their Works series.

Math: Scale/Area/Perimeter

The Sistine Chapel is approximately 130' x 43' and is divided into nine equal panels (14.5' x 43' each). Reproduce a scale drawing of the Sistine Chapel ceiling for each child. (See example.) Use drawing to introduce scale. (In the example, each 1/4" square represents 2'.) Illustrate scale by taking students to a large open area and taping off a life size rectangle of one of the panels (use painters tape and large measuring tape on the floor). Guide students through measuring and calculating perimeter. Introduce idea concept of area and calculate area.

Math: Fractions

The Sistine Chapel is approximately 130' x 43' and is divided into nine equal panels (14.5' x 43' each). Reproduce a scale drawing of the Sistine Chapel ceiling for each child. (See example.) Have students divide the scale drawing into thirds and color each third a different color. This sectioning is similar to the different themes on the ceiling. Help students write a fraction statements about the drawing (i.e., 1/3 is the same as 3/9).

History: Geography and Time Lines

Locate Italy on a map. Discuss geographical features (i.e., peninsula, island, lakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges). Plot a time line of Michelangelo's life or important events / people of the Renaissance.

Art: Murals

On a 12" X 18" sheet of paper, have students draw a mural panel representing an important event in their lives. Mount each student's panel to a long piece of roll paper and hang mural from the ceiling or on a wall.

Creative Writing

Have students write a first person narrative imagining that they are Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.