2023年1月6日

在今年秋天的几个星期里, the Kinderg艺术en p艺术icipated in a multi-disciplinary study of skin tones. 通过讲故事, 艺术, 和科学, 学生们探讨了肤色的差异, which ultimately culminated in an 艺术 installation of their skin tones on display, 灵感来自布鲁克林艺术家, 拜伦金.

开始他们的探索, Assistant Head of School for Diversity and Equity Johara Sealy read the book 我们的颜色 由卡伦·卡茨(Karen Katz)给幼儿园的三个部分分别写的. 我们的颜色 tells the story of seven-year-old Lena who discovers that people’s skin tones come in a wide variety of colors, 每个都有自己独特的描述. 在莉娜的世界里, her neighbors describe their skin tones using vivid descriptions of food, 比如肉桂的颜色, 奶油花生酱, 还有桃红色的皮肤.

Ms. 希利说, “What I enjoy most about this story is that it encourages the appreciation for and affirmation of the beauty that is found in the many shades of skin tones that exist. This book is well suited to the overall lesson of learning about different skin tones because it presents the subject matter to students in an accessible way, 用食物来形容肤色. 结果是, students develop both comfort and confidence in engaging in these types of conversations.”

在这个项目之前，学生们也读过这本书 混合:一个丰富多彩的故事 由钟丽丽与低年级美术老师Ms. 五旬节. 通过这个故事, they learned about the structure of primary colors and what amazing things can happen when primary colors combine.

在他们开始混合颜料之前, each student brainstormed and researched what food-related description they would choose to describe their own skin tone. Their sketchbooks filled up with images of honey, ice cream, bagels, and chocolate cake. 初中美术老师. 圣灵降临节也大声朗读给学生听.

从那里, 学生们已经准备好开始混合颜料了, using their newfound expertise in primary colors and how white and black can also be used to achieve the desired color outcome. As they began their mixing experimentation, students shouted out with delight, “That’s my skin tone!” Once they had reached the color that felt the most true to them, 学生们画了一张6 × 6的纸, ultimately to be placed side by side on the 4th Floor outside of their classrooms: a beautiful display of the many colors that make up the Class of 2035.

Ms. 五旬节共享, “When we take time to learn about our skin tones and celebrate ourselves and each other, 我们以更谨慎和真实的态度来对待这一课. Mixing your own skin tone using primary colors is pretty sophisticated stuff! Knowing how to mix their own skin tones gives students more ownership over their work, instead of having to choose a pre-mixed color that doesn’t feel authentic. 在更大范围内, color theory and personalizing colors is important for creative decisions and gives us more possibilities when expressing ourselves!”

在科学中, 我们的颜色 connected to a geography lesson that explored melanin—the pigment that protects the body from UV light. Students learned why individuals who are born in countries—or whose ancestors were born in countries—near the equator, 他们的皮肤中有更多的黑色素, 是什么让他们的皮肤更黑. Students learned about the protective qualities of melanin and why those with a greater amount of melanin in their skin experience more protection from the UV rays of the sun. Ms. Helgeson, 初中科学教师, was also sure to explain that melanin alone is not enough to protect from all sun damage, 所以合适的衣服和防晒霜总是必要的.

To further explore the concept of melanin production and the distance from the sun, 学生们用“紫外线珠”做了一个实验.” Working in pairs, students were given two petri dishes filled with beads. 在第一轮实验中, students shone a flashlight on one dish of beads for three seconds from a distance of about one foot—an example of the sun shining on countries located f艺术her away from the equator. 这导致珠子的外观没有变化. 下一个, the students shone a flashlight on their second dish of beads for three seconds from about three inches away—this represented countries that were closer to the equator and thereby closer to the sun. Immediately, the beads changed into a rainbow of different colors. 通过他们的观察, students were able to see firsthand how the proximity to the sun can affect how much melanin is produced in the body.

“I hope when our Kinderg艺术ners were recreating their skin tone in 艺术 class, 他们也在想着自己的祖先, 他们从哪里来, and how truly amazing our bodies are to make us good matches for our environment,” Ms. Helgeson共享.

在这个项目结束的时候. Sealy hopes that students understand that learning doesn’t happen in isolation. 她反映了, “The best work that we can do happens in community when we are connecting, 合作, 和我们的同龄人交流. 当我们进行协作学习时, 我们能够获得新的视角, 我们能够建立更有意义的联系, 我们可以更容易地解决问题. Interdisciplinary learning is a dynamic way to engage students in seeing the world through many different lenses and in understanding the interdependence and inter-connectivity in everything. 真空中不存在任何东西!”