STEAM: Adding Art to Lessons about Weather and Climate

Learning important weather and climate concepts can be enhanced when lessons include appropriate examples of artwork, from centuries ago to sketches done as students step outside the classroom. Many pre-college and college courses now take a "STEAM" (Science-Technology-Engineering-Art-Mathematics) approach to create more effective understandings based on Visual (Spatial) and other identified Learning Styles. This poster will provide selected examples of how art can be used to develop exciting lessons. Images from the Renaissance, Dutch Masters, artists embedded in 18th and 19th century scientific expeditions, John Constable's cloud studies, the Hudson River School of Art, museum dioramas, and student drawings provide a strong case for why science courses should begin to include Art to partner with "regular" Science. For example, Peter Breughel the Younger's "Winter Landscape with a bird trap" can be used as a starting point to introduce learners to the Little Ice Age. Developing "STEAM lessons can excite students and open opportunities for science-related careers to students who do not think of themselves as "strong science" learners.