A R O U N D C A M P U S
Cross-Curricular Integration in Art and Science
Fun City
By Director of Curriculum Integration and Science Chair Nora Sundar
In an integrated Art/Science project Pre-K boys put their creativity, design, art, and building skills to work building “Fun
City” in the new STEAM suite. This unit grew out of a week of simple geometry/construction exercises using “makedo”
cardboard construction tools, and began with construction of 2-and 3-dimensional shapes, including rudimentary “houses.”
The boys were very inspired by these buildings and soon began to imagine what else the “neighborhood” might contain.
Art Chair Jenna Boccella provided the boys with large grid-lined paper, paints and brushes, and they planned out the “map”
of the city. Using brown, green, black, and blue the boys devised a landscape complete with streets, blocks, parks and a river.
A major brainstorming session followed. Half the boys were interested in imagining what things they could make for the
park, the other half took charge of planning the urban infrastructure. Once a list of elements was created, we set up stations
filled with engaging materials: different shapes and sizes of cardboard and glue; paper and card stock in pages and pre-cut
strips, along with scissors, and neon sharpies; clay, buttons, pipe cleaners, fabric, feathers, and googly eyes.
Boys made their own decisions throughout, asking themselves What will I create today?, and then critically evaluating
available materials and tools to determine which would be best suited for each enterprise. Some boys got to work modeling
buildings with cardboard. Others found clay, fabric, and feathers to be just right for creating the city’s human and animal