Whales and Krill and projects, Oh My!

McCanless has a Science paper and project due next week, and she couldn’t be more thrilled.  She was able to choose any animal in the entire world and after much deliberation, Google searches and mind changes, she has chosen to not only focus on one of the largest animals in the world, but also one of the smallest, the Blue Whale and Krill.  They go hand in hand, so I thought it was a great idea.  She only searched marine animals, which I found interesting.  She has always loved the water and the ocean, but I didn’t realize it would filter down to the wildlife as well.  I just knew she would choose a dainty poodle or fluffy Persian cat.

She loves art, so after listening to her talk of cutting out photos and plastering them on a poster, which is the norm for a school project, I’m afraid,  I suggested she paint her animals on a canvas.  She jumped at the idea!  (I’m trying to stay out of this project as much as possible, but also “guide” her just a wee bit.)

I couldn’t help but get super excited as I saw her rules and guidelines for the second portion of the project!  I could easily take over!  BUT, I’ll NOT!  She is in the early paper writing stage, having to submit a “Sloppy Copy” first, and an edited one last.  I completely jumped into teacher mode and began to explain everything about submitting drafts, and MLA format, etc., etc….until I realized she was looking at me wide-eyed and like I was crazy.

So we focused on the canvas for now.

After we talked about deeper water means deeper colors, and blending colors, I left her with her blue paints and her canvas.

Once she finished the ocean, I decided to send her to Mel for the details. McCanless is showing me Daddy’s whale here.  I think she was pretty impressed with his drawing.

I can watercolor and blend and “fake” paint, and I’m also an ace at painting “cheerleader” letters, thanks to high school, but a little known fact about Mel is he is quite the artist.  He’s very detailed and very talented, I must say.  I wish he had time to devote to creating art.  He taught McCanless how to draw a whale using shapes.

Mel’s drawing is on top and hers is the larger whale under his.  I asked Mel if he “helped” her because I thought it was a pretty nice drawing, especially for her first attempt.  He said he didn’t need to help her at all, she did it all on her own, quite easily.   Tomorrow, she’ll paint her whale and krill on the canvas.  I’m so proud of this sweet little 2nd grader and all that she is learning!

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