Science Class Pictures

We finally finished our big, challenging, American science book, and--partly to review and partly just to do something different--I had the students (4th/5th grade) make some pictures. I asked them to choose one or two plants and animals.

I have two boys in the class and three girls. I allowed all of them not only the choice of what to draw but also whether or not they wanted to draw it alone or with another student(s).

The results seemed fairly typical for gender differences: the girls chose to draw as a group of three and to create pictures of flowers, a butterfly, and a peacock--mostly cute, non-threatening species. They made an extra effort to add titles and to balance the "look" of their composite poster.

The boys, on the other hand, chose to work alone and create pictures of carnivorous animals. No titles, no need to balance.

It was interesting to watch them work and to see the clear differences in approach.