Positive/Negative Bugs!!

     This lesson was super fun!  

These are examples of 6th grade work:

We had already been working on positive and negative space for two weeks prior to this lesson.  Here is an example of the first lesson that we worked on:

      

      Once they understood the concept of cutting out a shape along an axis and flipping it over to the other side to create a mirror image, we were ready for bugs.

      I actually found this lesson on Pinterest.  Here is the link to the post from Pinterest (the photo does not go to a blog or credit a teacher, but I wanted to post where I found it):  http://pinterest.com/pin/44543483785160136/.  We started the lesson by looking over a handout I made showing the shapes of various types of bugs.  I demonstrated how to draw half of a bug on each edge of a white rectangle.  I also emphasized that each but needs to be cut-out VERY NEATLY!  Make sure to tell them that they are saving both the bug and the background piece so they can't 'over cut' or cut around the shape and cut the details later.  After they cut out the large shape of their bug, they needed to cut a small shape out of the body.  Next, they flipped the shape along the line of symmetry to create a positive and negative image.  Good luck!!  The results are quite stunning when put on display.