Family Activity Guide
NSLMology the science of sporting art
NSLMology: THE SCIENCE OF SPORTING ART What Makes an Exhibition? An Exhibition is a public display of works of art in a museum. NSLMology features paintings, works on paper, and sculpture from different artists. These artworks are all kept here in the museum to be shared with the world.
Art can tell us a great deal about the world around us. In this exhibition, you will see several different scientific theories and principles: Weather (n): The daily state of the atmosphere, or air, in any given place.
Ecology (n): The study of living things and their surroundings, or environment.
Motion (n): How people and animals move from one place to another.
Color Theory (n): The science and art of color. Color theory explains how humans perceive color, how colors mix, match, or clash.
Chemistry (n): Science that deals with chemical elements and compounds, and how these things work together.
weather Weather determines how it feels outside. Sometimes the weather is rainy or snowy, and sometimes it is hot or cold. Weather can change very quickly. People wear different kinds of clothing and shoes depending on the weather.
What is the weather like today? What clothes should you wear to be comfortable? Draw it below:
Look in the exhibition. Which work of art shows weather that is most like today’s weather? What makes you think so?
weather DID YOU KNOW? Clouds can tell us a great deal about the weather. For example, low clouds, like Stratus and Cumulonimbus, can mean that rain is on the way.
Which cloud types can you find in the artwork?
Cirrus
[sir-uhs]
Cirrocumulus
[sir-oh-kyoo-myuh-luhs]
High Level above 6,000m
Cirrostratus
[sir-oh-strat-uhs]
Altocumulus
[al-toh-kyoo-myuh-luhs]
Altostratus
Mid Level 2,000m-6,000m
[al-toh-strat-uhs]
Stratocumulus
[strat-oh-kyoo-myuh-luhs]
Nimbostratus
[nim-boh-strat-uhs]
Cumulus
[kyoo-myuh-luhs]
Low Level 0-2,000m Cumulonimbus
[kyoo-myuh-loh-nim-buhs]
Stratus
[strat-uhs]
ecology Ecology explores plants’ and animals’ relationships with the environment around them. Plants and animals all depend on each other for food, whether they are in the ocean, tundra, plains, or forest.
Using the boxes below, draw examples of plants and animals that you see in the exhibition: In this box draw carnivores: animals that eat meat
In this box draw herbivores: animals that eat plants
In this box draw plants that consume sunlight and water
DID YOU KNOW? Animals adapt to their surroundings over time. For example, horses developed large molar teeth to chew grasses and dry plants.
ecology Humans are an important part of Ecology. There are many ways that people can help plants and animals to thrive, even in towns and cities.
Look in the exhibition. How are people in the artwork helping the environment?
What things do you see people doing in the artwork that might hurt the environment?
How can you help the environment at home or at school? Draw it here:
motion Motion descibes how we move from one place to another. Look in the artwork. How are the people and animals getting around? Which ones are going the fastest?
Cameras help us to see how people and animals move quickly. When lined up, these images look similar to comic strips.
Draw a person running in motion in the spaces below:
DID YOU KNOW? Artwork shows people and animals holding still, moving slowly, and moving quickly. Before cameras were invented, artists sometimes had to guess how animals looked because they were moving too fast for us to see!
Make it yourself! In 1878, Edweard Muybridge invented a gadget that turned drawings into moving picture projections, he called the device a zoepraxiscope.
Use the materials at the Activity Center to to make your own moving pictures with a similar device called a zoetrope.
color theory Color Theory shows us how colors relate to
each other. Colors can be divided up into Primary and Secondary colors.
Primary Colors: red, yellow, and blue are mixed to form all other colors.
Secondary Colors: primary color mixtures make orange, green, and purple. Red + yellow = orange
yellow + blue = green
blue + red = purple
DID YOU KNOW? Colors mixed with white are called tints, and colors mixed with black are called shades. For example, pink is a tint of red.
Artists use warm and cool colors to help us sense temperatures or feelings. Sometimes the same color can make us think or feel different things.
What does your favorite color remind you of? Warm Colors: Red, Orange, and Yellow Feelings: happiness, anger, love Think about: wild volcanoes, cozy fireplaces, spring flowers
Cool Colors: Green, Blue, and Purple Feelings: calmness, sadness, energy Think about: ocean waves, breezy trees, the night sky
Make it yourself! Use the materials at the Activity Center to experiment with combinations of colors.
Which combination is the most surprising?
What does this combination make you think or feel?
chemistry Chemistry explores how elements mix and react to create the world around us.
Artists use clay, wax, and bronze to create sculptures. Look at the process below.
1.
2.
clay core wax model sculpted over clay core
heat
molten bronze poured in air forced out
melted wax leaves empty channels
5.
6.
pins hold core in place
melted wax drains out cut-away view
cut-away view
DID YOU KNOW? When two types of metal are mixed together, the mixture is called an alloy. The sculptures you see in this exhibition are made of bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin.
How often do the materials change from a liquid to a solid, or from a solid to a liquid?
wax rods for wax to drain away
3.
4.
metal pins into clay core
clay casing cut-away view
cut-away view
wax cup
7.
clay mold broken to free head
8.
cut-away view channel and pins cut away finished bronze sculpture
NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY & MUSEUM Preserving, promoting, and sharing the literature, art, and culture of equestrian, angling, and field sports 102 The Plains Road • Middleburg, VA 20118 540-687-6542 • NationalSporting.org Hours: Wednesday - Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm