Adding Natural Elements

Overview

In lesson 13 of 20 in Mauri: Guardians of Awa, students develop their dioramas by incorporating natural materials that represent habitats and ecological features of an awa. They build on previous work about place, mauri, composition and visual storytelling, making purposeful decisions about texture, scale, colour and meaning.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• explore how natural materials can communicate habitat and ecological features
• make intentional choices about texture, colour, pattern, scale and placement
• arrange materials to strengthen the visual story and sense of mauri in their diorama
• explain how their artistic decisions represent relationships within an awa environment

Success criteria

• I can select natural materials that suit my habitat or ecological feature.
• I can arrange materials thoughtfully to show depth, relationships and movement.
• I can use texture, colour and scale to communicate meaning.
• I can explain how my choices help represent the mauri of the awa.

Curriculum links

• The Arts — Visual Arts: developing practical knowledge of elements, processes and conventions.
• The Arts — Visual Arts: developing ideas in response to a variety of motivations, including place and lived experience.
• The Arts — Visual Arts: communicating and interpreting meaning through artworks.
• English — speaking, writing and presenting explanations using subject-specific vocabulary.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Reconnect and notice. Open with the hook and visual examples and ask: “How can one small natural element change the story of an entire awa?” Students silently observe two contrasting diorama details, then discuss what the materials suggest about habitat, movement and care for the environment.

2. 7–15 min · Demonstrate purposeful choices. Teacher models selecting and placing materials such as bark, stones, leaves, seed pods, twigs, sand or dry grasses, explaining that materials should be clean, safe and ethically collected, or supplied for classroom use. Refer to the materials and composition slides while demonstrating foreground, middle ground, background, clustering, pathways and focal points; students identify one arrangement that communicates shelter, water flow, food or interdependence.

3. 15–20 min · Plan before attaching. Distribute the natural elements planning sheet. Students sketch or annotate where three to five natural elements will go, naming the habitat or ecological feature represented and explaining one choice using texture, colour, scale or placement.

4. 20–45 min · Create and refine. Teacher circulates, conferences with students and prompts them to test arrangements before gluing: “What will the viewer notice first?”, “What relationship does this show?”, and “Does the scale make sense?” Students collect from the prepared materials station, arrange and attach elements carefully, keeping pathways, water areas and living spaces visually clear; students may photograph their work before final attachment if useful.

5. 45–53 min · Gallery check and peer response. Students place dioramas where others can view them and use the peer-feedback prompts to give one specific comment and one question to a partner: “I notice…”, “This suggests…”, and “I wonder…” Students make one practical refinement in response to feedback.

6. 53–60 min · Share and exit reflection. Invite several students to briefly explain one material choice and its meaning. Students complete the final reflection on the reflection and evidence section, identifying how their natural elements communicate habitat, ecological relationships or guardianship of the awa.

Resources

• the complete introduction, demonstration and reflection deck
• the natural elements planning and reflection worksheet
• Student dioramas from previous lessons
• Clean, dry natural materials: stones, bark, twigs, leaves, seed pods, sand and grasses
• Recycled trays, cardboard or paper containers for sorting materials
• PVA glue, glue brushes, double-sided tape and scissors
• Aprons or table coverings
• Photograph or display device for documenting progress
• Handwashing or sanitising supplies

Assessment

• During planning, check that each selected material has a stated representational purpose rather than being added only for decoration.
• During creation, use questioning to assess students’ understanding of composition, scale, texture and relationships between living and non-living features.
• Review the reflection for an explanation that links at least one material choice to habitat, ecological meaning or care for the awa.

Differentiation

• Provide a small choice of pre-sorted materials and a visual planning example for students who need reduced decision-making or fine-motor support.
• Offer sentence starters: “I chose ___ because…”, “The texture suggests…”, and “This placement shows the relationship between…”.
• Allow students to dictate or audio-record their explanation, or use photographs with labelled arrows instead of extended writing.
• Extend confident students by asking them to show a less visible ecological relationship, such as decomposition, shelter, food webs or the movement of water.
• Use mixed-ability partnerships for discussion, while ensuring each student makes and explains their own artistic decisions.