Suggestions for entering the competition

Hold your own class competition to produce a piece of art inspired by one of the images and send us a photo of the winner (or a collection of the best ones).

The whole class can produce a montage or a single piece of art work that has been inspired by one (or all) of the images and you can send us a photo of this.
The class could produce art work based completely upon one of the pictures. For example a papier mache sculpture or a painting that has been inspired by the original image.

The children can do an experiment related to the work shown by one of the images. Results from this can be submitted, photos of the children doing the experiment could be sent in or a poster summarising their work.
The response can also be about the scientists: for example what do the children think scientists look like, can they match the scientist to the image, after looking at the images and discussing them and the scientists, what do they think of scientists now?

Recreate the image. This could be by expanding a section and changing the colours.
Compare the image with others of plants. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers for example.
Recreate using a different medium. For example vegetable netting for the cell walls.
Consider the application of the research – using biofuel as a renewable energy resource. Students could design a plant that could be used to run cars.

D+T – make some mini objects
Recreate the image but as a larger scaled version, with a large 5p coin from cardboard and a mug made in layers from plasticine
Creative writing – Whose tiny cup is it? Compare with The Borrowers/ Alice in Wonderland/ Jack and the Beanstalk/ Gulliver's travels
Art lesson on comparative sizes and perspective

D+T – build a man from pipe cleaners and look at the levers and joints needed to make the man move
PE – Stick lights or reflectors to different parts of the body and move around to make the lights make different shapes
Take photos of each other walking and make a montage
Have a look at the Muybridge exhibition currently on at the Tate gallery

Art – blow paint through a straw, how do the patterns depend on the shape of the end of the straw?
D+T – design something to fire water the furthest
Thinking skills – Cover the image with post it notes and reveal slowly, what could this picture be of? The students could brainstorm their ideas on a whiteboard – send in a photo.

power of 10 video by “jbmathfun” starts to zoom in at 5minutes 30. Show this and then ask students to guess what the image might be
Recreate the image using materials they can find
Maths – consider the tessellation of the bumps and other living things that tessellate
Make a kaleidoscope, click here for a video by "Howcast" to show you how

Use to support solids, liquids and gases theory in science
Students to behave like solids liquids and gases in drama
Look at symmetry and consider the rotational symmetry of this and other patterns
Build some lego structures and look at how their strength depends on the way they are put together, consider implications for the atomic structure of matter.

Remember that this is an art competition and that entries will be judged on their artistic merit rather than their scientific content.

We would particularly welcome entries that surprise us and encourage the children to produce the most creative and imaginative work they can.

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