Cactus Drawings

We had so much fun doing this lesson.  During this lesson, we discussed the cactus plant and other varieties of succulent plants.  Students learned about the type of environment cactus plants flourish (hot, dry, and desert like).  They also learned the importance of the cactus plants spikes (to protect their mosture from predators).  After looking at many pictures of cactus plants and talking about them, students were given step-by-step instructions on how to build their cactus drawing.  We drew the cactus with pencil on blue construction paper first.  Then we traced the cactus with white Elmer's glue.  After the glue outline dried, students filled int he cactus using soft chalk pastels.  To make their cactus drawings look more realistic, students created shadows with darker shades of green and highlights with lighter shades of green and yellow!