A Symbol Of Peace

In China the panda bear is a symbol of peace.  We learned about the habitat of the panda and its behaviors.  Students learned that pandas are a quiet, solitary animal that spends most of its day either eating bamboo or sleeping.  My students love learning about where animals originally come from.  I am happy that when I ask them now where a panda comes from their response will not be "the zoo".

Our first step for this project was studying the habits and behaviors of the panda.
Step 1:  Students used basic shapes to draw the body and the head of the panda.  Learning this skill has really improved the drawings of the students. 
Step 2:  Students painted the head and body only using white tempera paint.  Students then added a horizon line and bamboo around the panda.  They created their bamboo by touching the brush to the paper leaving the shape of the brush.  We did not drag or actually "paint" with the brush to create the bamboo. 
Step 3:  After allowing the paint to dry for a week students added the black areas of the panda.  We do this to make sure we don't end up with grey areas.
Step 4:  Our final step was to add the Chinese symbol for peace.  I bought these stencils at a craft store and students used a dot sponge to put the paint on the stencil.