Teacher Page

The following information and resources are intended to support the Horsing Around webquest and to suggest ways that the theme of the “horse in art” might be explored in the classroom. Teachers should feel free to adapt the activities and resources provided according to their curriculum goals and their students’ developmental levels.

About WebQuests

Webquests are designed as inquiry-oriented activities “in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet” (Dodge, 1996). They are generally used to promote collaboration among students within the same classroom who work with partners or in small groups to complete given tasks.

Webquests make the most of students’ time on the Internet by engaging them in learning activities requiring an array of higher-order thinking skills. Webquests usually revolve around six elements including: (1) an INTRODUCTION, (2) a TASK; (3) a description of the PROCESS students should go through to accomplish the task; (4) a list of WEB RESOURCES needed to needed to complete the task; (5) a CONCLUSION or set of closure activities for students to review what they have learned; and (6) an EVALUATION section that describes criteria and methods for assessing outcomes. In addition, webquests are typically supplemented with other media resources such as print materials and CD-ROMs.

For more information on webquests, see The WebQuest Page.

About the Horsing Around WebQuest

The Horsing Around webquest is designed to be used by students to learn about the importance of the horse in the history of art. In this webquest, students examine how artists from different cultures and time periods have portrayed the horse and then get to express their own views of the horse by creating original works of art. The following suggestions are offered to assist teachers in implementing the Horsing Around webquest in their classrooms:

• The Horsing Around webquest includes links to various worksheets that contain a list of questions that students are asked to respond to. If you are unable to read these PDF files with your Web browser, you probably need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader and install it in your system (at not charge). As an alternative, you can create your own worksheets for students to use with any word-processing program.

• To complete this webquest, students will need to look at various works of art from the Web. You may wish to download these images onto your computer, print them out, and make them available for your students.

  The proposed task for this webquest is divided into three parts in the process section.

• In PART ONE, each student is asked to reflect on his or her previous knowledge and experience with the horse. They are also asked to think of words and phrases to describe a horse and what a horse can do. As students share their lists with the class, write these words and phrases down on the board as a way of acknowledging their contributions to the class. The compiled class list and students' written relfections should be saved for assessment purposes later on.

  Next, each student is asked to select a particular work of art from the resources list to examine closely. A series of questions are provided to guide students in their analysis of the works of art. Depending on your students' previous experience with image analysis, it may be helpful to choose a work yourself and lead a class analysis of the work before students work on their own. In addition, feel free to modify the list of proposed questions if you like.

  Once students have responded to the questions, they will write descriptions of the works of art they selected. The goal is to write the description in a way that someone else could identify the particular work based on the clues they provide. These descriptions are then exchanged in PART TWO.

• When assigning partners for PART TWO, make sure that students are paired with someone who has chosen a different work of art. Have students exchange their descriptions and allow time for them to examine the group of works and make their selections.

  In debriefing students on this activity, talk about discrepancies that may have occurred between the works selected and the actual works written about. Distinguish between statements of fact and value judgements (opinions or interpretative statements). Return the descriptions to their owners and have them mark the sentences they wrote with a "F" for those that are factual and an "O" for those that are opinions. As a class, draw conclusions about the types of statements people make most often about art.

  Next, working with their partners, students are asked make a list of all the similarities and differences they can find between the two works they selected. They are then expected to work together in reponding to a series of questions about their chosen works. A vin diagram and worksheet are provided to facilitate this process. Once again, depending on the experience your students have had with image analysis, it may be helpful to go through this process as a class before students work on their own.

• In PART THREE, students work on their own to create original works of art inspired by the horse. Students are encouraged to think about how they want to portray the horse before they begin to work. It might be helpful to offer various reference materials for those students who have a difficult time visualizing a horse. Or, if possible, take a field trip to a farm where students can see real horses and make sketches for later use in the classroom.

  It might also be helpful here to analyze various depictions of the horse by artists as a class before students work on their own. In particular, have students notice such things as the pose of the horse and how the personality of the horse is expressed by the artist.

  Depending on your students' previous experience in art, you may wish to either limit students choice of media or have several different mediums available to choose from. Reviewing or offering instruction on technique may be desirable before students begin working.

• Twenty Web resources are provided that cover a range of cultures, time periods and approaches to portraying the horse. A few additional resources are available in case they are needed for a large class.

• At the conclusion of this webquest, it is recommended that the students’ work be put on display. Encourage students to notice what the works they created as a class have in common as well as the differences that exist among them. Questions are provided to guide both a class discussion and individual reflections on the outcomes.

• A number of questions are provided to guide both you and your students in evaluating the outcomes of the activities. As a way of gauging any changes or growth in students' thinking and learning, compare their original reflections with their final reflections. Also, you may wish to create a rubric to facilitate the evaluation process.

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More Ideas and Resources

The following Web resources may be used to support and enhance student learning about the role of the horse in the history of art. While suggestions regarding possible classroom applications are offered, teachers should feel free to adapt these resources and ideas to fit their curriculum goals.

Degas at the Races: Teaching Program
National Gallery of Art

This online program focuses on Edgar Degas' depiction of equestrian subjects in his art. Includes images, a brief biography, and suggestions for teaching activities.

The Horse in Motion
by Eadweard Muybridge, British.
Photographic sequence, 1878.

On June 19, 1878, English photographer Eadweard Muybridge settled a bet for Leland Stanford, governor of California and horse racing enthusiast. Stanford bet a friend that a galloping horse kept at least one hoof on the ground at all times. Ask students to examine the work closely to determine whether Leland won or lost the bet? See an animation of this work.

Horse Mania
Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is among a growing number of U.S. cities who have staged public art shows to showcase local artists, entice residents downtown, and educate the public about art. The works exhibited typically consist of sculptural forms of animals (such as cows, pigs, and horses) that have been painted by local artists. These shows are often supported by local city governments which use public tax money to purchase the sculptures and to advertise the event. But, this practice upsets some local residents who feel their taxes shouldn't be used for art projects.

Have students research such public art events on the Web and then stage a class debate Some questions to raise include: Should tax money be used to support public art? What are the benefits and drawbacks of such public art shows?

Deborah Butterfield Recent Sculpture
The Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle

This site includes a wealth of images and information on Deborah Butterfield's work. It may take some time to load into your Web browser, but it's worth the wait. Older students may be asked to read about Butterfield's work and to learn about the process she goes through to realize her works.

Prior to visiting the site, you may wish to have a class discussion about Butterfield's work. Possible lead-in questions include: How do you think this artwork was made? What is Butterfield saying to us about horses? What makes you think this? How are Butterfield's sculptures of horses different from other works we've seen about the horse?

Leonardo da Vinci's Horse
Allentown, PA.

Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned 500 years ago to construct an enormous bronze horse for Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, Italy. It was to be the largest equine statue ever built, standing 24 feet high. Leonardo's full-scale clay model was destroyed by war and he never saw the bronze horse constructed.

Charles Dent read about the unfinished work in 1977. Inspired by the genius of the Italian Renaissance artist, Dent set out to make Leonardo's vision a reality. In 1999, the first casting of Leonardo's Horse was unveiled in a cultural park in Milan, Italy followed by a second casting, known as the American Horse, being put on public display at the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids Michigan.

Students can read about Leonardo's Horse on this website and learn about the process used to make it.

RECOMMENDED PRINT RESOURCES

• Take 5 Art Print Series, The Horse, Crystal Productions.
  A collection of five prints of works of art based on the horse. Includes a teacher's guide.
  
• Van Camp, Richard. What's the Most Beautiful Thing You Know about Horses? Illustrated by George Littlechild. Children's Book Press, 1998.
  The author takes readers on a journey to find the most beautiful thing about horses.
• Fritz, Jean. Leonardo's Horse. Illustrated by Hudson Talbott. G. P. Putman's Sons, 2001.
  The story of Leonardo's vision of a horse sculpture that took 500 years to realize.
• Lorraine Harrison. Horse: From Noble Steeds to Beasts of Burden. Watson-Guptill Publications, 2000.
  A beautifully illustrated book covering a large array of equine art throughout history.

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