Lesson plan based on Model Boat

Research, analyze, and compare artworks that depict transportation.

Skills and Focus: Art History, Cultural Comparisons, Writing

Subject Area: Fine Arts

Thematic Connection: Transportation, Comparing Cultures

Grade Level: Secondary School

Time Needed: 60 minutes

Objectives

• Analyze or discuss how the model boat reflects ancient Egyptian daily life and the afterlife, focusing particularly on transportation.

• Investigate how technological changes are reflected in art and society by researching the ideas of travel and transportation in the art of other cultures.

Instructional Materials Needed

Stories: Boats in Ancient Egypt and Models as Substitutes

Activity

Step 1: Discuss the ancient Egyptian practice of placing objects like the model boat in tombs for use in the afterlife. Boats were an integral part of daily life as the main mode of transportation, and thus would be important for people to take with them to the afterlife.

Step 2: The ideas of motion, transportation, and travel have fascinated artists of many cultures and times. Ask students to conduct individual or group research to compare and contrast the Model Boat to one or more of the following images in the Art Institute collections:

• Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige, Branch Road at Motomachi, Totsuka, 1833

• Claude Monet, Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877

• Walter Ellison, Train Station, 1936

• Constantin Brancusi, Golden Bird, c. 1922

For more information, consult The Art Institute of Chicago's Teacher Packet, Art on the Move, 1996.

Goals

This activity meets Illinois State Goal 27: Understand the role of the arts in civilizations, past and present.

© 2000, by The Art Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved. Use of this program is subject to the terms below. No part of this program may be reproduced, transmitted or distributed in any form or by any means, except for personal or classroom use. All Copyright in and to the program, in whole or in part, belongs to the publisher and its licensors and is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office