Pupils will be fascinated by the way constellations are depicted figuratively by joining up stars, as in Orion or the Great Bear. Show them how to produce a marbled paper background to resemble the blue-grey Milky Way. Pupils can then invent their own constellations, based on animals or mythical creatures and superimpose the shape on to their marbled “universe”. Other pupils can play “find the constellation” by joining up the stars.
Make a whole-class frieze. Pupils can select sections of the story and depict the people and events; use 2-D media, or cast in plaster of Paris.
Use a rolling-pin to make slabs of clay, about 1cm thick and of a size that will fit neatly into the base of a cardboard shoebox. Incise the figures in the story into the clay surface using the end of a pencil. Use found objects to embellish by impressing Greek-style patterning, and add relief features with small clay pieces. Pour liquid plaster on to the slab (the shoebox will stop the plaster from running and can be removed with the clay after the plaster has hardened) to make a cast of the clay “mould”. Combine these to make a “Greek” frieze which tells the Orion myth.
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