Egyptian 3D Mummies

Submitted by: Jennifer Schuck
Art teacher at Dunbar Elementary, St. Louis
A collaborative lesson with the 6th grade teacher
Grade level / Age: Grade 6 ages 11-12

Goals / Objectives:

1. Students will learn about ancient Egyptian society and about the preparation of the dead.
2. Students will understand about mummification and it's meaning to ancient Egyptian society.
3. Students will recognize hieroglyphs and how they represent letters in English letter characters.
4. Students will create a mummy that represents the person they are.

DOK levels:
1- Students will identify hieroglyphs that represent letters to their name
2- Students will construct a mummy from paper
3- Students will critique their mummies
4- Students will make a connection to ancient Egyptian mummies

Vocabulary:

Egypt, hieroglyph, mummy, Africa, Nile River, Pyramid, symbol, inlay, and ceremonial beard

Materials Needed:

Each student will need:
- One sheet 4' x 3' [122 cm x 91.45 cm] of light brown sturdy Kraft Paper
- Drawing Pencils
- Artgum Erasers
- Black Sharpie Fine Point Markers
- Egyptian Symbols Stencils
- Hieroglyphs conversion sheet to write their name
- Gold, royal blue, white, black and red Tempera Paint
- White Glue
- Newspapers
The teacher will need:
- An image of an Egyptian mummy such a King Tutankhamun
- A collaboration with the grade level teacher who will teach more in depth about the society and mummification.

Lesson Description:

I will begin by showing an image of a coffin, such as, from King Tutankhamen and discuss the inlay of gold and lapis lazuli.
I will have the students recall from their social studies unit the significance of mummification and the tomb.
I will show students an example of my mummy and the steps to making a 3D mummy.

Step 1:
Students will be given the large sheet of craft paper and will fold it in half length wise so that they have a paper that is now 4' x 18" [122 cm x 45.7 cm].
Step 2:
The teacher will demonstrate step by step on how to draw the mummy beginning at the head. Students at this age still need assistance on this.
After the head and neck are drawn the arms are the hardest to draw, so the teacher may have to go and assist individual students with this.
Step 3:
Students will use the hieroglyph guide to write their name
Step 4:
Students will use stencils to create designs on the coffin
Step 5:
Students will begin painting
Step 6:
Once the coffin is painted students will use a black sharpie to outline all the features.
Step 7:
Students will cut out the mummy along the perimeter lines and glue the edges together leaving the top open. They will stuff the mummy loosely with news paper.
Step 8:
Students will glue the mummy together at the head after stuffing it.
Step 9:
We will critique our mummies.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed on the final product in terms of whether hieroglyphs were used, quality of the painting, that the mummy represents a self-portrait (using previous self-portrait knowledge), and that decorative ancient Egyptian elements were used.
National Visual Arts Standards Covered: VA4, VA3, FA4, FA3