Can art help scientists see more clearly?

Suitable for 14-19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, STEM clubs, art clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5/Grade 9-10 and Grade 11-12 art and science.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks (UK):
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Dr Christina Smylitopoulos, an art historian at the University of Guelph. She is teaching arts-based methods to scientists to help them improve the quality of their scientific observations.

• This resource also contains an interview with Christina and offers an insight into how to pursue an educational path that combines art and science. If your students have questions for Christina, they can send them through the Futurum Careers website.

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Christina’s research and challenges them to examine works of art to explore how their personal experiences influence what they see.

This resource was first published by Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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