Daring Dioramas

Discover the art and science of dioramas and invite your students to build their own!

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1st - 5th grade with suggestions for scaling below

Overview

Let’s explore the relationship between dioramas, taxidermy, science, and art. Museums utilize dioramas and taxidermy to help people learn more about different habitats, species, and ecosystems. Follow along with this lesson to immerse yourself and your students in the behind-the-scenes work that preserves the natural world while making it come to life through dioramas.

Lesson plan and supplemental worksheets can be downloaded here or by using the button link above.

concepts

Dioramas utilize taxidermy to build three-dimensional scenes that immerse viewers into a realistic and detailed model
Dioramas can help us visualize environmental changes happening in our natural world
Taxidermy and dioramas combine art and science to preserve animals and their habitats with lifelike effect
Taxidermy plays a significant role in education and research by preserving species that may be rare, hard to access, or extinct
Dioramas tell stories about wildlife in their natural habitats

objectives

Learn about dioramas and why they are important
Explore the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s diorama and taxidermy spaces (virtually or in-person on a field trip)
Students will build their own dioramas incorporating what they have learned about different habitats, species, and ecosystem relationships

duration*

Pre-visit: 20-30 minutes
Visit: 45 minutes
Post-visit: 3-4 one hour sessions
*Actual times can vary

North American Mammal Hall
African Mammal Hall
Reframing Dioramas: The Art of Preserving Wilderness
Bird Hall
Becoming Los Angeles
Your Classroom

Supplies

Diorama supplies

Copies of animal cut-outs
Clay or model Magic
Glue
Scissors
Construction paper (variety of colors)
White cardstock paper
Natural materials (leaves, rocks, etc.)
Markers/crayons/colored pencils
Felt pieces
Recycled materials
Paint & paint brushes
Shoebox, cereal box, etc.

vocabulary

Adaptations
Anatomy
Diorama
Ecology
Ecosystem
Fauna
Flora
Habitat
Traits
Taxidermy

Outline

Students will learn what a diorama is, where they can find them, what is in them and why they are important.
Students will understand what taxidermists do.
Students will practice skills that taxidermists use for their work, ie. sculpting, drawing and/or measuring.
Students will explore the Museum making observations about the habitat dioramas (optional field trip activity).
Students will do research on an animal and create their own habitat dioramas to incorporate what they have learned about their selected animal and dioramas.

Pre-Visit

Use the Pre-visit & Post-visit slides or create your own to introduce the idea of dioramas and taxidermy to your class, what they are and why they are important.
- Consider having a content warning conversation with the class. Taxidermy may touch on sensitive subjects regarding death and animals.
You can pair this lesson with content your students are already learning in class. This lesson connects to many science topics including ecosystems, habitats, conservation, art and even math! Find what works for your classroom.
Use the accompanying worksheets (or create your own!) to practice skills such as using reference photos for art, sketching illustrations for your diorama, making observations and more!
Before visiting the museum use the NHM School Visit Social Narrative to prepare your students for what to expect on their visit.
- See the “Other Considerations” section below for a virtual field trip option.

Visit

If you are visiting the Museum, use the Museum map to preview where your class will see dioramas and examples of taxidermy throughout the exhibition halls. See our labeled map on page 9 of the lesson pdf.
Use your field trip as a time for students to draw inspiration from the habitat dioramas in preparation for creating dioramas in the classroom. Take photos of your trip for students to review post-trip.
You may choose to use the worksheets in the “Visit” section (pg. 9-12) of the lesson plan pdf to guide your students during their visit or create your own.

Post-Visit

If you visited the Museum on a field trip or went on a virtual trip, reflect with the class.
Potential ideas for reflection and discussion:
- Ask questions about the diversity of habitats or ecosystems they saw. What habitats were represented? What did they notice about a specific diorama or overall? Additional discussion questions can be found in the Pre-visit & Post-visit slides linked above.
Discuss all the things that make up a habitat or an ecosystem for an animal and brainstorm what they will include in their diorama. You can also use photos from your trip to look back on.
Have students build their own habitat dioramas inspired by NHMLA! You can use the resources provided in this packet in addition to the Pre-visit & Post-visit slides.
This can be an in-class project made over several sessions or a project given for at-home.
In class be sure to model each step of the diorama building process with your students.

Building a Diorama

Have students choose their focal animal. Use the Brainstorming My Diorama and My Diorama Planner (pg. 14 and 15) graphic organizers to help them plan different elements and supplies that need to be included in their diorama.
Research the backdrop, flora (plants), and fauna (animals) that will be part of each child’s particular habitat.
Help each student decide what materials will be needed to construct the habitat. Use the Pre-visit & Post-visit slides to find examples for material options for each step.
Gather materials for:
- Diorama exterior (shoeboxes, delivery boxes, etc.)
- Diorama backdrop (crayons, paper, colored pencils, etc.)
- Diorama flora (real leaves, twigs, rocks, pictures of plants, etc.)
- Diorama fauna (toy animals, animal coloring pages printed on cardstock, magazine cutouts, animal stickers, etc).
Model on your own diorama how to create each step for your students, background, environment and animals.
Have students make their diorama and break each step into a separate in-class session (if working in class only).
Include a label/sign (e.g. on an index card), describing the details of the habitat diorama, similar to those labels seen inside of a museum.

Other Considerations

Refer to the Build Your Own Diorama portion of the Pre-visit & Post-visit slides for alternative materials that are accessible and low-to-no cost for building your diorama. Be creative and resourceful by utilizing the coloring sheets provided, having students draw their flora and fauna on blank paper, or asking parents and students to bring in old magazines, toilet paper rolls and more. Encourage students to make their diorama as unique as they are!
If a visit to a museum with dioramas is not possible for you and your students, use images online in place of a visit to the Museum. Our Habitats of North America or Habitats of Africa photo galleries showcase the two mammal halls and can be accessed for free.

Variation and Extensions

Younger ages (Grade K - 2nd)

Have students select only one focal animal and their habitat. Use informational texts, worksheets and videos to extend their learning about their selected animal.
Consider your students fine motor skills and provide supplies that are easy for them to work with or prep supplies in advance.
Go on a nature walk at school, in the Nature Gardens at the Museum, or virtually online and discuss the different flora and fauna that you observe in this habitat.
Use habitat coloring pages like the ones provided in this resource to extend their learning about habitats and the plants and animals in different ecosystems.
Put a diorama on the page! Have students cut, paste and color plants, animals, and more to create a 2D ecosystem scene that they can label.

Middle and High School ages (Grade 6-12)

Older students can start more broadly by selecting an ecosystem/habitat to model in their diorama and can include a variety of plants, animals and features.
Use dioramas to explore more complex ecological topics such as:
- Trophic levels and energy flow in an ecosystem.
- Food chains or webs; i.e. producers, consumers and decomposers etc.
- Key stone species relationships
- Symbiotic relationships
- Changing climate conditions such as floods, droughts, or seasonal changes
Turn diorama building into a group project.
- Groups can create dioramas of the same place across time. Example: prehistoric LA, modern LA, research to create a future LA scene. Have students present to the class as a group.
Students can focus on human impacts. For example, students can create dioramas that show the progression of new growth in a forest burn area or progressive urbanization in natural spaces.
Have students participate in oral presentations about their dioramas connecting to topics discussed in class.
Students can research career pathways related to or requiring diorama building (Taxidermists, engineers, architects, etc.).
Artists are integrating science and contemporary art to create new reimagined renditions of dioramas. Have students experiment by creating their own unique take on dioramas.
Read more about three of our diorama bays in our newest exhibition Reframing Dioramas have been reimagined by local artists:

Standards

NGSS

LS2.A, LS2.B, LS4.C, ESS2.D, ESS3.A, ESS3.C

S+E Practices

1 (Asking questions and defining problems)
2 (Developing and using models)

Crosscutting Concepts

System and System Models
Scale, Proportion & Quantity