Does the practice of drawing enhance your students’ observation skills? I am especially curious to know if blind contour drawing of organisms, habitats, specimens, dissections, microscopy, etc. helps students to generate questions of structure and function, ecological adaptations, and evolutionary relationships.

Try this: When you have a dissection lab, microscopy session, or field work, ask students to practice 10-15 minutes of blind contour drawing. Then ask them to generate 20 questions that came up during the time of slow looking while they were drawing.

Also see Artifacts of Attention, a public participation art project, with a blind contour activity students can mail on post cards.

Send me samples of their work (anonymous or with names), a short description of what they were drawing, some of their notes and questions. Does this practice enhance your students’ observation skills? Share your thoughts with me! Write sciencecandance@gmail.com.