An interdisciplinary project at the high school level.

The Fibers I class at Clay City High School collaborated with the Chemistry II class on a dye project.

Purpose: to help students to realize the connections between subject matter and processes in science and art.

Fibers students learned to dye wool yarn with natural and with Kool-Aid dyes.

Chemistry II students sampled the dye solutions to perform chromatography tests.

How does this relate to Indiana’s Visual Art Standards?

Standard 9: Creating Art: Production Students develop and apply skills using a variety of two dimensional and three dimensional media, tools, and processes to create works that communicate personal meaning. Fibers, properties of wool yarns, dyeing process.

Historical and contemporary dyes used in clothing and household textiles. Career applications: Fiber arts, interior design, fabric design, landscape design. Standard 12: Careers and Community Students understand how art experiences affect daily life and identify opportunities for involvement in the arts. Historical and contemporary dyes used in clothing and household textiles. Career applications: Fiber arts, interior design, fabric design, landscape design.

Chemical composition of dyes, chemical process of dye bonding to fibers, interaction of mordants with fiber, exhaust dyes. Standard 13: Integrated Studies Students identify and make connections between knowledge and skill in art and all other subject areas such as humanities, sciences, and technology. Chemical composition of dyes, chemical process of dye bonding to fibers, interaction of mordants with fiber, exhaust dyes.

What were additional student learning experiences during this lesson? Properties of wool fibers Extraction of natural dye pigments from plants Selection of colors for dyes Alternative dye processes: solar dyeing, microwaving Chromatography procedure

Fibers I students preparing wool yarn in skeins for dyeing.

The school’s butterfly/dye garden provided plant materials which students processed into dyes. Tansy blossoms Black-eyed Susan flowers Pokeberries

Natural dyes included onionskin, pokeberry, black-eyed Susan flowers, and goldenrod blossoms.

Students used two different natural dye processes: Solar DyeingHot-plate dyeing

Natural dye material (goldenrod) being heated to extract dye.

Mordants used to fix the dyes included vinegar and alum/cream of tartar, both safe for classroom use.

Chemistry II students evaluating natural and Koolaid dyes used on wool yarn.

Chem II students wrote up their lab and included samples of data from the experiment.

Natural dyes and KoolAid dyes are both so dilute that the chromatography was difficult. Our next experiment will be with liquid tempera, to integrate color wheel theory and chromatography.

Fibers I students will use the dyed wool yarn in weaving or knitting projects this semester.

Future collaboration ideas include: Felting Color and Light Plants and Symmetry The sky is the limit when integrating Science and Art... give it a try in your classroom!