This lesson focuses on the rich and unique physical landscape of the southwest United States. Students explore geographic features of the desert and apply their understanding of the topography of the desert by creating a tissue paper painting.

Teaching Level: Adaptable for 2-12

Geographic Themes: Location, Place, Region

National Geography Standards: The geographically informed person knows and understands:

#2 How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.

#3 How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.

#4 The physical and human characteristics of places.

#5 That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity.

#7 The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.

Materials:

• One sheet of 9"x12" white construction paper for each student
• Tissue paper (white, brown, tan, yellow, red, orange, light blue, dark blue)
• White glue
• Paper cups
• Paint brushes
• Water

Procedure:

1. Protect the workspace with paper.
2. Tear various colors of tissue paper into uneven strips.
3. Thin the white glue with water in paper cups.
4. Paint the top half of the construction paper with the thinned glue.
   • To make the sky use blue, white, and yellow tissue paper.
   • For the land formations use brown, tan, yellow, red, and orange.
   • Students may want to cut out the shapes of mesas, butte, plateaus, canyons, or cliffs that they will include in their tissue paper painting.
5. Working from the top down, place tissue paper on the glue and dab or brush over it completely with the brush. Be gentle with the brush so that the tissue paper doesn't tear.
6. After completing the top quarter of the paper, do the bottom quarter repeating the same procedure except work from the bottom up.
7. Do not be concerned if the tissue paper wrinkles because this will add dimension to the artwork.
8. Let dry.