The Science of Pointillism

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette, George Seurat, 1884

During the 1880s, artist George Seurat invented pointillism, a method of painting entirely with dots or points of paint.  Around the same time in history, scientists discovered cells while looking at plant and animal tissue under a microscope.  ¡Their discovery led to the Cell Theory which states that a cell is the smallest unit of a living organism;  cells are the building blocks of life;  and plants and animals are made of cells.  ¡Just as pointillism consists of thousands of dots of paint, plants and animals consist of thousands of cells. 
Based on this knowledge, seventh grade students:

• Selected a photograph of a plant or animal and its corresponding cell. 
• ¡Drew and labeled the cell as if looking at it under a microscope.
• Used the science of pointillism to recreate the picture of the plant or animal by painting dots of color closely together.
• Filled the entire page with “cells” of color.