Interdisciplinary learning is an ever-expanding field in education; however, the number of projects that are available to high school students is greatly lacking. We have created this unit plan to help flesh out the resources available to high school chemistry and art teachers in the hopes that more collaboration between the sciences and arts will happen. 

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Art is the inherent understanding of the human condition; conversely, science’s focus is understanding the natural world. Unfortunately, there is a schism that exists between these two necessary disciplines that cause them to exist adjacent to one another, not interconnected. Knowledge of oneself must use knowledge of the natural world, and knowledge of the natural world is only given meaning when knowledge of oneself is explored. Therefore, this interdisciplinary project will emphasize the relationship between science (chemistry) and humanities (art). 

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Through the exploration of thermodynamics, this project will explore how science can be better understood through its application in art and how art is necessary for giving meaning to science. Through composition and encounters in art, chemistry’s application will become more authentic and necessary in understanding how the world works. 

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This project will therefore cause students to expand their minds and understandings of science and art, and realize they are two sides of the same coin. Indigenous scholars bring insight into how the western world has shunned knowledge growth through understanding oneself and focus purely on the fragmented views of wielding knowledge over nature (Ermine, 1995). We plan on honoring the Indigenous ways of knowing by having students internally explore how the knowledge they learn in this unit is important for their understandings of themselves and how it relates to the broader idea of the world. 

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This interdisciplinary project is a fun, challenging, and authentic project that will allow students to showcase their best selves and ability to create meaningful art and understand chemical processes. We hope you enjoy the interdisciplinary project we have made. 

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One of the greatest issues that faces the progression of technology is the normalization of the juxtaposition between science and art. This segregation creates a disjointed understanding and knowledge, preventing wholistic learning; thus, making it difficult to create authentic and real-world scenarios that link the two disciplines together in a harmonious way. This project challenges the notion of art and science being two separate entities and has created an interdisciplinary project that will challenge student’s perception of the relationship between art and science and its place in their learning.