Ecology under the Microscope - Connecting to tiny organisms of fundamental importance through drawing

In the workshop, the reflective use of drawing in learning processes has a central place. In natural science, sober observational drawing has been important for the description and classification of nature. But drawing is much more. Drawing is about leaving traces and is an important process for communicating, visualizing, reflecting, explaining, describing, and understanding. We draw to explore life and create an expression of impressions in the encounter with the outside world. Drawing also contributes to the development of motor and cognitive skills. Through drawing, participants will explore a waterdrop and create visual expressions from their impressions in their encounters with the smallest organisms in Arctic ecosystems. The participants get a theoretical introduction to ecological relationships and experience how to make microscopic preparations and observing these under the microscope. In this practical aesthetic work, participants are challenged to recreate the organism they observe under the microscope by drawing its shape and colouring it with pastel chalk.