Unit 17 - Year 1 Lessons

Overview

Students will create layered pixel-art scenes focused on weather and seasonal landscapes.

Target skills:

• Visual Communication
• Digital Illustration
• Creative Problem Solving

Tools:

• Pixilart

Outputs:

• Weather scene PNG
• Seasonal landscape PNG

Week 1 - Weather Scene

Lesson 1 - Build a Weather Scene

Goal: create a layered weather illustration using sky, land, clouds, and weather details.

Teacher prep:

• Prepare a weather discussion and sample scenes

Steps:

1. Open Pixilart and create a 250 x 250 canvas.
   
   
2. Make a new layer and name it SKY.
   
3. Return to the background layer and fill the sky color.
   
4. Use the line tool and green tones to build layered ground shapes.
   
5. On the SKY layer, draw clouds and fill them with grey tones.
   
   
6. Add other details like the sun or birds.
7. Save to Google Drive as sunnyweather.png.

Check for understanding:

• Students use separate layers.
• Students complete a readable weather scene.

Extension:

• Repeat with rainy, snowy, cloudy, or night weather.

Lesson 2 - Repeat With New Weather

Goal: remake the scene with a different weather condition.

Teacher prep:

• Suggest alternate weather types

Steps:

1. Reopen or restart the weather workflow.
2. Change the sky and ground colors to match a new weather theme.
3. Add matching details for the chosen weather.

Check for understanding:

• Students clearly change the theme.
• Students keep layers separated.

Extension:

• Compare two weather scenes side by side.

Week 2 - Seasons Scene

Lesson 1 - Build a Seasonal Landscape

Goal: create a layered seasonal scene using water, house, trees, bridge, and plants.

Teacher prep:

• Discuss visual signs of each season

Steps:

1. Open Pixilart and create a 128 x 128 canvas.
   
   
2. Choose one season together and set the background ground color.
   
3. Create a new layer named RIVER and draw the river.
   
4. Create a new layer named HOUSE and place the house.
   
5. Create a new layer named TREE and draw one tree.
   
6. Copy and paste the tree around the scene.
   
   
7. Create a BRIDGE layer and draw a simple bridge.
   
8. Create a FARM layer, then a PLANTS layer, and use copy/paste for plant details.
   
   
   
9. Add extra details like paths, reeds, ducks, or leaves.
   
10. Save to Google Drive with a season filename.
    

Check for understanding:

• Students use multiple named layers.
• The scene clearly represents a season.

Extension:

• Recreate the same composition for a different season.

Lesson 2 - New Season Variation

Goal: rebuild the scene with a different season while keeping layer separation clear.

Teacher prep:

• Review why layers matter for each object type

Steps:

1. Reopen or start a new canvas.
2. Change colors and details to represent another season.
3. Keep water, trees, farm, and house separated on layers.

Check for understanding:

• Students can explain why they used layers.
• The second scene clearly differs from the first.

Extension:

• Add small animated-style details in a static scene.