This is a project I originally saw on Artsonia, but I was so pleased with the job the students did I had to post them here. I used the lesson to discuss with my second graders the "power of observation". We spent time "observing" together the way snow sits on a branch and the way a complicated thing like a cardinal can be broken down into basic shapes ( ovals, circles, and triangles). The finished results drew ohhs and ahhs the whole time they were on display.