Betty the tortoise comes to class

I figured the students should start working from life. Not sure how fast they would be, I decided this 20 year old mother tortoise, a pet of the science teacher, would be a safe start.

It was not easy. We built and adjusted barricades on the screened porch because Betty turned out to be pretty fast. And she pooped which grossed out a lot of the kids who have never been on a farm or lived in an un-antiseptic environment. I wish I had more pictures- as 48 students took 20 minutes to paint (because their excitement over the animal took at least the first ten minutes of class to calm) and then they just wanted to look.

Looking is good. Isn't that what I am supposed to be teaching?

I had them start on a tinted ground and just use dark and light pigment.