Third-graders were introduced to the art of marbleizing through science. The students discussed the properties of oil and water and why they don’t mix together. As they discovered that oil is less dense than the water, it causes it to float on the surface and they were able to use this to their advantage when creating marbleized paper. They poured oil paints into a water bath and used a tool to give it the marbleized or swirled design. They then placed paper across the top of the water bath and watched as it quickly absorbed the oil pigments before promptly lifting it off of the water and letting it dry on a flat surface.

“We use this paper as a background in a lesson about silhouettes and discovering positive and negative space,” art teacher Meghan McCarthy said. “This marbleized paper adds a little something special to our backgrounds and students love to create them!”