2019-2020

Kansas City and Topeka

 Winners

Elementary School

Leighton’s Artist Statement: Elephants use their own body (flapping their ears and pouring water on themselves with their trunks) to keep cool during a heat wave. I sketched an elephant to show that. Animals have many ways of keeping cool. I was inspired by the books I’ve been reading and wanted to teach people in Kansas City about natural ways to keep cool during a heat wave. Humans and mammals can get hot easily so they especially need ways to keep cool during Kansas City heat waves. They should stay out of the sun, stay hydrated, and dress in loose fitting clothes, and cool off with water like an elephant does.

Rhythm’s Artist Statement: We learned about the kinds of extreme weather and learned what extreme weather can do. I learned more about extreme weather and drew a picture to go with it. I’m trying to say that waves can be very dangerous. I created this artwork to show what a tidal surge looks like when waves start building up because of the wind and the sun’s energy. I hope people learn what causes a tidal surge and what it could look like and that when you see one coming. You should warn other people and get to high ground. I learned that water, waves and floods are nothing to mess around with and to get to high ground if you see rising water heading towards me. If I’m stuck in high water I need to get on something that floats like a piece of wood. What inspired me was my family, friends, teachers and especially the weather.

Isaac’s Artist Statement: How thunder storms happen is the water vapor goes up and makes a cloud. I learned that thunder happens when negative and positive combine and make thunder happen. I’m trying to say that it’s fascinating to study thunder storms. I got inspired when i drew a thunder storm and when I found out that I had make a poster I got super excited. I created it like that because I wanted to make colorful and nice. I hope that people will think that it is good and it is helpful for them if they need to do tests.

Middle School

Victoria’s Artist Statement: In my artwork there is a dog panting to show how they lower their temperature. The bees are flapping their wings to show how they make "air-conditioning" in their hive when it is hot. I chose the first question because I like animals and they're interesting to learn about. I used colored pencils because I felt like they would make my picture look best since I could use some shading techniques. I learned how different animals keep cool when it is hot outside. I also want people to learn they need to take care of animals when they're hot and don't seem to be cooling down on their own. Like when someone if playing with their dog, if they're dog starts to really foam from the mouth, they might be overheating and need a break. I hope that people like it and thanks for letting me participate.

Emma’s Artist Statement: I decided to answer the question of how we can keep cool from animals because it is important to keep cool because of the harm the sun could do to humans. I felt like this question was the most interesting to learn about how animals keep cool. I think that learning to keep cool in extreme heat conditions is very important because of the extreme heat that we could be faced with one day. There are so many ways to keep cool in extreme weather conditions so I think it is different and cool to learn about how other living creatures keep cool too. The sun has so much harm to humans and it is important to protect ourselves from that harm. Animals from all around the world keep cool in different ways. Some animals keep cool by building structures that have areas where wind can get into the structure and keep it cool. Some animals like pigs and hippos roll around in the mud, or water to keep themselves at a lower temperature. Some animals also have fur that helps keep them cool. Animals such as koalas and cats lay on trees that have a lower temperature than the air around them does. Some animals such as elephants even keep cool by their ears. We can learn a lot from animals. Animals have taught us so much through the years. Now we can learn to keep cool from them too.

High School

Jason’s Artist Statement: For my design I chose to answer the question “how do animals cool themselves down and what can we learn from that.'' I addressed this by showing the animal in question in the foreground and having a cool mist in the background, showing how cool it is becoming. I chose the animal, the kangaroo, because I find it interesting and inspiring that they lick themselves until their fur is soaking, they then let the saliva evaporate. Humans have a similar way of cooling down, sweating, recently I’ve learned of a robot who uses a similar system to cool itself down, so you can say we have learned how to cool down overheated machines through the evaporation of water. I chose the saying kangaroos lick, humans sweat, water cools, as it is a very simple saying that conveys a lot about the design. For the design itself, I added a lot of bright colors and texture so it will be easier to notice from afar, I think the texture adds some character and makes it more pleasing to look at. I added leaves to help frame the text and add contrast.

Brooke’s Artist Statement: In thinking about the extremes of each season, I decided to focus on Spring. With the growth and bright colors, spring is one of the most beautiful seasons. Spring also can bring out some of the ugliest weather including storms resulting in tornados. For my design, I wanted to show both sides of the season - the quiet beauty, but also the scary power. I learned that spring is a common time for warm moist air from the south meet the cold dry air from the north, and when swirled together just right, can result in a rotation leading to a tornado, I hope that people will see my artwork and have a respect for the potentially extreme weather that can accompany the beauty of a season.

Kansas City and Topeka

Runner-Ups

Elementary School

Mia’s Artist Statement: In my artwork, I have shown the conditions that make the weather change. My picture illustrates warm air rising into the atmosphere and it cools down and falls back to the ground. During this process clouds are formed and the water that was evaporated into the warm air turns into snow or rain. Negative and positive particles in the clouds create lightning. I used yellow to show the severe clouds and weather. This is where the rain and lightning forms. The rain and snow collected waters everything and it turns green, This gives animals and insects water. I used bright green for the grass and trees and blue to show the color of the sky and the rain.

Mallory’s Artist Statement: I addressed the question by showing how weather can become extreme. I drew warm air pushing into cold air and creating different types of extreme weather. I hope people will learn ways that extreme weather starts. (Remember, if extreme weather does occur, take shelter.) I myself learned that certain types of extreme weather can occur in different places. Like, if you live in the midwest, you might get a tornado, but if you live in the west, you might get a wildfire or a firestorm. Weather inspires me because it tells you if it will snow, (which is fun to play in) or be warm and sunny, (which is great pool weather). But, extreme weather is important to know about because if it strikes, you’ll want to be safe, won’t you?

Middle School

Michael’s Artist Statement: The question addressed in the art is: “What can we learn from them (plants and animals) about keeping cool in extreme heat?” The animals I chose was a rattlesnake under a bush. In my work I was trying to say that rattlesnakes hide under bushes to get away from heat. In 3rd grade my aunt taught me how to draw snakes. That rattlesnakes hide under bushes in extreme weather. I learned that rattlesnakes hide under bushes and small holes in the ground. I made this picture because of my love for reptiles and animals.

Lucas’s Artist Statement: Tornadoes are caused by very powerful thunderstorms. These thunderstorms cause tornadoes when the warm and the cold air mix and it causes rotation in the sky that later turns into a tornado. Tornadoes are most common in the central plains of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Appalachian mountains. As the tornado goes along it starts to lose power. When the tornado loses enough energy it will stop spinning. I chose to answer this question in my project because I was interested in learning how tornadoes get their energy. I answered this question in my drawing by drawing a tornado and showing cold and warm air mixing. In my artwork, I am saying that tornadoes get their power from big thunderstorms. This is what I explained in my artwork.

High School

Megan’s Artist Statement: I addressed the challenge in my piece by turning it into an interactive mural for children, to educate kids in a fun way. In my piece, I tried to communicate positive energy for children, and that it's fun to learn about science. My artwork is illustrated in the way that it is because my target audience was children. I hope my artwork will give people a smile and provide some facts about animals keeping cool! I learned scientific facts about my animals and then illustrated it in more of a cartoon style. “I-Spy” murals inspired my piece, as I tried to make it appealing and fun for the youth demographic here in Kansas City. I illustrated the animals and then hid the text inside of the picture to make it more of an interactive I-Spy mural.

Miroslava’s Artist Statement: How I address the challenge question how cold air and hot air a very powerful weather on Earth. what I was was trying to say in my artwork is how extreme weather change the earth. the way I made my artwork is I want to have different texture in the cold and hot air. what I hope people learn about my artwork is that extreme is not a joke. I lean that weather on Earth can be peaceful and also change the way you live. what I inspired is making it massing1

Katherine’s Artist Statement: I chose the question “We have all experienced a very strong storm. Where does the energy to make a storm come from? Where does it go?” I started off by researching this question. What I learned was that winter storms are formed from the clash of hot moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, and cold dry air from Canada. What stood out to me was that the writer used the word clash, this heavily inspired my illustration. After sketching out ideas, I settled on showing this clash of air with two humanoid figures, made of hot and cold air, fighting. I hope that my art informs people that the collision of hot and cold air causes storms.

Raquelle’s Artist Statement: I wanted to start my design from a technical point, but I wanted it to be simpler. I decided to show the hot and cold with different colored arrows, that way it’s a bit easier to understand. I think most people know by now that tornadoes are creating by “high winds of hot and cold air,” but some people don’t. So without going super into detail, I think my design is short and sweet. I hope people, mostly kids because I know that’s kind of the focus, learn something new. I know growing up I used to always sit outside during a storm, even during tornado warnings. I’d just sit on the porch and watch the sky. I learned more than I knew before, especially that the reason tornadoes can continue to move for such long distances is because of the funnel that continues to move air and tear up the Earth. I did watch a lot of videos and read a couple of articles about how tornadoes form, but I think really just the fact that I’ve always loved storms inspired me. A lot of times it would be a clear day and then out of nowhere, it’d just rain, hail, or sometimes snow. But maybe that’s just the way Missouri is.