Making It: Programmes 16–26
Programme 17: One Day in Meto's Life

Aims

After watching the programme and participating in the activities, pupils should be able to:

communicate design ideas in different ways
shape materials, including textiles
assemble, join and combine components and materials accurately
apply appropriate finishing techniques
use information and communications technology (ICT) to research aspects of design
know how the characteristics of materials affect the way they are used
investigate and evaluate a product to appreciate how it works and how it is used

Meto lives in a village on the edge of the Brazilian rain forest. Her people combine a traditional way of life with a more modern one. They use plants and animals from the forest for food and to make many of the things they need. Leaves and grasses are used to weave baskets, mats, wristbands and head-dresses. Meto goes into the forest with a hunting party. They catch young tapirs for dinner and wrap them in palm leaves to keep them fresh. Meto helps with the cooking.

People in Meto's village decorate their faces with complicated patterns, grinding different coloured earth and vegetables to make face paints. After school, Meto takes her basket and goes into the forest to collect manioc (or cassava), a special root that is good to eat. She cuts off the thick rind of the manioc and then pounds the white flesh into a soft paste. This can take a long time. Manioc can be boiled and eaten, or dried and used as flour to make bread.

Meto has a special design painted on her face and helps to make head-dresses for a village celebration by weaving palm leaves.

Curriculum Relevance

Science – properties of materials; green plants
Art – collect visual and other information, develop patterns and designs
ICT – gathering information from a variety of sources
History – knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past
Geography – land use, housing, economic/environmental change
Personal, Social and Health Education – cultural diversity

Background

Brazil has many different kinds of people, from many races and traditions. The indigenous people of Brazil, that is the first to live in the country, have lived in the rain forest for thousands of years.

Many changes have happened in Brazil in the last 20 years. The old way of life of Meto's people is beginning to disappear. Houses, roads, computers, electricity and TV have all brought big changes. It's important to Meto and her family that while they take part in modern life they don't lose touch with their old ways and traditions.

The Brazilian rain forest is home to nearly half of all the plant and animal species on earth and scientists believe that millions more are still to be discovered. Many of these creatures are now under threat and may soon die out completely. This is partly because areas of the forest have been cleared and trees cut down for their valuable wood. If the forest clearances continue, animals such as the tapir may soon become extinct.

Activities

Before You Start

Two important safety tips:

Ordinary paints can't be used on your skin. Never mistake ordinary paints for face paints, or you could end up with a nasty rash.
When weaving with grass, be careful not to pull the grass through your fingers very quickly, as it may cut you.

Tribal Face Painting – Masks

You will need: plastic mask, petroleum jelly (such as Vaseline), tissue paper, wallpaper paste, PVA glue, water-based paints, paintbrushes, damp cloth.

Mix up a small amount of wallpaper paste.
Cover the mask with a layer of petroleum jelly.
Now add a layer of torn up tissue paper to the mask.
Paint the tissue paper all over with a thin layer of wallpaper paste.
Build up 10 more layers of tissue paper and wallpaper paste.
When the layers of paste and paper are dry, you can gently remove the plastic mask, leaving a tissue paper mask behind.
Paint your paper mask in skin tones with watercolour paints.
When it's dry, add a layer of PVA glue. When this dries, it will make your mask shiny and 'wipe clean'.
You can now experiment by painting different tribal designs onto your mask with watercolour paints. These can be wiped off with a damp cloth when you're ready to try a new design.
To get ideas for designs, watch the video about Meto's life again, using the freeze frame. Try sketching some of the face-paint designs you see. You can also find face-painting designs by following some of the links from this site.
You could make a whole series of paper masks to show all your different designs.

Grass Weaving – Wristband

You will need: scissors, string and stalks of long grass. (The best sort for this activity is called couch grass. It's very tough and grows along hedgerows and the edges of fields. Look for stalks with grass seeds at the tip, these are strong enough to use).

Cut a handful of long grass stalks. Wash them thoroughly.
Sort them carefully: dark green stalks are soft, supple and good for weaving in and out, the brown and yellow stalks are harder.
Take three long yellow or brown stalks and lay them next to each other.
Tie a green stalk to the first brown one. Then weave this green stalk in and out of the three brown stalks, going over and under.
Pull the stitches tight so that the brown stalks are drawn close together.
When you have nearly reached the end of the green stalk, tie it to a brown one.
Repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 until you have made one long woven band. (This takes a bit of patience!)
Wrap the grass band several times around your wrist and tie it loosely with string. Make sure the band is wide enough for you to slip your hand out of it.
Slip off your wristband and hang it in a sunny place to dry out. When all the green has turned to yellow and brown (after about a week), the wristband is ready to wear.
You could experiment with making other things using woven bands of grass. Try weaving several bands together to make a place mat.

Links

This web page contains links to other websites that are neither controlled nor maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

Find out more about Brazil:
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/goplaces/0,12405,104221,00.html

Find out more about Brazil's Indian people:
http://www.museudoindio.org.br/eng/cri/frcri.htm

Find out about the plants kids use in the Brazilian rain forest:
http://www.units.muohio.edu/dragonfly/plants/titio.shtml

Find out more about the Brazilian rainforest and even build your own rain forest!
http://www.amazonrainforest.org/kidfun/buildarainforest/BuildARainforest.asp

Making It: Programmes 16–26 Programme 17: One Day in Meto's Life