The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center

Origami: Patterns, Nature, and Natural Design

Origami: Patterns, Nature, and Natural Design

 

Origami Patterns, Nature, and Natural Design

Origami Patterns, Nature, and Natural Design Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan Background:

  • Demographics

    • Theme/Topic: Origami
    • Subjects/Grade Level: High School
    • Suggested duration: Multi-class periods
    • Overview: In this multi-day lesson plan, students will have a brief introduction to concepts of environmental history and its intersections with the Japanese art of origami (paper folding). Students will analyze and evaluate the various ways in which nature produces patterns, folds, and geometric shapes that help to inspire and give rise to artistic origami designs. Secondly, students will analyze and consider a variety of ways in which origami reflects the manner in which humans arrange the natural products of their environment (trees, plants, rocks, etc.) into patterns, shapes, and designs in order to produce a specific social context. A series of curated activities - videos, readings, discussion prompts, and companion worksheets - will challenge students to recognize natural patterns among flora and fauna and to draw connections between the environment and various origami design templates. Students will demonstrate their understanding by choosing an environmental theme (e.g., waterways, rural or urban landscapes, flora and fauna), relating their natural pattern to an origami form, and incorporating this origami form within a larger historical, social, or environmental context.

 

  • Connection to National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) 2020 Standards

    • II. People, Places and Environments (e): Locate and distinguish among varying landforms and geographic features, such as mountains, plateaus, islands, and oceans
    • III. People, Places and Environments (g): Describe how people create places that reflect ideas, personality, culture, and wants and needs as they design homes, playgrounds, classrooms, and the like
    • III. People, Places and Environments (h): Examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land, building of cities, and ecosystem changes in selected locales and regions
    • IX. Global Connections (a): Explore ways that art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements may facilitate global understanding or lead to misunderstanding

       

  • Essential Questions 

  • How do naturally occurring designs, patterns and forms inspire the art form of origami in Japan?
  • How does the art form of origami reflect a social relationship between the artists and their natural environment?

 

  • Learning Objectives 
  • Students will be able to:
    • Identify and categorize patterns, folds, and geometric shapes that naturally occur in different Japanese environmental landscapes (pastoral/rural, cultural, urban).
    • Evaluate the qualities and features of natural environments, flora, and fauna that inspire and give rise to origami design patterns.
    • Analyze examples of origami to understand the cultural significance of certain natural environments, flora, and fauna in Japanese society.
  • Draw connections between the practice of origami as an artform and origami as a cultural and religious practice.
  • Synthesize evidence from multiple sources to create visual representations that demonstrate an understanding of origami as a mode for environmental storytelling and biomimicry.  

 

  • Materials Needed

Travel Journal Materials

  1. Teacher Materials: 
    1. Google Slide Presentations (audio): 
      1. Basics in Environmental History & its Connection to Origami
      2. Origami: Nature & Natural Designs
      3. Landscapes: Rural, Urban, & Shrine
      4. Environmental History & Origami: Telling your story Project
  2. Student Materials: 
    1. Google Slide Presentations: 
      1. Basics in Environmental History & its Connection to Origami
      2. Origami: Nature & Natural Designs
      3. Landscapes: Rural, Urban, & Shrine
  3. Teacher Materials:
    1. Teacher Worksheets:
      1. Basics in Environmental History: Env Hist vocabulary worksheet
      2. Basics in Environmental History: Origami vocabulary worksheet
      3. Basics in Environmental History: Discussion questions 
      4. Origami: Nature & Natural Designs - Discussion questions
      5. Landscapes: Rural, Urban, & Shrine - Discussion questions
      6. Project planner sheet & directions
  4. Student Worksheets:
    1. Basics in Environmental History: Env Hist vocabulary worksheet
    2. Basics in Environmental History: Origami vocabulary worksheet
    3. Basics in Environmental History: Discussion questions 
    4. Origami: Nature & Natural Designs - Discussion questions
    5. Landscapes: Rural, Urban, & Shrine - Discussion questions
    6. Project planner sheet & directionsGoogle Earth Map Tour (optional)

Resource Support:

This lesson plan was developed by Joseph Daniels, who participated in the NCTA 2025 Building the Virtual Japan Experience: Tokaiko, Origami, Temples and Shrines (TOTS) . The seminar was funded in part by the Freeman Foundation and a U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center grant to the East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University. The content of this lesson plan does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Lesson plans are available online for classroom use worldwide and can be accessed at EASC's Resource page.