Fourth graders at Rowe Elementary School participated in a Side x Side program that integrated a science and literacy unit on animal behaviors with art. During the program, students became experts on the school’s mascot, the river otter, and animal behaviors including movement, defense mechanisms, and habitats. With teaching artist Jill Osgood, they drew, painted, and designed original book forms to capture their scientific research on defense mechanisms and features that enable animals to survive in the wild.