Day 1 – Introduction

Introduce the project through the slide show

• Show students the work of Leonardo da Vinci and a short video
• Also the work of Alexander Calder and a short video
• Engage students by encouraging them to critically think and ask:
  o  How might our environment change in the future?
  o  What needs might humans have in the future?
• Introduce the project goal of sculpting a model of an adaptation or invention for a possible future need
• Discuss project expectations
• Begin brainstorming at least three different ideas

Day 2 – Artmaking

• Students will determine their favorite idea and draw it from two different angles to get a better understanding of the object’s full form (translate idea from a 2D drawing, to a 3D model)

Day 3 – Artmaking

• Students are given tips for sculpting with cardboard and begin the sculpting process

Day 4 – Artmaking

• Students continue working on their sculptures

Day 5 – Artmaking

• Students continue working on their sculptures

Day 6 – Presentations

• Students will write artist statement paragraph
• Students will display their artwork and artist statement and participate in a gallery walk where they will observe each other’s works and give feedback to at least two of their peer’s work. Class discusses what they observed in their peer’s work

• Show the work of Leonardo da Vinci and Alexander Calder
• Discuss the design process compare/contrast to the artistic process
• Share project goals
• What is sculpture?
• Brainstorming
• Our Design Process
• Translating from 2D to 3D with drawings
• Planning and materials
• Sculpting tips
• Artist statement question prompts to help students write their own artist statement
• Resources

• What is your sculpture called?
• Your sculpture is a model of an invention, what does your invention do?
• What materials did you use to construct your model?
• How does it help people?
• Why is this important to you/Why did you choose this invention?

Day 1 – Introduction

Introduce the project with a slide show (see additional resources)

Questions to ask:

• What do you see here?
• How do you think the artist created their work?
• Why do you think the artist made this piece?
• Students can use the paper and pencils to sketch ideas for fish and plants

Day 2 – Artmaking

• Discuss the significance of using the water bottles: their symbolism, recycling, the damage of plastic waste
• Demonstrate how to string the water bottles together (follow printed instructions included below)
• Working in small groups, students should string together their water bottles to create a waterfall

Day 3 – Artmaking

• Demonstrate plant creation with the class. Show the students examples of plastic plants.
• Students start creating their plants. Encourage the students to employ the three art techniques: cutting, gluing and embellishment.
• When students have finished their plants, decide how they will install them in the installation location

Day 4 – Artmaking

• Go over the fish creation with the class, showing the students examples of plastic fish
• Students begin creating their own fish
• Encourage the students to employ the three art techniques: cutting, gluing and embellishment
• When students have finished their fish, hang them up in the installation location

Day 5 – Artmaking

• Students should use this period to finish any uncompleted work.

Day 6 – Presentation

• Finish installation of student fish and plants in the installation location
• When the watershed is complete, the class should go into the hallway to look at and discuss their work

Questions to ask:

• What did we create?
• What did you learn?
• What is a watershed? What is your role in a watershed?
• How did you like doing an art project to learn about science?

Slide examples:

We will think about:

• What is a watershed?
• Why are watersheds important?
• What is our responsibility to a watershed?

Our art is inspired by plastics and other pollutants and their effects on a watershed

• Video: What really happens to the plastic you throw away? by Emma Bryce

What is an art installation?    

• A 3D, sculptural piece of art that is designed for a specific space
• The art is usually temporary and changes how people view the space
• Examples: “Paper Planes” by Dawn Ng and “Melting Man” by Nele Azevedo

Photo of recycled bottle waterfall by Chinese artist Wang Zhiyuan

Questions to ask:

• What do you see here?
• What is this made out of?
• Where do you think this is?
• What is the artist telling his audience?
• How is this art related to water?
• Why and how is this an art installation?

Photo of plastic plants by Veronika Richterova

Questions to ask:

• What do you see here?
• What materials did the artist use?
• How many bottles did she use?

Photo of plastic leaves by Veronika Richterova

Questions to ask:

• What do you see here?
• What materials did the artist use?
• How many bottles did she use?
• How did she get the leaves to take their shape?

Three ways of manipulating plastic

• Cutting
• Gluing
• Embellishment

Cutting

• Takes away material
• Creates details
• Changes surface

Examples of cut plastic

• “Green Plant” by Artist Gulnuroz Daglar

Questions to ask:

• What material is used here?
• How much of the material has been taken away?

Cut plastic art by Eduard Aldrovandi

Questions to ask:

• What material is used here?
• How many bottles do you see?
• How do you think he did this?

Gluing

• We will be using modge podge and hot glue
• What does gluing allow us to do? Enables layering and embellishment

Examples of Layering

• Artists David Edgar and Jen Stark

Questions to ask:

• What materials did the artists use?
• How many layers can you see?
• How does layering change the appearance of the materials?

More examples of layering

• Artists Aurora Robson and Michelle Reader

Questions to ask:

• What do you see here?
• How are they similar and how are they different?    

Embellishment

What is embellishment?

• Decoration
• Adding to

How can we embellish our plastic creations?

• Paint
• Add more plastic
• Add other materials

Examples of embellishment

• “Wreath” by Leanne Stock

Questions to ask:

• What do you see here?
• How is this embellished?

Stringing together water bottles to create a waterfall:

1. Poke a hole in the plastic (nail or poking tool)
2. Run the string through the bottle
3. Make sure the beginning and end of the string are secure
4. Attach more water bottles
5. Attach your string of water bottles to a classmate’s string of water bottles

Creating a plastic fish:

1. Choose a water bottle as the foundation for the fish
2. Cut the water bottle in different ways to change the shape
3. Take the cut pieces or other pieces of plastic and hot glue them onto the fish
4. Embellish fish using paint, tissue paper, modge podge, glitter glue, and colorful tape
5. Run a string through the fish so we can hang it in the hall

Creating a plastic plant:

1. Choose a water bottle as the foundation for the plant
2. Cut the water bottle in different ways to change the shape
3. Take the cut pieces or other pieces of plastic and hot glue them onto the plant
4. Embellish plant using paint, tissue paper, modge podge, glitter glue, and colorful tape
5. Run a string through the plant so we can hang it in the hall

Day 1 – Introduction

Introduce the project with a slide show

Questions to ask during the slide show include:

• What do you see?
• Why do you think the artists made particular the creative choices?
• How do you think the artist did that?
• How do you think math was used in this art?
• How are the artists similar? How are they different?        

Review the art terms:

• Form
• Texture
• Color
• Space
• Sculpture

Discuss the artist statement/monologue

Review the project goals:

• Choose a rock and research identifying information about the rock
• Calculate the rock’s density
• Create a 3D sculpture based on the rock type chosen
• Present your work to our group, delivering a monologue that provides rock’s “story”
• Display your art at school and in the exhibition

Using paper and pencil, students should sketch ideas for their sculptures

Day 2 – Artmaking

Students will be given a demonstration for how to build using chicken wire and papier maché

Students will begin creating their sculptures

• Using chicken wire, students should create the form of their sculpture
• Once the structure is created, they should begin building the form of their sculpture using papier maché
• When creating their sculptures, students should remember the three art terms: form, color, and texture

At the end of class, students will store their projects with their names by them and let them dry overnight

Day 3 – Artmaking  

Students will continue working on their rock sculptures, keeping in mind:

• Color scheme of the rock
• Texture of the rock
• Form of the rock

Students will finish building their sculptures with papier maché and begin adding color and texture

At the end of class, students should store their projects with their names by them

Day 4 – Artmaking

Students will finish their sculptures, keeping in mind:

• Texture
• Color scheme

Students should complete their sculptures and begin to write their monologues
       

• Students will talk about their artistic choices in the monologue
• They will use vocabulary words provided when sharing their rock’s story
• They should have their density calculated

At the end of class, students should store their projects and keep their calculations and monologues in a safe place

Day 5 – Presentations

Students will deliver their monologues and present their sculptures to the class. Students should talk about:

• Their rock’s “story”: What's the story of this place, my place, my origin?
• Who am I? Include rock’s age, type, and composition

Students will turn in their density form and a copy of their monologue