Lesson 8- All Material Sculptures

Presentation Link

(8) Random Stuff.

Description/Theme:

Students will learn about endangered animals and the human causes of extinction. Then students will cultivate creative problem solving skills by creating an animal of their very own out of the recycled material available to them.

Objectives:

- Learn about animals, endangered species, and extinction

- Develop three dimensional problem solving skills

Procedure:

Students can choose any type of animal they’d like to create out of the recycled materials, and then identify the materials and methods they would like to use to then create the animals.

Materials:

- anything reusable that we can get our hands on

Reflection:

For this class we did a review of everything that we had done throughout the semester. We wanted a theme for the class so we chose endangered animals. We had the idea that the students would create an animal from all of our leftover "junk" from previous projects. Unfortunately, the internet was not working so we could not view our powerpoint for this class. So instead we just had a "group chat" and looked at some recycled art images that MCA had. Overall, I feel that this was a good last class to have. It felt like we wrapped up everything, and the students really took what they had learned from previous classes to constructing their animals for this class. One problem we did face however was the fact that we should have put down the table cloths before the class started for those who wanted to paint. By the end of class we had paint everywhere. In general I thought that the students really allowed themselves to be creative with the materials that they were given, and I feel they really felt proud of themselves by the end.

Lesson 1- Louise Silk Lesson

Lesson 1 reflection:

            The kids worked with making fabric coasters with Louise Silk.  The project consisted of stitching a fabric heart, front and back cover, to a square of batting.  The kids took the whole class time to finish this project, and the ones who finished early wrote a valentine note for someone.  Overall the students worked hard on the project, although the needle and thread was difficult to deal with at times.  A few students had trouble with being motivated while working and finding confidence in their stitching, especially two of the boys. 

            For me, I feel it would be good to start the class off with having a casual chat with the students during snack time to get them switching gears from school to our art lesson.  Also it would be good to have a better introduction for the project, perhaps starting with a presentation for each class relating to the topic for the class project.  A few things that we need to be thinking about for the next lessons are time-management, clean-up time, and introductions for classes. 

Looking Back at the End of the Internship:

            I feel that we did a good job for our first lesson, and I feel that we gained a lot of knowledge for what we should do and would need for our following lessons.  I was glad that we got to work with the artist Louise Silk, so the kids were able to learn from someone other than us.  I know that we struggled at first deciding whether or not we wanted Louise Silk to be a part of our lesson, but I am glad we did it because it gave a sense of how we should structure that class without just jumping into it.  Mostly, I think the kids did a great job at their first lesson, and they have grown so much since that lesson.              

Lesson 7- Terrariums

Terrarium and Ecosystem Presentation Link

(7) A- Lesson Title: Terrariums and the Ecosystem

Description/ Theme:

Students will learn about how the ecosystem works, and how it relates the the terrariums in which they will create.  We will discuss the importance of an ecosystem and how it relates to our everyday life.  

Objectives:

-  Learn how to arrange plants within terrarium to work compositionally

-  achieve an understanding about how the ecosystem works, and why a terrarium can survive.

Procedure:

Every student in the class decides on a jar they want to use for their Terrariums.  They will fill the jar with rocks, charcoal, potting soil, moss, and a house plant.  They will focus on arranging the materials in an appropriate manner and that makes sense in a ecosystem.  They will also pay close attention to the way in which they arrange the plants within their terrarium, concentrating on composition.

Materials:

- Jar

- activated charcoal

- potting soil

- moss

- house plants ( Low-light terrariums: Ferns, mosses, baby's tears, fittonia peperomia, sanseveria, schefflera•High-light terrariums (open containers): Cacti, succulents including jade, aloe, borro's tail, earth stars, echeveria, haworthia, sedum)

- pebble-sized rocks

Links: http://www.bhg.com/gardening/houseplants/care/make-a-terrarium/#page=11

http://containergardening.about.com/od/floweringcontainergarden/ss/Terrariumht_6.htm

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-make-a-terrarium-139860

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem

Questions: 

What is an ecosystem?
What are some different ecosystems?
What is the process of an ecosystem?
What do you think happens when you take an animal/plant from one ecosystem and put it in another? 
What does sustainability mean?

Reflection: 

In this lesson we talked about ecosystems, and the students as usual surprised me with the knowledge that they already have about the environment.  After the presentation we worked on creating terrariums as either closed systems or open system terrariums.  The students really enjoyed this project, I believe because of its simplicity.  I think because creating the terrarium had basic steps to follow it was a bit easier to be creative.  They had to follow the steps, but they were allowed to paint their terrariums and decorate the insides with either moss or a plant and shells and small decorations.  Overall I think this lesson went really well, we got everything done on time and every student walked out of the class room with a sense of accomplishment.  

Lesson 6 - Music Lesson

(6) R- Music lesson.  Make your own instrument.

Description/Theme:

Students will learn about the importance of music in cultures around the world. Then students will have the opportunity to make instruments of their own out of recycled materials, and hopefully, the whole group can play together

Objectives:

- Gain an understanding of different cultures through their various musical instruments

- learn how to construct an instrument that is both a piece of art and a functional instrument

Procedure:

Each student can choose if they’d like to make a shoebox guitar, shaker, or drum. Once they have chosen, they will be given the proper materials for their choice and allowed to construct and decorate their own instruments.

Shoebox guitar: students will cut a hole in the top of a shoebox, over which they will “string” the guitar by wrapping rubber bands around the box. Students can create the neck of the guitar by attaching a paper towel roll to their shoebox

Materials:

- Shoeboxes

- Paper towel rolls

- Rubber bands

- metal cans

- plastic tubs and bins

- rice, or beans (something to make shakers)

Reflection: 

We made all different kinds of instruments in today's class.  There were only 7 students who showed up this week to class.  Randy gave a presentation on noise pollution and on different instruments.  He showed the kids all the different instruments he had, and let the students try some of them. The kids were really involved in the presentation and they were raising their hands a lot.  Unfortunately as Randy let each student comment as they raised their hands the questions and comments started to become very irrelevant to the original question.  As for the creating part of the class, the kids made different kinds of instruments, mostly drums and maracas.  We still as usual need a better clean up schedule.  At the end of class we let each student show us the look of their instrument and how the instrument sounded.  It got a little loud at the end. Mostly from this class I learned that although each student may have something they want to share during presentations, the class will get off topic if you let each students talk.

Now looking back: 

Looking back, I feel that we should have had more options for the students in terms of adhering things together.  Also, the instruments could have had more aesthetic appeal.

Lesson 5 Mobile/ Windchimes

Windchime Presentation Link

(5) A Lesson Title: Mobile/Balance

Description/Theme:

Students will create a mobile made from found objects to learn about balance in terms of gravity, but also balance within life.  

Objectives:

- Learn how to balance mobiles while paying attention to aesthetics

- Learn a sculptural aspect

Procedure:

Students will start with a stick, and will start attaching string and objects to the stick.  As they attach these objects they will need to keep in mind the idea of balance to keep the stick and object from colliding together.  They will continue adding weight and objects until the find balance and are satisfied with their mobile.

Materials:

-  Sticks

-  Found objects (smashed cds)

-  string/ yarn

-  wire

-  Wire cutters

-  rocks

Links:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=1&gs_ri=serp&tok=9rTHYDwmY8fHne606uw-sQ&pq=mobiles&cp=12&gs_id=1i&xhr=t&q=alexander+calder&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41248874,d.dmQ&biw=1159&bih=622&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&authuser=0&ei=5lX_UMvTM_O10AGC4IG4Cg

(5) A -Lesson Title: Wind chimes/Weather.

Procedure:

Students will take old CD or other flat object and attach string to several different edges of the object.  Then they will attach several different metal objects to the strings that will create noise when clanged together.

Materials:

- Old CD’s

- Flat “found” object

- metal kitchen utensils

- Metal objects

- String

Links

http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/2012/04/silverware-wind-chime-diy-talent-songbird.html

Questions:

What kinds of energy sources do we use?
What is a renewable energy source?
Where does it make sense to put a wind turbine/ wind mill?
How does a wind turbine work?
Why would it be important to use more renewable energy sources?


Reflection: 

In this lesson we talked with the students about different renewable energy sources and why they are better that nonrenewable resources.  For the art portion of the class we made wind chimes to remind the students that wind is a renewable source of energy. The students all made wind chimes from old silverware, old broken cds, and some other objects we had from previous projects.  Most of the students did a great job at hanging materials from their hangers to make them balance.  Balance was a key factor we talked about in the lesson.  Other students had trouble with balancing their wind chimes, but also a few of them had trouble with tying the string to the utensils.  These are 4th through 6th graders for reference.  Even though some of the students had trouble with tying we allowed those who could tie to create a sculpture instead of a wind chime to keep them from getting to frustrated and not having a project at the end.  Overall the students all created either a wind chime or utensil sculpture, and at the end of class we let each of them share the sound of their wind chime. They love sharing and talking about what they have made at the end class, and I think this is something to continue.

Lesson 4 - Plastic Project

(4) R - Plastic project

Description/Theme:

Students will learn about plastic pollution and how it can negatively affect our environment, specifically the oceans. Then, students will create a fish of their own design out of plastic materials.

Objectives:

- Learn about marine ecosystems and ocean health

- Learn about the harmful effects of plastics, specifically on marine environments

- Develop problem solving skills and creativity

Procedure:

Students will make a fish of their own design out of the plastic materials available to them.

Materials:

- Plastics: Bottles, bins, lids, any reusable plastic objects available

Reflection:

With the students we discussed the importance of the 3R's, reduce, reuse, and recycle. Randy gave a presentation on plastics and the pacific garbage patch and how it affects our world and animals within our world. The students seemed to really be engaged in how to help solve the problem of the Pacific Ocean garbage patch. They really felt for alot of the animal photos Randy showed in the presentation. After the presentation the students created animals and fish out of plastic products. Some of the students really came up with some creative ideas. The different materials really allowed them to explore and really be creative with their project. Overall, we did a lot better at time management this lesson. We had enough time to recap the lesson, clean-up, and to hand out their last project to take home. One of the great things that we did was to allow the students to show their projects and share with the class why and how they made them at the end of class.

Now looking back:

I feel that we could have had better application/ adhesive materials for the kids other than just hot glue and wire. I also feel like we could have had some more examples to show them so they had more options of things to make, since some of them had trouble being creative. Overall, I thought this class we pretty well, but when using this many materials and giving the students a lot of options of things to use the kids tend to go a bit crazy about grabbing things before they are suppose to. It would help if we had some way of keeping things equal or keeping them from grabbing things so quickly off the table.

Lesson 3 (originally 2)- Paper making

Paper Making Presentation Link

(2) A Lesson Title:  Paper making Part A

Description/Theme:

Students will learn the importance of recycling and the importance of conservation within this project.  They will be learning how to create paper from discarded paper products.

Objectives:

-  Gain an understanding of how paper is recycled to make new paper

-  Learn about warm and cool colors by using certain colors of paper

Procedure:

Students will start by tearing small pieces of discarded paper into a large bin or tub.  Then we will pour in hot water to help the paper turn into a pulp.  Once the paper is completely blended, we can take our screens and scoop up the paper pulp, and take a sponge and dab at the paper to help absorb water.  Then we will take the sheet of paper and place it onto a piece of felt to dry overnight.  

Materials:

-  Used paper scraps

-  a few large bins

-  Blender (if needed)

-  Screens

-  Sponges

-  Felt for drying

Paper, as we know it today, was first made in 105 AD in Lei-Yang China by a Chinese official, Ts’ai Lun. His paper was made from a combination of rags, used fishing nets, hemp and China grass.

Links

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/crafts/crafts-basics/makingpaper.html

http://www.tappi.org/paperu/art_class/makingpaper.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gWv_bkq7UI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohv9y8Bi3fU

http://www.geo.sunysb.edu/esp/589_98/leibowitz/Lesson_Plan.htm

http://www.thinkgreen.com/pdf/office-paper.pdf

http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Education/curriculum/ctl/K3Module/Unit2/Lesson4.pdf

Questions to Ask:
What is paper made from?
What is deforestation?
What kind of things does deforestation affect?
What can we do to reduce deforestation and our need for wood?

Reflection:

In this lesson the students created a piece of paper from recycled paper pulp.  They shredded different colored paper scraps, in which we had asked them to pay attention to the color wheel and colors that would blend well together.  Once they blended the paper they poured it through a screen and made a collage on the paper while it was still wet. The collage was to represent something related to things that were affected by deforestation  Most of the students understood the concept of mixing the colors so that they make a new color or turned the color they wanted, but some of the students did not understand that using all of the colors would result in a brown.  In fact I believe all of the boys in the class ended up with a brown color, whether on purpose or not. All of the students were enthusiastic to participate in the project.  I believe it was because it was something that did not involve much thinking just doing so they didn't get too frustrated.  I still think we need to manage our time better so we finish on time and get cleaned up before pick up.

Looking back now that we're done:
I wish I could have shown them more color combinations that would work so they could get the color they wanted to get.  Also, I would have liked to have a better method of getting the paper off of the screen.  We should have also had set up better stations or areas for the students to work. A lot of them need the blender at the same time and it would have been nice to have more blenders or figured out a better way to organize things.