Sydney Laughlin
Art 433 Lesson plan
Classroom Aquarium
Subject: The students will use “trash” that might be found on most beach clean ups to create
an in class recycled aquarium. The lesson will use the recycled art movement to supplement a
lesson on the harmful effects that humans have on the environment, with specific relation to
ocean life. Following the Washed Ashore project created by artists Angela Haseltine Pozzi, the
students will use a variety of reusable media to create art.
Grade Level: 3-5
Introduction: This is a lesson on the harmful effects that mankind can have on the unsuspecting
creatures in oceanic environments. The children will learn about the recycled or
“environmental” art movement. The earliest sign of the art movement start in the early 1960’s
and is most associated with sculpture, especially site-specific art or land art. The movement
began with specific “Happenings” that were climates easily controlled by the artist, for
example, lights temperatures,
Specifically art by Angela Haseltine Pozzi, and the Washed Ashore Project on the Oregon
coast. The Washed Ashore Project is sponsored by Artula Institute for Arts and Environment
whose mission is to teach environmental issues through the arts. The Washed Ashore exhibit is
currently being displayed at the Harbortown Event Center in Bandon, Oregon. The exhibit is
created by community members working together to clean-up beaches and in the process use
the debris as art supplies to construct giant sculptures of the marine creatures that are most
affect by plastic pollution.
The lesson will result in a two day activity where students will be required to construct
an aquatic form out of recycled goods that are commonly found during beach cleanups. After
the two days the entire class will put their creatures together to form their own underwater
environment.
Rationale Statement: Human beings have the ability to create such a disastrous ripple effect on
their environment from the littlest movement. If we can contribute 24-30 aware students onto
the world, one year at a time, the positive ripple will be felt for generations to come as the
behavior spreads, creating a more knowledgeable and environmentally friendly society. Adding
the art aspect to the informational lesson the students will gain the ability to create something
both beautifully original and informational from something that is ugly, harmful, and unsafe.
Bibliography:
Washed Ashore Project website: http://www.washedashore.org/
Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLYFHV21TRo
Merriam-Webster dictionary: http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/environment
Objectives: Students create a unique and visually appealing 3-d figure of an underwater
creature out of mostly recycled materials.
Art History: The recycled art movement, specific artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi
Aesthetics: Students will have individually chosen an underwater object to construct
from their own knowledge of what lives or resides under the water.
Art criticism: Children will use the available materials and create a creature related to
sea life in relation to the vocabulary and lesson criteria.
Art Production: The 3-D form
Production Materials:
All materials should be for a 24-30 student class, scissors, tape, paint (water color, acrylic),
brushes, recyclables (newspaper, netting, plastic bottle rings, plastic bags, cardboard boxes
(cereal sized), soda cans, plastic bottles, string, scrap papers, wood pieces, old clothing, jewelry,
aluminum foil, odds and ends).
Vocabulary:
Recycle: to process (as liquid body waste, glass, or cans) in order to regain material for
human use
Form: the shape and structure of something as distinguished from its material
Aquarium: a container or an artificial pond in which living aquatic animals or plants are
kept
Environment: the circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded
Interdisciplinary Connections: Science, History, and Geography.
Adaptations:
Play oceanic music softly in the background while children are working.
Materials can be interchanged for ones with more physical texture.
Start the warning announcements earlier than 15 minutes.
Have both left and right hand scissors available.
Have a “time-out” area for those that require more room, and a quieter place to work.
Limit available materials so there is less anxiety.
Lesson Criteria: (SWBAT) Students will be able to:
Identify recyclable goods
Manipulate recyclable goods into a creature/object found under the sea with only the
given amount available
Create a piece that will fit into the classroom recycled aquarium theme
Identify the relationship between manmade material and the environment
Procedure:
This is a lesson that is attached to a larger series on ocean life.
Set-Up:
The set up will be done mainly by the teacher before the children are in the classroom.
After the lesson of describing creatures that live in the ocean, the teacher will gather recycled
materials that are often found on the beach that can include:
Newspaper, netting, plastic bottle rings, plastic bags, cardboard boxes (cereal
sized), soda cans, plastic bottles, string, scrap papers, wood pieces, old clothing, jewelry,
aluminum foil, and various odds and ends
Making sure that there is enough recycled goods to go around the teacher needs to gather the
materials that will keep the goods together, and let the children decorate the creatures this can
include:
Scissors, tape, glue, string, glitter and paint
The teacher needs to make sure the material is safe for students to handle.
Set the recycled materials on a separate table in the back of the classroom. This will keep the
curious students from being distracted before the appropriate time.
The materials other than those that are recycled can be found in the students table buckets and
the arts and craft cubby.
The teacher can also cover the tables in recyclable newspaper to make a faster clean up and
keep the tables safe.
The teacher needs to set up the YouTube video and overhead for the Washed Ashore project,
and the rubric so that it is readily available to show to the class.
Introduction:
The teacher will have the students summarize the last lessons on what they learned about sea
life, its creatures, and the environment.
After the summary from the students the teacher will fill in any major holes to refresh the
student’s memory.
Environment, creatures, and oceans.
The teacher will then introduce the harmful effects that man can have on the ocean and its
creatures.
Community beach clean-up’s, Oil spills, littering, cruise liner damage to coral
reefs, and animal migration.
The teacher will then introduce the concept of recycled art and its growing movement.
Traceable origins in the 1960’s- present day. Sculpture focused. Urban and rural
environments.
The teacher will then introduce Angel Haseltine Pozzi and her Washed Ashore project.
Show Youtube video
Read aloud Artist Statement from website:
“Having spent my life wading in the Pacific Ocean looking at tide pools and digging in the
muck of Puget Sound, I have always been intrigued with the textures, patterns and colors of
nature. Out of these deep connections my artwork has come to revolve around the sea.
In the last 10 years I have seen the pristine Oregon beaches of my childhood become
cluttered with plastic pollution. My response to this reality has been through mixed media
sculptures. I now see the essential purpose of my work is not only to create strong aesthetically
sound sculptures, but also to bring awareness and dialogue about the oceans' environmental
issues. I believe the power of the arts can carry urgent messages forward into the public eye.
The Washed Ashore project has taken my artwork in a new direction. I have always used
various types of discarded and recycled materials, as well as new materials, to represent the
strange and undiscovered creatures that dwell in the underwater world. Now, I have challenged
myself to buy nothing except wire and metal framework materials, gathering every other bit of
material I use from local beaches – my sculptures are now 98% discarded plastic. This way of
working is the biggest creative challenge of my life.
Presently, I am leading the community in a collective effort to build giant sculptures of
the sea creatures most threatened by plastics in the ocean. Hundreds of volunteers and school
children have helped in the drilling and stitching plastics to create the enormous sculptures.
The push-pull of humans and nature has always been an essential element in my work. My
sculptures are evolving as the ocean environment is changing. Ocean plastics now outweigh the
amount of plankton by at least six to one. This statistic is terrifying, and fuels my artistic
endeavors.
The arts have the power to transform people and their interactions with the world.
Instead of drowning in despair about the disappearance of coral reefs, or the pollution in the
ocean, and I am using what the ocean is throwing back at us to create an artistic response: A
reef of ocean-rolled styrofoam; a giant jellyfish created out of plastic bottles; a bird of gun
shells and lighters; a huge fish of lids, cans and plastics; a sea turtle with a plastic mosaic shell; a
whale bone rib cage of white plastic bottles; and an ever growing tower of black and brown
beach plastics representing the oil spill.
This project is opening eyes, hearts and minds and is inspiring action. The sculptures are
becoming ambassadors of the sea. This happens in the creation of the work and as we send it
out into the world. I firmly believe in "art for life's sake" not only "art for art’s sake".
Introduce classroom aquarium:
The teacher will then inform the class that they will follow in Pozzi’s steps and use recycled
goods to create “art for life’s sake”.
The teacher will inform the students of the classroom requirements:
Each student will create a creature, or object that is located or lives under the
sea out.
Each student can only create this out of the materials from the recycled material
table and any extra they choose to hold it together or decorate it.
Each student will put their project together to create a large cohesive aquarium
that will be set up somewhere in the classroom.
Each student will need to complete their piece by the next two classes.
Each student will be graded by the same handout (the teacher will then put up
the rubric on the overhead and discuss with students).
The teacher will then take questions from the student.
After the questions it will be time to begin.
During project:
Teacher will be circling classroom to observe students and answer any questions.
Teacher will need to keep a close eye on the recycled table to make sure enough is available.
Teacher will also need to keep an eye on the trash cans to make sure they are not being
overloaded with discarded/recycled materials.
Teacher should frequently engage students about what they are creating and directing them
towards the rubric that is still on display.
Starting at 15 minutes the teacher should give 5 minute announcements for the students to
know how much time they have remaining.
Clean up:
The students already have designated tasks that each person of their group regularly performs
after art lessons.
Student 1: Responsible for the materials bucket, collecting and putting them
away properly.
Student 2: responsible for wiping off the desks of any excess materials.
Student 3: Responsible for keeping the floors below the desk clear.
Student 4: Responsible for returning extra crafts (glue, glitter, paint) to the arts
cubby.
Student 5: (depending on the class size/desk arrangement) Responsible for
collecting art and taking it to the counter in the room to dry. Otherwise children turn in their
own work to the counter.
The teacher will regulate during this time, helping with the harder tasks.
After the children are gone for the day or moved on the next lesson/class the teacher is
responsible for the final cleanup of recycled goods.
On the second day, after the individual projects are finished the teacher will put them all
together creating an underwater environmental scene. The teacher should be in charge of this
since come will need to be strung at different levels.
Assessment:
Project: Recycled Materials – classroom aquarium
Name________________________________________
Criteria
Goal
Create a piece that will fit into
the classroom theme
Produce high quality,
creative work. Show
originality.
Identify the relationship
between manmade material
and the environment
Apply all art concepts,
especially those stressed
for the project. Solve
own problems.
Participation and effort
Participates in class and
uses class time well.
Manipulate recyclable goods
into a creature/object found
under the sea with only the
given amount available
Identify recyclable goods
Use all materials
appropriately with no
reminders. Cleans up
own area.
Use criteria to locate
specific materials
E=15-11
M=10-6
DNM=5-0
Exceeds
3pts
Meets
2pts
Total
Support material:
The Washed Ashore Project
Website: http://www.washedashore.org/
Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLYFHV21TRo
Work Sample:
Does
not
meet 1
pt
Score