Sunday, December 9, 2012

Art in the forest


Friday was a beautiful day in the forest.  After a forest recess bustling with activity I set the class a challenge. A book on contemporary art had been generously donated earlier in the day and we were investigating how artists use different materials to create works of art.  The challenge was to create a work of art that used only the materials in the forest.  These are some of the beautiful pieces that were created.

Zen
G created this piece on a hidden rock.  
He noticed the spots of rain adding to
the beauty of his piece.



Face
T created this piece in the crook of a fallen tree using two different colored soils.
Ocean in the forest
L used a mushroom cap to create her seascape.

Temple
The pair created two gates and added a top and leaves.
They then blew on the leaves to create a
performance art piece.

Untitled - a shelter in the forest
E created a tiny dwelling- complete with a bed inside
Fallen Tree
This group were inspired by a fallen tree that they had been playing near. They represented it with rocks and twigs.

Following the students' lead

In the last post the class identified two problems with the outside classroom.
One was the cold and the other the boy's shelter.

We capitalized on a warmer day last week and started out to help the boys with their shelter problem before embarking on our science activities for the day.

The boys began by describing the problem and the class went off in search of more tsll sticks to add more space to the shelter while others went off searching for seating possibilities.  The seating group came across a huge and very heavy log cut from the wood for the triangle.  The first thing one student did was measure the log with his arms to make sure it would fit the space and then called for help to carry it up the hill.

Once again the entire class responded, with students taking on leadership roles and all working together they lugged the log up the hill.  Next problem, the branches sticking out made the log too big, so a plan was made to bring the handsaw next time.

Another problem that had come up was the idea of a roof, we decided that maybe we could weave small branches to make a panel.  The question of weaving came up, so we decided to have a minilesson.  While the children were at lunch I gathered together some pine needles and had a provocation ready, I was working on a weaving as they returned to the room and everyone wanted to give it a try.  Those ready to go, shared needles and found a space to start. Those a little nervous or needing a starter lesson in how to weave started with paper.  One student made a chess board with his newly acquired skill.  Next was to take it outside.  One student had tried weaving with rulers and discovered that in order to work the materials had to be "bendy".  So in the hunt for bendy sticks students also found bark.  Groups set to the task of weaving small sticks, large sticks and bark.  They worked at it for a good twenty minutes before all declaring that it wouldn't work.  The sticks were either not straight enough or not bendy enough, and the bark needed to be more similar pieces to work.

So is this failure?  NO!  We discovered a problem, we came up with a solution idea, we learned the skill, transferred it to natural materials on a small scale, discovered the necessary properties for the solution to work and set to work on the actual materials needed.  What we learned was that we still were not there, we still needed to figure out how to make the wood more flexible.  Some suggested making the wood wet, others to put it in hot water to see if that work.  The investigation continues.

Once again, I see totally engaged students, solving real problems, cooperating and being a successful community of learners.