A HUGE installation of paper mache marine animals, and information about plastic pollution in the oceans, installed in the hallway of the school. Not for the faint of heart. And NO chicken wire!
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THE PLAN
1. SWBAT explain the problems associated with plastic pollution in the oceans.
2. SWBAT draw and build an armature of a marine animal
3. SWBAT work in groups and complete a paper mache sculpture.
4, SWBAT mix colors and use different painting techniques to achieve a realistic representation of a marine animal.
1. Drawing Paper
2. Butcher Paper
3. Pencil
4. Cardboard
5. Utility Knives
5b. Masking Tape (for 150 students, 15 rolls)
6. Newpaper and Old Phone Books
6b. Two trays, one for holding dry paper strips, one for brushing glue on paper strips.
7. Paper Mache glue mixture (for 150 students, 4 gallons)
8. Gesso (for 150 students, 1.5 gallons)
8b. Aprons
9. 2” utility brushes and paintbrushes of various sizes.
10. Tempera Paint (for 150 students, 6 gallons)
11. Acrylic Sealer (optional, but gives a finished ‘wet’ appearance)
12. Glitter tempera paint diluted with water (optional, but gives the piece irradescence)
13a. Pointy tool (awl or chopstick) pieces of cut straws to fit in holes.
13. Wire and Ceiling Hooks (available from Amazon or a hardware store)
14. Collection of clean plastic- empty water bottles, berry boxes, bubble wrap, plastic caps and utensils
15. Hot glue
1. Watch videos on plastic pollution, the importance of action, etc.
2. Divide class into groups by species: whale, dolphin, sting ray, shark, turtle, tuna, starfish, etc. Students will work in groups of 3-4.
3. Sketch animal first for practice, then large on butcher paper, 24”x36”, or various sizes.
4. Cut out animal and trace onto cardboard, (we used old science fair display boards)
5. On a table covered in cardboard, cut out animals with utility knives.
5. Cut long strips of thin cardboard.
6. Build up armature, starting with a spine then continue to tape cardboard ribs onto cardboard base.
7. Stuff with loosely formed balls of single sheets of newspaper.
8a. Lay out strips of phone book pages on tray, brush on glue mixture.
8. Apply three layers of paper mache. If using phone books, alternate a layer of white pages, with a layer of yellow pages. SMOOTHE the layers down with a brush or hand.
9. Paint entire piece with Gesso Paint
10. Research COLOR scheme of animal.
11. Paint a base coat of color.
12. Scumble additional colors on the base coat. Scumbling uses a dry brush technique, tapping the piece with paint, so the base layer still shows through.
13. Paint on details: eyes, mouth, visible indentations (like shark gills or turtle shell pattern)
14. When dry, paint on clear acrylic sealer.
15. When dry, brush on thin layer of glitter paint.
16. When dry, pierce thin sections of sculpture with pointy tool (chopstick).
14. Push small piece of straw through hole and then wire to hang from ceiling (2 feet lengths?). The straw helps stabilize the form so the wire does not cut through the paper mache.
15. Hang from ceiling.
MEANWHILE- students have been painting large swaths of butcher paper in ocean colors, and separately painting mixed greens to cut seaweed from. Staple on bulletin board or tape to wall.
16. Prepare “plastic garbage mobiles” with plastic waste and hot glue.
17. Paper Strips with Facts about Ocean Pollution calligraphed on them.
1. Animal skin is smooth and painted, using scumbling technique when appropriate. (Orca whales can be solid colors)
2. Features are clearly painted and animal species is recognizable.
3. Piece is finished with gloss and or glitter finish.
4. Group keeps a daily work log of task completed.
This project took three-four weeks to do, working 45 minutes daily. Teaching students how to take care of paint brushes, returning supplies correctly (not haphazardly aka anywhere), and to ENGAGE and PERSIST (Studio Habits of Mind!)
Acrylic, Installation, Mixed Media, Painting, Paper, Paper Mache, Sculpture, Tempera
Science
melimilks04/25/2018 at 11:15pm
This is such a great lesson! The climate change theme is compelling, especially because the materials are recycled/sustainable. Thanks for sharing.
sennjd04/26/2018 at 07:48am
Nice! This is a wonderful, authentic, relevant curriculum that ties together people love of charismatic organisms, the wonders of art, and THE issue of our times. Thank you educators!
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