A River Runs Through It—A Watershed Art installation

Students work together to create an art installation of a watershed.

Recycled plastic serves multiple purposes in this project: it is reusable, economical material; it reflects the plastic waste that is in our water; and it shows students how much plastic we consume. Students create part of a waterfall, a fish, and a plant while learning about the different components of a watershed, including human impact on a watershed.

Objectives:

• Students will create elements of a watershed using recycled plastics
• Students will identify elements of human impact on a watershed
• Students will create an art installation representing a watershed

Basic Lesson Outline:

• Introduce the project—slide show
• Students create a waterfall, plants, and fish
• The watershed is assembled in the installation location

Art Supplies:

• Watercolor paints
• Acrylic paints
• Modge podge
• Paint brushes
• Water cups for brushes
• Scissors
• Plastic bottles
• Caps
• Tissue paper
• Glitter paint
• Colored masking tape
• Stapler
• Glue guns
• Hot glue
• Plastic film / plastic bags
• Hemp line / fishing line
• Thumb tacks
• Dowel or rod to hang the bottles
• Wire
• Wire cutters
• Eye screws
• Rope
• Colored pencils
• Drawing paper

Other Resources:

• Visual examples of fish and plants created from plastic
• Slide show to introduce project and related artwork (see outline at the end of the lesson plan)

Idaho State Learning Standards

Arts and Humanities: Anchor Standard 4: Convey meaning through the presentation/performance/production of an original work or unique interpretation of a work

• Objective PR1.1 Combine knowledge and understanding from two or more disciplines to present/perform their original or interpreted works for an audience
• Objective PR1.2 Convey meaning through their presentation/performance

LS2-MS Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• LS2-MS-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
  Further Explanation: Emphasis is on cause and effect relationships between resources and growth of individual organisms and the numbers of organisms in ecosystems during periods of abundant and scarce resources
• LS2-MS-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
  Further Explanation: Emphasis is on describing the conservation of matter and flow of energy into and out of various ecosystems, and on defining the boundaries of the system
• LS2-MS-6. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services
  Further Explanation: Examples of ecosystem services could include water purification, nutrient recycling, and prevention of soil erosion. Examples of design solution constraints could include scientific, economic, and social considerations.

Academic Language:

• Subject area language: watershed
• Art language: art installation

Student Use of Vocabulary:

Students will use the words when creating their projects

Student Grouping:

Students will work individually or in small groups