Engineering Insects at School 2

Throughout the school year, students who qualified for enrichment during the daily intervention period were given the opportunity to engage in STEAM work with Art Teacher Ms. Porto and Science Teacher Mr. Colosimo.  A culminating project involved science, engineering, and art.

In this project the students created large sculptural models of insects.  Working in groups, they first researched insects on the Internet.  Each group selected one insect to be their group’s project.  They then further researched their choices, identifying characteristics that would ensure that their models would be reasonably scientifically accurate, although the main purpose was for them to be aesthetically beautiful.

The next step was to determine how to make a model of an insect that would be hundreds

of times larger than in real life.  Decisions had to be made regarding which materials to

choose that would provide the necessary structural support.  Then the actual work began!  (And the work was, at times, messy!) 

 

 It was also necessary to determine how best to connect different types of materials.  For example, if a wire framework was created for the wings, it had to be securely fastened to the body.

A great deal of trial and error took place.  In other words, the students had to apply engineering principles, generating creative solutions to the problem of constructing their models.

Once the basic frameworks were completed and filled in, the models were painted. 

The final results were dramatic and exciting!  In September these will be displayed in a central location so that the entire school can enjoy these works of art.

School 12: Snakes and Shapes, Butterflies and Geometry, Artists and Cubes

Recently at Paterson School 12 teachers and students in several classes engaged in STEAM Activities, led by Art PIR Simone Sandler.

  Kindergarten teacher Ms. Pierre’s students were learning about geometric shapes.  The students first had to create six different geometric shapes out of recycled Styrofoam. Using pipe cleaners, students then connected their shapes to form a "snake."  To facilitate vocabulary and science learning, Ms. Sandler brought a toy snake to school so that students could observe how a snake slithers.  In addition, Ms. Sandler brought a real snakeskin to school so students could observe the patterns on its skin.

Next students created snake "heads" to attach to their geometric shapes.  Students realized they could manipulate the snake in different ways.  

Students also discussed Earth Day (which took place that week) with Ms. Pierre and Ms. Sandler, learning the importance of recycling to protect our planet.

Meanwhile students in Mr. Anderson's fifth grade class were studying math by creating origami butterflies.  Students had to create symmetrical butterflies by carefully folding origami paper in eight steps.  Geometric patterns were created when the students opened up the folded squares of origami paper.  Students learned the math terms vertices and faces.  Students noted how many creases originated at the vertices.  

After the students made the butterflies they connected them with wire to form mobiles, which were brought to the main office for hanging.  

Origami is a great way to connect geometry and art.

In Ms. Tejada's third grade art class students learned about nine different artists.  Working in pairs, students prepared reports on artists in the "Getting to Know the Artist" book series, supplementing that information with research on the internet.  Each group presented their work to the class, at which time other students asked questions about the artist.  Thus all students were able to learn about all nine artists.  

 

The students then created paper cubes using a template provided by Ms. Sandler.  They measured the dimensions of the cubes, and then drew on each side, trying to recreate the style of their artists.  This included deciding upon materials, technique, and style.

 

Zentangles and Geometric Solids at School 29

Art teacher Ms. Elson’s fourth grade art class recently engaged in a mathematically driven project that incorporated two-dimensional zentangles in the background and three-dimensional geometric solids in the foreground.

In the background, a perspective of small to large curved forms, repeated in strong black and white patterns, generate the zentangles.  The effect is that the background sometimes appears to be moving.  In the foreground the geometric solids add excitement through contrast.  Each three-dimensional figure uses opposite colors - red & green, blue & orange, yellow & violet.

  The objectives of this lesson are:

            To articulate required knowledge concerning the elements and principles of art.

            To generate a project that is rooted in performance and product

            To engage in the study of aesthetics

            To utilize an application to produce a result.

 Another project took place in second grade teacher Ms. Taliercio’s second grade class.  With the assistance of Art PIR Professor Myra Winter, the classes created sculptures using four different-sized, opened shaped rectangular prisms.

 

Students were first given the measurements to create four different rectangles.  Then, through a series of carefully organized and coordinated folds, they created open rectangular prisms.  

The students then worked together in groups of four, using their imaginations to combine their prisms into sculptures.  Some of these were abstract, but some students created transformers or robots.

King Tut Part Three: The Finale!

King Tut, or the sculpture that began as part of an ancient Egypt study in Mrs. Marilyn Simon's STEAM art class, is now completed and a sophisticated and stunning work of visual art at SOIT.




















As we blogged earlier (see this LINK and this LINK) King Tut emerged as a student-centered STEAM art project after Mrs. Simon's STEAM students created two-dimensional works of art while studying ancient Egypt. This sculptural project and creative process have proceeded with minimal assistance from SOIT Art Teacher Marilyn Simon and STEAM Art PIR Triada Samaras. In other words, these advanced STEAM art students at SOIT problem-solved together as an independent group to create this work of art.

 

Above images: King Tut in all his glory at SOIT

The completed King Tut sculpture makes an impressive addition to SOIT, 

where art teacher Marilyn Simon is determined the large-scale work will stay.  In celebration of this momentous  completion, Ms. Simon held a pizza party for her STEAM art students as well as for administrators and other teachers in the building.

Above:  STEAM Art Students at the celebration of the completion of King Tut at SOIT

Art Professor in Residence, Triada Samaras, recently traveled to North Carolina where she met Education Chief Michelle Harrell from the North Carolina Art Museum  As a result, Ms Harrell provided the STEAM students with some reference materials from the museum about art in ancient Egypt.  In the photograph above students are reading these materials with pleasure.

Above:  SOIT STEAM Art Students who worked together to create the work, with Professor Samaras (left) and Mrs. Marilyn Simon (right) 

Above:  SOIT Principal Vivian Gaines and Supervisor Hafiz Salim

In the photograph above, SOIT Principal Vivian Gaines and Supervisor Hafiz Salim browse through the materials on Ancient Egypt provided by Education Chief Michelle Harrell from the North Carolina Art Museum .  Professor Samaras and Ms. Herrell are already beginning to brainstorm a possible collaboration between the North Carolina Art Museum and the Gerladine R. Dodge funded STEAM program in Paterson.  Stay tuned for for next year!

Collaborative STEAM Art Quilt at NRC

As we mentioned earlier (see LINK) a collaborative STEAM Art Quilt has been in the works at New Roberto Clemente School/NRC for several months now.  

In STEAM meetings held twice per month at NRC with WPU STEAM Art PIR Triada Samaras, classroom teachers decided that each quilt square would communicate something about their classroom subject. 
Students were asked in each classroom to come up with thumbnail sketches for a potential design.

 

Using the democratic process in each classroom, the students voted for their favorite design and then figured out how to make an art collaboration on one quilt square possible. 

Many art materials were provided by Ms. Triada Samaras via the Geraldine R. Dodge STEAM grant.  Thus teachers and students were able to select from among a wide range of materials to create their final designs.  Moreover, the quilt project provided a way for the students to de-stress during the PARCC Assessment weeks while reflecting on their learning for the year.

Art teachers Ms. Roche and Ms. Aramayo provided support for the classroom teachers.  They acted as consultants and answered questions the teachers had about design, composition and material use.  Below is Ms. Roche's demonstration for paper folding that she showed to the classroom teachers.  Classroom teachers were urged to "think outside the box" with the art materials and with their students. 
Technology teacher Janette Selino suggested the quilt squares be entered into a school-wide competition for a prize.  When the quilt squares from "Phase One" of this project were completed, they were all placed on display in the library.  Art PIR Triada Samaras facilitated teacher voting for the "best" quilt square.  Voting was very difficult due to the fact that so many beautiful quilt designs were created!  Finally a winner was chosen:  Ms. Cruz's Science Class and students won the contest! These thrilled students were awarded a pizza party. (See winning quilt square, marked with letter "L" on right.)

(Above:  from left to right Ms. Aramayo, Ms. Samaras, Ms. Roche, Ms. Selino)

 Next, Ms Selino, Art Teachers Ms. Aramayo and Ms. Roche, and Art PIR Triada Samaras installed the finished quilt squares in the school cafeteria.  This eating area now looks greatly enhanced with the addition of 13 new quilt squares.

Now that "Phase One" is complete and installed, "Phase Two" of this STEAM project can begin at NRC.  More beautiful quilt squares to come in the future!  Art PIR Samaras is hoping ALL NRC classes will eventually create a quilt square.

 Previous Blog Post on the NRC Steam Quilt:  LINK

Look for more quilt squares to come!

Einstein Comes Alive at NRC!

Recently a fascinating STEAM project was created at NRC/New Roberto Clemente School by art teacher Monica Aramayo.

While some NRC students were busy taking an assortment of mandated tests, Ms. Aramayo, who was teaching from an "art cart" for the duration of testing, and her art students created a startling, large-scale, collaborative work of STEAM art. She documented this process for WPU STEAM Art Professor in Residence, Triada Samaras.  
This new STEAM project now hangs near Assistant Principal Maria Francisco's office. Students engaged in creative art-making, math calculations, and science/history research to complete this innovative art project. (See image below.)

Ms. Aramayo's success demonstrates the ability of the WPU Dodge-funded NRC STEAM program to co-exist within a testing milieu, and to provide students with an educational experience, a creative challenge, and an emotional release during the stress of test-taking.

To begin this project, Ms. Aramayo taught her students the "grid method", an art-making method that allows any artist to create a large-scale work of art based on a much smaller scale image using a simple transfer method that relies on math.  Students learned this grid method is used by the well-known, contemporary American artist, Chuck Close.

Ms. Aramayo and her students found and printed an image of Einstein from the internet. Later they created a mathematical grid on top of the image, creating an 11 by 11 grid. Then, this piece of paper was cut into 121 smaller pieces, all the same size, and given to the students to work from.

On another day, Ms Aramayo and her students calculated a grid on much larger scale but proportional to the original grid. They determined the size of the squares of construction paper needed to fit each blank space of this grid. 

Above:  Ms. Monica Aramayo stands in front of the larger grid.

Next they cut blank construction paper into this same size. (See grid image above.) 
Ms Aramayo instructed students to replicate the main lines and composition of the smaller square they were given onto their new, larger blank squares, but she gave them the freedom to use any colors and patterns that they wished to complete their artwork.  The result was a total of 121 completed student squares in a wide variety of colors, patterns and textures. 

In the final installation process, Ms. Aramayo brought her art students to the site where the final piece would hang.  She instructed them to find the correct place for their square and to install it there, using a numerical system.  Students made a short, stop animation video of this exciting process. (See video below.)

The final image of Einstein at NRC is extraordinary and is inspiring teachers throughout this STEAM school to consider working in a similar way using their own content areas.  

King Tut Part Two

King Tut, or the sculpture that began as part of an ancient Egypt study at SOIT, has continued to develop as an increasingly sophisticated and complete work of art. 

As we blogged earlier (see this LINK) King Tut emerged as a student-centered STEAM art project after Mrs. Simon's STEAM students created two-dimensional works of art while studying ancient Egypt. This sculptural project and creative process have proceeded with minimal assistance from SOIT Art Teacher Marilyn Simon and STEAM Art PIR Triada Samaras.  

While Mrs. Simon has made some suggestions, and Ms. Samaras has participated with the students to work on King Tut at times, the sculpture is a testimony to the ability of high school students to conceive of and implement a large-scale collaborative STEAM work in the classroom on a low budget on their own.

This work has generated an enormous amount of classroom and school pride.  Many on-lookers have marveled as this sculpture has gotten closer to completion.


King Tut also caught the eye of Chief Educator, Michelle Harrell, at the North Carolina Art Museum and she provided these STEAM students with some resource materials from the museum having to do with ancient Egypt as a result.  (See LINK.)

Look for the completed version of King Tut in the near future!

Sustainable Village Ecosystem STEAM Projects at School 7

At School 7 over the past few months, Science Teacher Marla Arrington, Woodrow Willson Fellow and Student Teacher Sue Denardo, and WPU ART PIR Myra Winter co-created a sustainable ecosystem project that integrated science, engineering, art and math.

Ms. Arrington and Ms. Denardo jointly developed this STEAM project, integrating the ecology unit of their 7th grade science curriculum with town planning.  Working in groups of four, the students first brainstormed the requirements of  self-sustaining villages.  The students created blueprints of their sustainable villages. They then worked in groups of four building their village, using corrugated board, clay and balsa wood pieces.
 
Guest speaker Mr. Steven Winter, Director of Engineering at DVL Engineers, visited the students early on to share some of his expertise with them, and to guide them in their understanding of this creative/scientific problem.

The students discussed what to include in their village and how to present their findings.  Students had to consider all aspects of sustainability. For example, they had to determine what potable water sources - rain water cisterns, well water, river water, melting snow, reservoirs, and/or desalinized sea water - could be made available for their towns.
 

Students also came to understand that there had to be plans for water storage, water quality, and a water delivery system.  Such a system had to provide water for bathrooms, kitchens, clothes washing, and irrigation for gardens and farms.  Next, students had to conceive of and create water saving devices, waste disposal/decomposition systems, and storm water drainage systems. 

Students also had to consider that if their village was actually to be sustainable, then plans had to be made for garbage/solid waste disposal and recycling systems, as well as for sources of power, ideally clean energy with zero carbon emissions. 

 After each group's blueprint was completed, students had to plan what art materials to use to create their final project.  They considered the available materials and discussed the possibilities with their teachers and with Art PIR Winter.  Then, in groups of four, they built their eco-villages, using corrugated board, clay, balsa wood, and paint.  As they built from their original blueprint, students saw their abstract ideas become concrete models.


This STEAM project required students to engage in higher order thinking skills, to work collaboratively, and to integrate concepts learned in all core subjects.  In addition, they learned to use art materials to express and communicate complex ideas.