Elementary Studio Lesson
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Trash
The process of finding inspi- ration for a class project is fascinating and intriguing. One February, a parent sent
me a newspaper article that featured
the gyre known as the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch. A gyre is a widespread
circulating rotation or vortex of ocean
currents. This particular gyre is the
location of an enormous floating mass
of garbage, predominantly plastics.
Upon sharing it with my team
partner, Megan Dobchuk-Land, we
immediately decided to use the
extraordinary situation documented
by the article to shape our multi-age
inquiry project and to connect it to
our school’s “Waste and Our World”
science curriculum.
The next insightful happenstance
occurred when a particular art piece
in a magazine caught my eye. Upon
researching this unique piece, I discovered that artist Federico Uribe uses
colored pencils and other unexpected
materials, to create colorful and fascinating sculptures. I frequently incorporate art materials in my projects as
they offer unique kinetic opportunities that connect with the variety of
interests of children, so Uribe’s work
was a natural addition to our project.
The idea of combining the unintended
consequences of plastic, with students
representing and interpreting their
learning through the creation of a
piece of art, was starting to solidify.
photographs and asking
them to respond to the
stories told by the photographs. The images were
from photographer Chris
Jordan’s series Midway:
Message from the Gyre.
They showed the stomach
contents of dead albatrosses
in the area of the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch, split
open to show unbelievable amounts of indigestible plastic. (Note: Use
discretion when showing
young students images like
these, as some of them are
graphic.)
We also gave students
journals, writing tools, and,
in some cases, microphones
with which to respond.
Jordan has said of this
series, “in each case the birds can be
viewed as messengers, serving as one
small warning signal of a much larger
calamity, with global consequences,
in which our individual consumer
lifestyles are unavoidably complicit.”
Introduction through Photography
We introduced the project to students
by giving small groups “mystery”
Inquiry
Through inquiry, students worked
in small groups on a variety of topics
linked to concepts presented by the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Their
documentation consisted of written
and artistic components. The groups
shared their learning with the whole
class to assist all students in strength-
ening their understanding and aware-
ness of the complexity of the garbage
problem. Artist trading cards were
also created that celebrated the core
concepts of the groups’ research,
and learning artifacts were collected
through taped conversations, photo-
graphs, observations, and anecdotal
records.
