Activity Introduction

Quick summary: This lesson is focused on learning through play and hands-on activities. Students will experiment with ways to join various materials together, such as marker pens and natural materials to create their own sculptures.

Students begin this lesson by considering the different qualities of natural materials and non-natural materials. They then examine the design of marker pens (including connector pens if available), and discover ways to reuse them as a sculptural material. By the end of the lesson, you will have photographs of all the students’ sculptures which you can share with your school community.

Faber-Castell has long understood the importance of creativity to all people, especially to young people. It is also continuously searching for environmentally friendly processes and high-quality materials to enhance children’s creative experience throughout every development phase. For more information about Faber-Castell, click here.

Learning intentions:

  • Students will understand that objects can be designed for more than one purpose and that these designs can help us make more sustainable choices about how we use them.
  • Students will create artworks using a variety of found materials to explore the materials’ differences.
  • Students will pose questions about the nature of different objects that can be incorporated into their artmaking.

21st century skills: 

Australian Curriculum Mapping

Content descriptions: 

Foundation – 2 Visual Arts:

  • Use and experiment with different materials, techniques, technologies and processes to make artworks (ACAVAM107)

Foundation – 2 Design & Technologies:

  • Identify how people design and produce familiar products, services and environments and consider sustainability to meet personal and local community needs (ACTDEK001)

Year 1 Maths:

  • Recognise and classify familiar two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects using obvious features (ACMMG022)

Foundation HASS:

  • Pose questions about past and present objects, people, places and events (ACHASSI001)

Year 1 HASS:

  • Pose questions about past and present objects, people, places and events (ACHASSI018)

Year 2 HASS:

  • Pose questions about past and present objects, people, places and events (ACHASSI034)

Syllabus outcomes: VAS1.2, STe-10ME, ST1-14BE, ST1-15I, ST1-16P, MA1‑1WM, MA1-14MG, MA1-15MG

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability

Relevant parts of Foundation and Year 1 and 2 achievement standards: Students make artworks in different forms to express their ideas, observations and imagination, using different techniques and processes. They describe the purpose of familiar products and how they meet the needs of users and affect others and environments. Students pose questions about familiar and unfamiliar objects.

Topic: Sustainability

Unit of work: Creative Sustainability – Faber-Castell Sculpture Competition – Early Learning – Year 10

Time required: 60 mins.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – seek relevant materials for art making prior to the lesson and facilitate class discussions.

Resources required: Connector pens or marker pens (at least 5 pens per student is recommended. It’s ok if the pens don’t work). Access to an area where students can collect a range of natural materials (like twigs, gumnuts, leaves etc.). Containers (for collecting the natural materials). Paper: scrap paper to draw on, 1 A3 sheet for extension activity. Inspiration Image – to project or one copy per two students. Connecting Connector Pens Worksheet – one copy between two students. Rubber bands. Sticky tape. Blu tack. Scissors (to share). Camera (to be used by teacher).

Related Professional Development: Use Thinking Tools to Strengthen the Primary Curriculum

In this course, you will learn how to use thinking tools that dig deep into a topic, guide reflection and develop the general capability of Critical and Creative Thinking.

 

Keywords: Connector pens, marker pens, art, sculpture, Faber-Castell

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

Teacher Preparation

Learning intentions: Student will...

  • ...understand that objects can be designed for more than one purpose and that these designs can help us make more sustainable choices about how we use them.
  • ...create artworks using a variety of found materials to explore the materials’ differences.
  • ...pose questions about the nature of different objects that can be incorporated into their artmaking.

Success criteria: Students can…

  • explain differences between natural and not natural materials and objects.
  • create artworks out of a variety of materials.

Teacher content information: Did you know that the plastic bodies of Faber-Castell connector pens are made of recyclable plastic? When they run out of ink you can pop off the gold end, remove the ink and throw them in the recycling bin. But even better than recycling - they can be reused. Because of their clippable design, connector pens can be used to make creative sculptures and objects.

Plastic is an amazi

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