Room 5

Andy Goldsworthy Temporary Sculptures

In our “Nature Sculpture” elective, Room 5 students learned about the artist Andy Goldsworthy, who used elements of nature to create beautiful, ephemeral sculptures. We discussed his use of many colors and textures, and also what it meant for him to make things that were eventually destroyed and incorporated back into the earth. We took a walk down to the bike path and students collaborated with each other or worked individually to make objects inspired by his work.

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Biomimicry Designs

In our “Nature Sculpture” elective, we learned about the design concept of biomimicry. This is the idea that we can create sustainable, effective solutions to human problems by seeing how nature solves similar problems. For example- a high-speed train that uses the aerodynamics of a bird’s beak to reach higher speeds with less noise. Students were given a shell, feather, or pinecone, and identified its function and form. Next, they applied those qualities to the design of a building, transportation, or something of their own imagination. Once designed, students sculpted their objects out of clay.

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Monster Trading Cards

This was a fun game of chance operations: students rolled a dice to determine the shape and body parts of a monster. Each monster was given a name and assigned qualities, written on the back of each trading card.

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Texture Mandalas

In the “Nature Sculpture” elective, we took a walk to gather objects with various textures. We then pressed those objects into clay, with the idea of radial symmetry and balance in mind.

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