Learning outcomes
This project aims at students developing a sense of responsibility towards the environment and that they demonstrate their commitment to preserving biodiversity and the web of life through their land art and actions in their community. By the end if the project, participants will be able to:
Define biodiversity as the diversity of life on earth and explain its importance in maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Identify ecosystems: Students will be able to identify and describe different ecosystems and understand how biodiversity contributes to their health.
Reflect on interconnectedness on earth based on the concept of the "web of life" and recognise that all living organisms are interconnected and depend on each other for survival.
Create land art with biodiversity themes: using natural materials, integrating elements that represent the web of life in connection to the interconnectedness of life.
Can create an installation working with proportion calculation and practice scaling.
Collaborate and communicate: Students will work in teams to plan and create land art installations, fostering teamwork and communication skills.
Reflect on the impact: After completing their land art installations, students will reflect on how their artworks symbolise the importance of biodiversity and the interdependence of living organisms.
Reflect on nature's beauty: Students will gain a deeper appreciation of the beauty and complexity of nature through their land art creations and understand the role of art in conveying ecological messages.
Lesson plan
Explain the concept of biodiversity and give examples by introducing dichotomous keys to classify different plants and trees.
We can imagine that the world is like a giant puzzle, and that every living thing, like birds, leaves, and worms, is a piece of that puzzle. Now, let's talk about how they all fit together:
Leaves are like the solar panels of the plant world. They use sunlight to make food for the plant through a process called photosynthesis. This food-making is very important because it provides energy, not only to the plant, but also to many other creatures, including insects and animals. Leaves also release oxygen into the air, which we need to breathe. So, leaves are like the chefs in our puzzle, making food and oxygen for everyone.
Worms are tiny but powerful creatures that live underground. They like to eat dead leaves and other plant materials. As they munch on these things, they break them down into tiny pieces, kind of like making compost. This helps to make the soil healthier and better for plants to grow. So, worms are like the gardeners of our puzzle, taking care of the soil.
Birds are amazing creatures that fly around and sing beautiful songs. They need to eat to stay strong and healthy. What do they eat? Some birds like to eat seeds and fruits, while others like to catch insects and worms. So, birds play a special role in our puzzle by helping to control the number of insects and worms in the environment. Now, here's where the "web of life" comes in: Birds eat worms, and sometimes they eat insects that eat leaves. Leaves provide food for insects and animals, including some that birds like to eat. Worms help make the soil better for plants, including the ones that provide leaves. If one part of the puzzle is missing or gets out of balance, it can affect everything else. That's why it's important to take care of our environment and make sure that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together just right, so that the web of life can keep on spinning!
Explain the importance of diversity within a species. It helps the species survive, stay healthy, adapt to changes, and keeps our natural world beautiful and balanced, just like a colourful picture!
Go for a walk with learners and collect diverse leaves. Use the dichotomous keys to classify different plants and trees. Learners analyse the leaves and find their names and create a dichotomous flowchart using dichotomous keys to classify the different tree leaves.
Introduce the artist Greta Kardi and her working methods.
The student group is divided in three groups that reflect on different parts of the tree of life. One group of students starts by deciding on a leaf to work with. Group two selects an invertebrate that lives on the leaf. Group three selects a small bird that eats the invertebrate. They make a sketch on a graph paper.
The tips of grill pins are dipped into eco-friendly paint (i.e. chalk paint). You can also work with wooden sticks found in nature. They must be cut down to the same size.
The next step is to find a good location for the installation. It is useful to work with a space that tilts so you can see the entire installation from a distance. It is good to make each element as large as possible
Learners decide how much they want to enlarge the picture. The lay down strings replicating the graph paper with the sketch. The first step is to make a drawing with flat sticks. Then the pins are pressed down to the soil (students learn about proportion calculation and practice scaling).
Once all the installations are complete the learners discuss the importance of the cycle of life and what can be done to restore biodiversity and what they can do to contribute to sustainability.
