One Man's Trash is Another Class's STEAM Lesson

Submitted by Plainview-Old Bethpage Schools

As part of Plainview-Old Bethpage School District’s Science, Technology, Art, Engineering and Mathematics (STEAM) initiative, third grade students from Stratford Road Elementary School visited the Heckscher Museum. Students observed and analyzed artist Richard Gachot’s sculptures on display, which reflect such themes as American politics, the energy crisis, farming and urban development. Each part of the sculptures are reinvented from recycled materials such as tin cans, boxes and old wheels found in dumpsters, at yard sales, in the attic and more, before creatively reinvented to form a specific sculpture. The lesson aimed to encourage imaginative thinking among the students.

After learning about the exhibit, students broke into small groups to analyze a specific sculpture and present their findings to the group. Later, students created their own symmetrical designs inspired by a different artist’s mixed media paintings. This is a district wide program for all third grade students. Students were visited by the Heckscher Museum staff last year for an introduction into the museum. The program will repeat for this year’s second grade students in January.

For more information regarding Plainview-Old Bethpage Schools, please visit pob.k12.ny.us or the district’s Facebook Page facebook.com/pobschools.

Photo 1: Plainview-Old Bethpage School District’s Stratford Road Elementary School students listened to a Heckscher Museum curator describe the inventive style artist Richard Gachot uses to create sculptures from recyclable materials such as tin cans, boxes and old wheels to convey a message during a STEAM-inspired field trip.

Photo 2: A group of Plainview-Old Bethpage School District’s Stratford Road Elementary School students present their findings to the group after analyzing a specific sculpture in the Heckscher Museum as part of a STEAM lesson in creative artwork with a political message.

Photo 3: Plainview-Old Bethpage School District’s Stratford Road Elementary School’s third graders learn how to create digital art after observing mixed media paintings in the Heckscher Museum, a STEAM field trip that aimed to mix arts and technology.

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