ECO CREATIVITY

MARCH 2015:

ART AND SCIENCE

In march, we used the spring sun to learn about its functions, the movement of the sun, the shadows, the reasons of their changes and also about our movement, the human figure, lines, contoures and silhouettes in art. We spent an educational and funny day outdoors an received a lot of knowledge from different scientific and art areas.

 

FEBRUARY 2015:

OLD CLOTHES MAKEOVER

Pupils of 4th grade learned in this days, that nothing should be thrown away. Old clothes can be reused and with just a little fantasy yesterday’s cardigan or T-shirt can become a wonderful doll. The time pupils spent together, flew away too fast. Making dolls was fun and educative.

       

WASTE INTO ART

In Lokavec, our 3rd graders saved some materials from trash and made robots out of them. After the robots were made, students presented their work and told us all about their robots functions. It was fun and learning experience and all we needed for it, were: imagination, creativity and some trash.

JANUARY, FEBRUARY 2015:

REUSING MATERIALS FOR “PUST”

In february, we are driving away winter with our masks. In Slovenia, this custom is named PUST. In this years carnival parade even our teachers were creative with their mask. They reused different materials to make “costumes from space”.

 

 

JANUARY 2015:

ART OUT OF WASTE PAPER

Waste paper can be used in many school activities. You can use it for decoration, drawing etc. Our students from Lokavec used waste paper strips, that we received from a paper factory, to form abstract sculpture- models for monuments. They learned and used different folding tchniques to form paper sculptures, photographed them and made photo collages to show where their monuments would be exhibited.

 

WASTE INTO ART

Waste packaging often finishes at dump sites. If people are thoughtful, it finishes at waste collection points in a container with similar contents. If people are careless, it finishes someplace else. Unfortunately, too often also in the nature.

In class we talked about the importance of waste separation, care for the environment, and what we can do to reduce the waste.

We found out that we can use waste packaging also for other purposes: we can change it into art. We looked at some examples on the Internet and were really excited.

So we brought to school waste packaging, divided us into groups and made a plan how to make a tree. We glued various parts together, lined them with newspaper and coloured them in brown. We are proud of our trees.

DECEMBER 2014:

ART MATERIALS AND ACCESSORIES FROM TRASH

In art class, our students are learning about creative use of discarded items and materials. Used plastic plates, containers, plastic bags, carton boxes, old posters and similar items are regularly used as palettes for mixing colors or storage containers, often also as materials for sculpture or design …

Our second and third-graders collected a few discarded items for the purposes of sculpture. We turned them from trash into useful art materials and accessories. Discarded boxes were reused as a basis for designing relief sculptures. Used plastic knives, plastic sticks for mixing drinks, destroyed brush handles and other similar objects were collected and used as clay modelling tools. A few bottles, old ceramic tiles and roof tiles were (with the help of tools and a teacher in the full protective equipment) used as materials which further enriched our clay reliefs.

With collecting, reusing and creativeness, we turned some trash into art …

OCTOBER 2014:

ARCHITECTURE MODELS FROM TRASH

In art classes, our students learn also about architecture, landscape, industrial design etc. Our third and fourth grades in Lokavec made models for public and private spaces (theatres, parks, sport parks, schools, stadiums, houses, etc.) out of old packaging. They thought a lot about space and usefulness, but also about how many materials every household discards every week. They thought about changing that  and about how they can reuse discarded material for educational purposes.

 

SEPTEMBER 2014:

REFLECTORS FOR OUR SCHOOL BAGS

In late autumn and especially in winter, early mornings are dark, so many parents are afraid to let their children walk to school alone. We can understand that, since darkness and increasing traffic are both common reasons for unwanted accidents.

Well, our second-graders found a solution for the visibility problem! They received some pieces of reflecting paper, ment to be discarded. This paper is used for making trafic signs since it reflects light. Our creative second-graders made reflectors for their school bags. They were eco-friendly and creative and from now on, they will also be safer in traffic!

SAVING AND REUSING MATERIALS

Our little, but cultural town of Ajdovščina hosts a cultural event event called “Štrudlfest”. The festival which includes art classes, dancing, childrens shows, theatre plays, films etc., is organized every september. This year, a lot of our teachers and students were involved in festival.

After the festival was over, we saved a lot of materials, that were used for scenery of festival. We decided to reuse them, so they won’t go to trash. Our students (from program with lowered educational standard) cut and painted old materials.

We used the new “starry” scene for another cultural event- “Admission of our new students”.

 

FEBRUARY 2014:

PLASTIC BAGS

Let’s stop plastic bags pollution!

People are consuming and buying too much stuff! Every visit to the store is usually accompanied by at least one plastic bag. We get them when we buy food, like fruits and vegetables, or we get them to carry our stuff out of the store.

Plastic bags are polluting our environment!  Look at some of many recordings, posted on the internet:

SEAGULL EATING A PLASTIC BAG

PLASTIC KILLS SEA TURTLES

FOOTAGE OF WHALE WHO DIED AFTER EATING PLASTIC BAGS

Sad …  But we can stop that together!

Here are some suggested solutions, small steps towards solving the plastic bags pollution:

1. Avoid buying things packed in plastic.
2. Reuse (over and over) existing plastic bags.
3. Use only recycable bags. You can even make them yourselves!
4. Properly discard plastic bags or use them to make something (art, science projects etc.).
5. Be an activist and spread the word on plastic bags pollution!

Here are some of our actions :

–          We printed our linocut motives on eco friendly 100% cotton bags and gave them to our teachers. Hopefully they will use and reuse these bags for their visits to the store.

– We used plastic bags for an art project. Teja Medvešček, Eli Groff, Veronika Pregelj, Martin Bavčer, Jan Zgonik and Taja Koprivc (with their art teacher, Nataša Rupnik), made some evening dresses out of old plastic bags, straws and cups.

–           We collected old plastic bags and made art and also some new shopping and gift bags out of them. This can be a fun and creative home project for you too. If you want to try it, you will need: plastic bags, scissors, an iron and a piece of baking paper (keeps plastic bags from sticking to your iron). Have some eco fun!

If you have interesting projects and solutions about plastic bags pollution, please post them. Let’s share knowledge and ideas … hand in hand, remember?

JANUARY 2014:

BIRD FEEDERS

Mentors: Anuša Blažko, Emelina Vidrih

In class, our firstgraders were learning about bird migrations and different bird species. After class they decided to make bird feeders for the birds that spend the wintertime in our surroundings.

These bird feeders are easy to make. All you need is:

some animal fat, some sunflower and other mixed seeds, a piece of a string (optional, but if you use it, you will be able to tie your feeder on a branch), a piece of a branch (optional, but if you use it, birds will have a place to stand on), a plastic cup (we reused them and we encourage you to reuse them, too!), scissors, a pot, a spoon and a cooker/stove.

Here is our photo story. You can use it as an instruction:

This is it! Birds in our surroundings will have a nicer winter. And we will be able to enjoy watching, listening and therefore learning about them!

Why don’t you make bird feeders too and if you do, please post some photos, so we can see them!

DECEMBER 2013:

WHERE TO WITH THE REMAINS OF CANDLES AND WAX CRAYONS?

Mentors: Keti Bratina and Saša Kravos

Nice and clean environment means a lot to us, so we decided that we will make Christmas and New Years gifts using materials that are no longer in use. We collected old, worn out candles and used wax crayons.

We heated the empty cans  in which we liquefied the used candels. Then we added wax crayons to colour the wax. We poured the hot wax into the empty, used and washed yoghurt cups which were saved from our lunch.

While the wax was still hot, we put a candle wick in it. We have learned that this is a braided cotton soaked in a combustible solution that burns slowly.

When the wax was solidified, we removed the yoghurt packaging. Looking at our product a big smile rose on our faces. YES, we did it!

ABRACADABRA … AND SMALL PIECES OF TEXTILE CAN BECOME OWLS

Mentor: Saša Kravos, prof.

It’s a pitty that we throw away small pieces of textile.  With a little imagination you can turn them into owls. All that you need is: small pieces of textile, stencil, glue, needle, thread, filler and two eyes.

First you have to outline the owl. You need two such pieces – one for the front and one for the back. Then you cut both pieces out from the textile and sew them together. Fill with filling. Cut the grounding for the eyes, glue it on the owl’s face and two eyes on it. If you make a little string, you can use the owl as a keychain or you can leave it without the string, in that case it remains just a small owl – the symbol of wisdom!

ECO BAGS

Graphics can be artistic or industrial. Our pupils like to learn about different types of graphic techniques and experiment with them. In this year we have used some linocut matrices also for industrial printing. We printed bags and other useful things made of natural materials. We gave them to our teachers as December presents. They were pleasantly surprised and happy to be more “ecological” by using them. They will no longer need to buy plastic shopping bags.

DO YOU LIKE A NICE CUP OF HOT TEA?

MENTOR: Marjetica Stopar, prof.

We like it very much, so we decided to make a vacuum flask. We needed a plastic bottle, a smaller glass bottle, some aluminium foil, pieces of polystyrene, some old paper, glue and napkins. First we cut off the upper quarter of the plastic bottle. Then we wrapped the glass bottle in aluminium foil and put it into the plastic bottle. After that we put pieces of  polystyrene arround the glass bottle and glued the upper quarter of the plastic bottle back. Finally, we decorated it with paper and napkins. At home we found out the tea remained hot for 10 hours.

Try it yourself.

ECO WINTER DECORATION

Every December our school makes winter window decorations. This year’s theme: snowflakes. One who passes by might think the snowflakes are made of regular white paper or other materials. However, our pupils know that is not true. They collected old posters, calendars and other used papers and turned them into “eco” winter decorations.

NOVEMBER 2013:

ECO CREATIVITY IN 3RD GRADE

Mentor: Maja Bitežnik, prof.

This year our school is involved in a multilateral Comenius project Hand in Hand for a Wonderful Land. To take an active part in it we decided to do our winter decorations in a more natural and enviroment friendly manner.

In cooperation with another teacher and her class and outside assistants we honed our skills in making holiday decorations from natural materials such as vine, cones, stones, greenery, nuts, wallnuts, oranges, moss and so on.

Although we put a lot of effort in it, we had fun.

In order to save some trees we decorated our classroom windows and panels with snowflakes made of old calendars and newspapers.

We talked a lot about ecological way of farming and more earth-friendly way of life (saving up energy and water, producing  our own – organic vegetables and fruits, buying local and seasonal foods and products with less wrapping).

We also made home-made chocolate. Yummy!

One of the pupils suggested making a collection of all kinds of symbols that state that certain products are more friendly towards Earth in any possible way (eco certification, reclycled materials and similar symbols). So we have been doing this for a while now.

We sculpted all kinds of animals from clay, made pupets from used materials (plastic, fabric, paper, card board…), and staged a class play.

We are also eagerly participating in projects that are encouraged at our school such as separating our trash in four different trash cans (paper, plastic, organic waste and the rest).

SAVING ENVIRONMENT AND MONEY WITH A “KITTY BANK”

MENTOR: Anuša Blažko, prof. lik. umet.

Our firstgraders are learning how to spend their free time creatively. Before the World Savings Day (31 October), they collected waste cardboard packaging and turned it into a useful product, a penny bank named “Kitty bank”.

MAKING ECO TOYS

MENTOR: Silvia Oven, prof.

In the autumn workshops our younger pupils combined their creativity with fun and made a toy from plastic packaging waste. With the “fish that catches a ball” they will enrich their free time and at the same time train their physical coordination in a joyful way.