Biodegradable Art
Grade Level: 1
Suggested Order: Week 4
Suggested Time: 1 hour
Lesson Type: Final Project (Medical Sciences and Wellness)
Overview
Students will look at examples of professional biodegradable art and learn the definition. Then,
they will learn about the organisms and physical forces that break down substances over time.
Finally, students will experiment with biodegradable packing peanuts to make their own
creations.
Vocabulary
- Biodegradable
- Cycle of life
- Decomposition
- Microbes
-
Biodiversity
- Ultra-violet radiation
Objectives
- Students will learn the basics of the cycle of life.
- Students will experiment with design elements.
Required Project Materials
- Biodegradable packing peanuts
- Sponges
- Water
- Markers
- Images of biodegradable art
- Sample of styrofoam packing peanut (or small piece of styrofoam)
- Sample of corn starch
Multimedia Resources
Optional Multimedia Resources
- Garden Wigglers: Earthworms in Your Back Yard. Nancy Loewen, et.al. http://amzn.com/1404817573
Before the Lesson/ Background Information
- Contact local businesses, such as mailing and package centers, for donations of packing
peanuts. Be sure to get the kind made from corn starch — they dissolve in water!
- Do an internet search to find interesting examples of professional biodegradable art. Print
images.
The Lesson
Part 1: Beauty in Decomposition
- Show the images of biodegradable art to the students and define the term “biodegradable”.
- Read Composting: Nature’s Recyclers. Name some of the different organisms that help to
decompose substances. Explain that this is how soil is made and further refined.
- If appropriate, read Garden Wigglers or a book about microbes.
- Discuss reasons why artists may want to make art out of biodegradable materials.
Part 2: Packing Peanut Art
- Demonstrate how the packing peanuts dissolve in water. Tell the students they are made from corn starch. Allow the students to feel real corn starch.
- Ask the students to name other packing materials. Many are not biodegradable, such as
styrofoam. Discuss the negative environmental effects of styrofoam.
- Wet the sponges and ring them out so that they are damp.
- To combine packing peanuts, dab their ends in the damp sponge and soak them together.
- The students will place them in a pattern on a flat sheet of paper, wetting them to adhere to
each other. Alternatively, students can make sculptures with them.
- At the end of the week, display the packing peanut art in an exhibit.