Skip to main content Skip to main content

Engineering Towers | Elementary School Educator Curriculum

Sculpting

Use innovation to explain how to make a sculpture out of smaller parts.

Use this activity to experiment with sculpting of materials. This will aid students in designing their tower using art for aesthetic design that will accompany the engineering and science design of their tower.

OBJECTIVE: Learners will be able to interact with the artistic form of sculpting.

SCULPTING is the art of creating three-dimensional forms. The artists who create sculptures are called sculptors. Some processes include removing material (carving), forming material (casting or molding) or assembling materials (welding, gluing, or binding in some fashion).

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Discuss with students what sculpting is as an art form.
  2. Ask students to sketch out and build an object by sculpting (cutting, assembling, gluing, shaping, etc.)
  3. Students may then reflect on the sculpting process through the reflection questions and discuss.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

  • How can we think differently about something?
    • SCAMPER
      • Substitute
      • Combine
      • Adapt
      • Modify
      • Put to other uses
      • Eliminate
      • Rearrange
  • Why is it important to hold off on evaluation and allow ideas to grow and change?
  • How are structure made up of different, smaller parts?
  • What did you learn about paper from creating your sculpture?

Projects