Artcycle Project

Arcycle project ( Art + Recycle = Arcycle) combines recycling with the artistic approach in order to employ creativity and discover new ways on how to upcycle used materials, creating artworks. This is a great STEAM activity, as students can combine their Global Perspectives, Science, English, and Art & Design lessons in one project. Themes can vary, as students can be tasked to do various prompts, such as vehicles, spacecraft or animals. 

In this particular project, students were tasked to create ships, which would later participate in a boat race in a school's pool, making it a public event. This event is resemblance of a Water Festival,  a massive regatta which occurs in Phnom Penh, Cambodia every November. 

Students were first tasked to collect materials in special bags deployed in every classroom. Materials had to be clean and dry. After the materials were collected,  students were then tasked to separate materials into different bags. One bag for each type of material: plastic, paper, styrofoam, cans, other. This allowed students to get familiar with the properties of each type of material. 

The next part was drawing a sketch of a ship they needed to create. Students had to use their imagination and creativity in order to put different pieces together. Creating art pieces, students had to use different tools, such as scissors, glue sticks, and if they needed tools that could potentially harm them, such as glue gun or a cutting knife, students would ask teacher or TA for help. After the structural had been made, ships were painted with colors, and decorated with coloured paper strips.

Finally, after artworks have been completed, students named their boats, making them ready for their maiden voyage. Boats were then put in the water, and moved by the wind energy generated by  the school's fans. After the race was completed, students wrote in art journals about their project.