CURRICULUM FOCUS

As written, it is focused broadly on the biological sciences and the visual arts.
Adaptable to any grade level.

INTEGRATE WITH:

All disciplines could potentially be integrated into the unit.

OBJECTIVES

Students will:

Study the creative process.
Compare and contrast "Creativity" across various disciplines [i.e. science and art].
Design, implement, and evaluate a system to solve a problem.

NON-FICTION LINK

For an excellent overview of the subject of creativity, read THE CREATIVE SPIRIT by Daniel Goleman, Paul Kaufman and Michael Ray. It was published by Dutton, 1992.

PRE-VIDEO ACTIVITY

Creativity has been described as a three-step process: incubation, illumination, and translation. [See Goleman in Resources.] The first step is a period of intense learning and involvement with an issue or problem. This is followed by an "aha" or "Eureka!" experience; in other words, a moment of insight into the issue. Finally there is a long period of refining and applying the insight. Interestingly, this process appears to be common across the disciplines.

1. Invite two guest speakers to your class - an artist and a scientist. Have them speak on the subject of creativity, the problems or issues they are interested in, and the thinking/problem solving processes of their discipline.

2. Assign all students to research either a famous artist or scientist. [This assignment could also work well as a small group activity.] Require each student to present a brief oral report on that individual's creative work and/or discoveries. Key questions for students to answer are:

What issues or problems was the person studying?
What questions did the person leave unanswered?
Why was that person considered to be innovative or creative?
How well received was the scientist or artist during his or her lifetime?

"WATCH THE BROADCAST OR PRE-TAPED VIDEO OF ATV'S "THE ARTS, SCIENCES AND CREATIVITY."

POST-VIDEO ACTIVITY: The Garden: A System of Art and Science

For many people, gardens are commonplace and ordinary parts of life. But this unit proposes to place them in the center of a systemic web of scientific and aesthetic creativity. From a scientific point of view, what is a garden? What scientific problems can be studied and solved in a garden? What is a garden from an aesthetic perspective? What aesthetic problems can be studied and solved in a garden? How are the two perspectives related? [Related questions for extended study: What is a system? What is creativity in systems thinking?]

Three classroom activities are described here: a class discussion, a field trip, and a student task or assignment. Studying gardens as the theme of an interdisciplinary unit is potentially limitless. Your colleagues, resources, budget and time constraints will spark additional ideas. But it is the student assessment task that should keep the unit anchored. When designing additional classroom activities, keep the assessment task in mind. What is it that students need to experience or learn to produce a high quality product for assessment?

ACTIVITY ONE:

Introduce the project by conducting a brainstorming session/discussion with your students by drawing large mind maps [see Buzan in Resources] about the subject of gardens. Make "science" the first seed word. Then switch and use either the word "art" or the word "aesthetics." Ideas that are named may include:

Science: kinds of plants, genetics, environment, water cycles, fertilizer, pesticides, the food pyramid, world hunger, nutrition, food storage and preparation, agriculture...

Art or aesthetics: color, design, style, landscaping, topiary, parks, The Secret Garden, Monet's garden at Giverny, fragrance, the Garden of Eden...

[Depending upon the scope of your unit, you may want to include a third perspective; how does business thought and creativity view a garden?]

IDEA: Let the mind maps become a major project by covering an entire wall of your classroom with newsprint. Would it be possible to let the two maps become intertwined?

ACTIVITY TWO: A FIELD TRIP

Contact a local landscape architect and nursery to make arrangements for your class to tour the facility. Explain to the landscape architect the goals of this unit (the study of creativity from both a scientific and artistic perspective) as well as the student task to design a garden [See below.]. Before the trip, give the students specific learning objectives or questions to be answered. These could include:

What does a landscape architect do?
What education is necessary to become a landscape architect?
How much of the job is science? How much is art?
What design constraints are presented by local environmental conditions?
What possible plants and design ideas from the field trip could be used in the task to design a garden?

ADDITIONAL OR ALTERNATIVE FIELD TRIP SITES:

Community/city parks
A wild life refuge
State or national forest/park
A conservatory
Private gardens
Land fill site
Water treatment plant
Museum/art gallery
An artist's studio
A farm

ACTIVITY THREE: PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

The Student Task: Design a garden for a particular space.

This apparently simple assignment can be as complex and time consuming as you, the teacher(s), wish. Your constraints and expectations for grading the final product should be carefully stated at the beginning of the unit. The four areas that you need to define are: presentation, product, documentation, and self-evaluation. Clearly indicate point values and how the final grade will be calculated.

Presentation:

Expect students, whether working individually or in small groups, to give a presentation of their product and conclusions. Various potential audiences include: yourself, the class, teachers in related subject areas, administrators, parents, school board members, landscape architects, forest service employees, city planners, representatives from environmental agencies, university professors, grandparents, retired business men and women etc. Various potential presentation formats include: an oral speech, an essay, a video, a diorama, a painting, a sales pitch, a multimedia presentation, a "poster"/science fair session, etc. Determine point values and criteria for speaking skills, clarity of ideas, persuasiveness, quality of the display, response to audience questions, dress, etc.

Product:

This is not to be confused with the presentation. The product for this task is a garden design. As the teacher, you may want to narrow the scope of the assignment/task/problem. Limitations could include designing for a specific site like the school grounds, the student's yard, a community park, a neighborhood vacant lot, etc. Thematic limitations could include designing a garden for contemplation, for increased wildlife habitat, for supplying the local food bank, for beauty, etc. Specific problems might include a project spending limitation of $10.00, designing for unique environments, or limited size like one square yard. The product could take a variety of forms: an essay; drawings; paintings; a scaled design map; a poster; a multimedia/virtual garden; a "publication ready" magazine article including illustrations; or even the actual garden.

Documentation:

It is important that students document the creative process in solving or completing the task. A "process portfolio" is a good tool for students. It is simply a place to collect all the artifacts from the project. No idea or artifact should be thrown away. It may not be included in the final product; but it is kept in the process portfolio. Again, be very clear with the students on how many points the process portfolio is worth. Possible items to be collected include:

Descriptive and/or expository essays
Digital photography
Doodles
Drafts
Field trip/research notes
Journals
Magazine and newspaper clippings
Minutes of meetings
Poetry
Reflection statements
Resource lists
Sketches
Statement of purpose
Still photography
Video
Watercolors
Web sites

Self-evaluation:

One of the most important steps is to have students assess the quality of their own work. Students trained in self-reflection may only need to be assigned to write an essay or design a multi-media critique. But most students will need guidance. Design an evaluation form or rubric for your own class. Below is a list of questions you may want to include. Again, be very explicit with students as to how many points the self-reflection counts in the overall unit. It is probably the most important element because it provides evidence that, indeed, the student has learned something. [If students have been working in small groups, this becomes an individual assignment.]

What scientific/aesthetic issues needed to be addressed?
What design/practical problems were encountered?
What were the scientific goals of the project? Were they met? Why or why not?
What were the artistic goals of the project? Were they met? Why or why not?
How was the space chosen? What constraints did it provide?
What social or community obligations were met?
What would you do differently if given the opportunity to repeat or revise the project?
Did you document any moments of the creative process?
What questions remain unanswered?
What new questions appeared?
What group member role did I play?
How helpful was I to my group? What, specifically, did I contribute?
How can I be a better group member next time?

EXTENSION:

An additional resource for this assignment includes an increasing number of computer applications for gardens. Software packages range from encyclopedic CD-ROMs to programs which design gardens and display images of the results. Students could complete the above assignment on classroom computers and see the result of an entire year's growth instantaneously. An excellent overview of garden software and a list of related web sites can be found in "The Virtual Garden" by Mindy Pantiel. This article was published in the Winter, 1996 Garden, Deck & Landscape Planner, a Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publication.