Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes	Part B: Rethinking E-Waste
25 minutes	Part C: The Art Of E-Waste
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: What is E-Waste?

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by inviting students to share what they already know about e-waste. Use the following prompts (suggested answers included):

What is e-waste?
Suggested answer: E-waste means electronic waste, and describes discarded electrical or electronic devices.
What are some examples of e-waste?
Suggested answers: Phones, tablets, desktop computers, televisions, keyboards, cables, cameras, DVD players, lamps, clocks, torches, printers, CD players, MP3 players and household appliances including fridges, washing machines, kettles, toasters, blenders and coffee machines.
What environmental problems are associated with e-waste?
Suggested answers: We are creating a great deal of e-waste, much of which is ending up in landfill. Many e-waste items contain precious metals that could be reused rather than extracted from the ground. Although e-waste items can be recycled – and the metals, plastics and precious metals reused – many e-waste items end up in landfill where they leach pollutants into our environment.
What social problems are associated with e-waste?
Suggested answer: To recycle e-waste items you need people to pull them apart and separate the materials. However, there are risks to human health from components of e-waste. Many e-waste items are sent to developing countries to be separated, and so people in these countries are being exposed to harmful chemicals they had no part in creating.

Step 2.

View the following clip from War On Waste on iTunes or Enhance TV:

Episode 2, The Battle Continues - 11:27 to 16:30

Once complete, invite students to complete a SEE THINK WONDER routine around this clip (SEE THINK WONDER questions are also available on the Student Worksheet).

Then invite students to share their thoughts with the class. Through this process clarify with students that:

Most of us are using electronic items and creating e-waste
There are programs for recycling e-waste – such as MobileMuster – but most of us don’t use these programs
E-waste has a serious impact on our environment.

Part B: Rethinking E-Waste

Step 1.

Explain to the class that during this lesson, they will be exploring art as a way to get more people thinking and talking about e-waste. This includes planning their own e-waste artwork.

Step 2.

Begin by asking the class to think about the electronic products that they currently use as well as any old electronic items they used to use and have stashed in a drawer or box. This includes any devices, appliances and their accessories, such as cables or headphones.

Note: You could ask students to add what they remember about the items they have at home, and then ask them to update the table when they get home. You could also extend the table to include information about the whole household, although this is not a requirement for this lesson.

Students can list their electronic items in a table like the one below (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Electronic product	Accessories
Currently using
E.g. tablet	Cord, charger, headphones
E.g. hairdryer	Cord


Old
E.g. mp3 player	Cord, charger, headphones

Reassure the class that they should not feel bad about their consumption and reinforce this idea by making a list of your own on the whiteboard, honestly revealing any single-use or disposable items that are a part of your daily routine.

Step 3.

Once complete, invite students to share their lists with a classmate. Each pair should reflect on the contents of their lists using questions like:

What is interesting or surprising about our lists?
How many of these electronic items do we use every day?
How many do we only use occasionally?
Pick one item from each list and think about what life would be like without it. What would you use/do instead?

Step 4.

Students can then think about what they might do with any old or broken e-waste items. Remind students of the clip from War On Waste and explain that most people are unaware of e-waste recycling programs, or are concerned about privacy and data so are reluctant to hand personal e-waste items over for recycling.

Suggest to students that many people are unaware that we produce so much e-waste and are unsure about what to do with the e-waste we create. Explain that in the rest of this lesson they will be exploring the way that art can help communicate messages around e-waste consumption and recycling.

Part C: The Art Of E-Waste

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now examine the work of two different artists who work with e-waste. They will then plan an artwork, inspired by the work of these two artists.

The first artist students will look at is Benjamin Von Wong. Much of Benjamin’s work revolves around the environmental impact of waste. He typically does this by using a certain waste item – such as plastic straws or cups – and creating a sculpture from these items which he then photographs. In the artwork students will be looking at, Benjamin uses large quantities of e-waste items to make sculptural objects.

Share the following clip with students. As they watch, invite students to record anything important or interesting about this work, particularly anything they observe that relates to the artistic intentions of the artist:

We Transformed a Lifetime of Electronic Waste into Art (https://youtu.be/R3fjsi_-ypo)

Once complete, you could engage students in a brief discussion around their observations; however students will have the chance to analyse each clip in depth a little later on.

Step 2.

The second artist that students will look at is Robb Godshaw. During an artist residency at a recycling facility in San Francisco’s dump, Robb scavenged electronic waste to incorporate into artworks.

Share the following clip with students. As they watch, again invite students to record anything important or interesting about this work, particularly anything they observe that relates to the artistic intentions of the artist:

E-waste into Art with Robb Godshaw (https://youtu.be/H_P-fAGnCXU)

Step 3.

Once complete, invite students to work independently to respond to the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How would you describe the work of Benjamin Von Wong (the first clip)?
What do you think is the intention of Benjamin’s work?
What do you like about his work?
What more would you like to know about his work?
How would you describe the work of Robb Godshaw (the second clip)?
What do you think is the intention of Robb’s work?
What do you like about his work?
What more would you like to know about his work?

Step 4.

Now invite students to form pairs or small groups to share their thoughts. In addition, invite each group to discuss and record their thoughts in response to the following questions:

How does the practise of each of these artists compare? What is similar and different in the way that they work?
How have visual conventions been used by each artist to represent ideas?
What messages do you believe each artist is trying to express in their work?

Step 5.

Facilitate a class discussion where students are able to share their answers and discuss any differences in opinion.

Part D: Planning An E-Waste Artwork

Step 1.

Students are to revisit their lists of e-waste items from earlier in this lesson. Explain that they will now be planning an artwork from e-waste items.

Depending on time and materials you could:

Ask students to plan their artwork by creating a 2D drawing or 3D model of their proposed artwork based on any e-waste items students can imagine; or
Collect a range of waste materials and ask students to plan an artwork around the items you have collected by creating a 2D drawing or 3D model; or
Plan an artwork and then work to source the materials required to create the artwork.

In creating their plans or drafts, students need to think about the intentions for the artwork and the conventions they will use. Although they do not need to present a complete work as their draft, they do need to be able to explain their choices in terms of intention and visual convention, and justify these choices.

Step 2.

Give students a set amount of time to create their draft, and emphasise that perfection is not important; the aim is to show how they will communicate their ideas and their message.

Step 3.

Once students have created their drafts, invite them to share them with a classmate and to offer feedback. Encourage students to provide feedback that is kind, helpful (e.g. don't just point out the flaws, also suggest improvements) and specific (e.g. be specific about what it is you like/don't like and why).

Optional: If students are able to create their planned artworks, you could organise a gallery walk for students to view others' completed works. As the class view their classmates' work they could complete the following peer assessment on at least two artworks:

Which aspects of the visual design of this work do you find most appealing and why?
What message do you believe this work is conveying and why?
In their next artwork, how do you believe this artist could extend on this piece?

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to complete the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What do you think is the best part about the artwork you planned?
What do you think could be improved and why?
How successful do you think you were at conveying your intention? Explain your answer.
How well do you think your choice of materials supported your visual intention? Explain your answer.
Which artist viewed earlier (Benjamin Von Wong or Robb Godshaw) do you think your own work most closely aligns to and why?
Do you think art is a good way to communicate messages about reducing waste? Explain your answer.

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Students requiring extension could be challenged to include a set number or particular range of e-waste items into their artworks.
Provisions for Learning Support - Allow students to work in pairs or to work on a smaller scale artwork. This could be a single e-waste item. This will also allow you to remove or reduce the display aspect of the art-making activity.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

War On Waste - The Art Of E-Waste

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