8-10 yrs old
11-13 yrs old
Art and Design
Climate & Environment
Geography
In this lesson, students build a statue which represents their country now and in the future.
October 25, 2017
In this lesson pupils think about what makes their country unique and what it will look like by the end of the 21st Century. Pupils work collaboratively to investigate:
Students build a statue which represents their country in the 21st Century. It is important to consider:
I did this activity with students aged between 9-11 in primary school in Wales and with 8-9 year olds from a school in London. It was amazing to discover the differences in how students viewed their countries and the ideas they came up with. The pupils in Wales thought of many innovative ideas for a statue including: a multi coloured sheep to represent genetic modification, a flooded Welsh flag to represent global warming and a the Welsh dragon as a cyborg. We used students statues to create a whole school display as part of our St David's Day celebrations (Saint David is the patron saint for Wales.)
Introduce learning objectives with students
Collaboration/ Discussion: In groups pupils discuss what makes their country unique and what it is famous for. By the end of the 21st century will it is still be famous for these things? Consider what problems/ issues could face their country. If they were going to build a statue which represents their country in the 21st Century what would it be?
Planning: Students think about the questions above and plan their statues. As they will be building them using Minecraft Education Edition, they should consider what block they will use ad the size of their statues. Students' plans could include: sketches, labelled diagrams, a chart or paragraph.
Building: Students build their 21st Century statues in a shared world using Minecraft Education Edition. Groups/ pairs could work collaboratively on a statue or students could work individually. Encourage students to reflect on how they are creating their statues and if they are meeting the learning objectives. Ask them to name their statues and create a sign to place next to it.
Sharing: When all statues have been completed, ask students to investigate the world they have created. Encourage them to give feedback to each other and give them time to refine their statues based on feedback. Ask students to take a photograph of their statue and create a presentation to share with their peers. Alternatively these could be exported to create 3D models.
When I did this activity with my students I paired up with another school. Following the activity we held a Skype call where students had the opportunity to share their statues and discuss the reasons for their representations with students from a different school.
By the end of the session all students will: