Create building solutions to real-world sustainability challenges using the objects you have around you! This lesson is made up of three activities that scaffold learners’ understanding of sustainability: (1) discussion to (2) building models with reusable materials to (3) creating a Scratch project that incorporates the model, bringing to life ideas on how to integrate sustainable elements.

A helpful list of items you may want to collect or have donated to enhance your creative learning space.

Making faces using everyday objects and objects of significance to make portraits is an idea that comes from the artist Hanoch Piven, who makes highly expressive portraits using found objects! You can learn more here. Once you have created a face, try bringing them to life in Scratch using stop motion techniques. Moving from unplugged to digital provides the opportunity to expand your creative expression and transform your original creation.

To start this activity, first you’ll want to gather items you feel could make up parts of a face. The items can either have special meaning and/or represent something about you or your life, or they can simply be fun and interesting objects.

This lesson presents multiple pathways for students to share their identity, voice, and creativity through development of a unique asset (a “sprite” in Scratch) that is meaningful to them. Using a combination of written and verbal reflection, digital design, and classroom discourse, learners will practice communication, coding, presentation, and feedback skills that provide an important base for establishing a positive learning community.