Get Outside!

EarthWorks

Class Description:

Students will experience seeing and expressing themselves creatively through contact with the natural world. Drawing activities, site-specific sculpture, and group discussion generate awareness of one's own influence on the environment and appreciation for artistic expression.

Outcomes

Upon completion of the Earthworks class students will be able to:

  • Explain the history of the Earthworks movement.
  • Describe works completed by Andy Goldsworthy.
  • Briefly describe the difference between permanent and impermanent art.
  • Have a new understanding of seeing an outdoor space.
  • Create site-specific art using only the materials present.
  • Interpret site-specific sculptures.

Minnesota Graduation Standards

Wolf Ridge has aligned the Center's entire curriculum to Minnesota Department of Education Academic Standards. As the primary student audience at Wolf Ridge is from 4th-12th grade, the matrices address these grade levels. Teachers may request that their students focus upon a specific benchmark while attending Wolf Ridge. The Wolf Ridge Curriculum Standards Matrix addresses benchmarks in

  • Science
  • Math
  • History and Social Science
  • Language Arts
  • Arts

Wolf Ridge Curriculum Concepts

  • There are a wide variety of reasons why people choose to create art.
  • Art does not have to be permanent. Change through process and decay are common to all living things.
  • We can learn allot about our environment by exploring it creatively.
  • The environment can be explored and known on a nonverbal level that can leave lasting impressions on the artist (but perhaps less on the natural canvas.)
  • Awareness, knowledge and appreciation lead to an understanding of our impact on the environment.
  • See entire Wolf Ridge Curriculum Framework

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Time
3 hours total
2 hours outdoors

Audience
4th grade - adult

Activity level
moderate

Travel
variable

Total uphill travel
variable