Reduce Reuse Recycle Replenish ART

Hello Duke and Grey Owl,


It looks like you have taken action on water conservation, we have too!  Have you seen ‘Gyre’ by artist Christ Jordan?  It is based on the famous Japanese painting ‘The Wave off Kanagawa'.  His piece is made of over 2.4 million pieces of plastic garbage, the estimated number of pieces of garbage that end up in the ocean each hour!  We couldn't believe this!

Inspired by ‘Gyre’ and other examples of recycled item art, the grade ones and twos created pieces to promote environmental awareness and water conservation made entirely of previously used items.  Their environmental messages are everything from 'save the fish', 'don't litter', to 'save the people'!

They did a wonderful job working as both artists and environmentalists!

The Humber Watershed Over Time

Hi Grey Owl,

Grade 1/2 students at Bala did a similar activity about the story of our watershed over time.  We used finger puppets of early settlers, present day people, animals, houses, factories, and farms.  After many people, farms, and factories moved in along the Humber River we noticed the water level going down, and that the water wasn't as clean as when it was just animals and First Nations people living in the area.  It's complicated because the factories and farms make the most pollution, but they are making the things that people in the city need.  Students thought that Torontonians should ride their bikes instead of driving, and that we should all use less 'stuff'.

Here are some pictures of our cast in front of 'Lake Ontario'.

This activity was adapted from one in The Project Wet Curriculum Guide.