Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10

Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods

Mary E. Twomey 1
Learners Characteristics

Stage of artistic development:
Lowenfields period of decision occurs at age 14-17, art at this stage of life is something to
be done or left alone. Natural development will cease unless a conscious decision is made to
improve drawing skills. Students are critically aware of the immaturity of their drawing and
are easily discouraged. Lowenfeld's solution is to enlarge their concept of adult art to include
non-representational art and art occupations besides painting (architecture, interior design,
handcrafts, etc.).
Students at this stage will decide to continue drawing or view it as an activity without merit.
Because of the level of self-criticism inherent at this stage, many children, (now young adults)
view drawing as a skill that do they do not possess. Others, however, decide to continue working
on their drawing skills and continue to develop. I think that it is important to encourage students
to continue drawing despite their level of skill. Increased skill is attained only with practice. This
stage of artistic development is perhaps the most critical to the development of an artist.

Students with Learning Disabilities:
ADD and ADHD: Students with ADD and/or ADHD may be inattentive, hyperactive, and/or
impulsive. Students might exhibit the following: Fails to pay close attention to details, makes
careless mistakes, cannot sustain focused attention, does not appear to be listening, has difficulty
organizing tasks, activities, materials, does not like activities that require sustained focus, easily
distracted by extraneous environmental activity, often forgets routine activities, fidgets, moves
hands and feet, moves around in seat, cannot face still, gets out of seat often, runs in classroom,
all, climbs, has difficulty engaging in quiet activities, even quiet leisure activities, talks
excessively, blurts out answers to questions, sometimes even before questions are completed, has
difficulty waiting, taking turns, interrupts teacher and others frequently.
Autism: Students with autism have a lifelong developmental disability that affects their verbal
communication, nonverbal communication, and social interactions. Students might exhibit the
following: repetitive activities and movements resistance to changes in environment and daily
routine, unusual responses to sensory experiences, poor play skills, frequent conflicts with
others, lack of empathy and inability to see perspective of others, inability to tolerate overly
stimulating environments, lights, sounds, movements.
Behavioral, Emotional, and Social: students with behavioral challenges can be aggressive and
antisocial. Behavioral challenges may stem from a wide range of issuesgangs, drug use,
homelessness, familial abuse, medication, and health problems. Students with emotional
challenges can feel sad, depressed and have low self-esteem. Students with social challenges
have difficulty interacting with others, making and keeping friends and dealing with the
everyday demands of social activities. Students with behavioral, emotional and social learning
disabilities might exhibit the following: inability to learn that cannot be directly linked to health,
sensory environmental or cognitive intelligence, inability to establish and maintain good
interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers, voicing of inappropriate feelings or
exhibiting inappropriate behaviors under normal classroom conditions, almost constant
unhappiness or moody or depression like behavior, passive aggressive behavior, responds with
trepidation and fear to ordinary classroom activities.
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 2
ELL and ESL: English Language Learners (ELL) are students who speak their native language
and are not proficient in English. They have difficulty understanding what is required of them in
classroom settings where English is the dominant language. They also have difficulty using
English to communicate with their teachers and most of their classmates. ELL students who are
proficient in their native language tend to develop English language skills more rapidly than
those students who have difficulty communicating in their native language. Some ELL students
may also have other learning disabilities. English as a Second Language (ESL) students speak
little or no English for a while they may remain silent in class as they adjust to a new school,
new classroom environment and new culture. When seated next to a student to speaks his/her
first language, the student may easily and readily interact. However, when no such classmate is
available, ESL students generally remain in a silent period that may last just a few days to
several months or even a year; this is often a time of great discomfort for the ESL student. The
ESL student is concerned about decoding verbal and nonverbal communication as well as
understanding the socio-cultural framework of the school (i.e.: what are the expectations for
behavior, for school success, for making friends?). ESL students often performed at or above
their grade level in their first language and once they learn English that level of academic
performance may be maintained.


Theme Concept

Main Concept:
Mountains and cliffs are permanent structures of the landscape, we use them as landmarks.
They are always there. However, natural change and transformation happens to the earth as a
result of weathering and erosion. The changes may be small occurring over a long period of time,
or sudden as in the case of a landslide. Additionally other changes in the landscape are artificial
and made by humans however, these too are subject to the effects of weathering and erosion.
Environmental changes affect all things, slowly but steadily.

Non-Art Discipline ConceptEarth Science:
Change and erosion under natural conditions. All students will understand that Earth operates
as a set of complex, dynamic, and interconnected systems, and is a part of the all-
encompassing system of the universe.


Visual Arts Concepts

Art Production/Art Making:

A. Elements or Principle of Design
Balance, color and texture are brought together with either/both natural and man-made
found objects in the natural setting of the schools neighborhood.

Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 3
B. Technique/Process
Cold connections, using the natural elements of the material. An installation is planned
and executed by the class in either a playground, park, or on the school grounds. Students
will discover relationships between the environment and their creation i.e. light and
setting.

Aesthetics:
1. Is this art beautiful?
2. Does the work have value? Why/why not?
3. Do you like this type of art? Why/Why not?

Art Criticism: (Select one work of art for whole-class art criticism discussion.)
Four levels of formal analysis will be used during the process of critique of an art work:
A. Description
Pure description of the object without value judgments, analysis, or interpretation;
students answer the question, "What do you see?"
1. What is shown in the work?
2. How is it organized?
3. How does the artist create texture?
4. What is this art made of?
5. How is color introduced or used?
B. Formal Analysis
Determining what the features suggest and deciding why the artist used such features to
convey specific ideas; students answer the question, "How did the artist do it?
1. How does the setting effect the work?
2. How did the artist use color?
3. How important is texture to the work? Why?
4. Does the work have a sense of rhythm?
5. Is repetition or pattern important in the work?
6. Are the principles and elements of design used well in the composition?
C. Interpretation
Establishing the broader context for this type of art; Students answers the question, "Why
did the artist create it and what does it mean?
a. Main idea: What is the overall meaning of the work?
b. Interpretive Statement: Express what you think the artwork is about in one sentence?
c. Evidence: What evidence inside or outside the artwork supports your interpretation?
1. Describe the relationship of the materials to the art.
2. What is the artist saying?
3. Does the work make you feel any type of emotion? What and why?
4. What do you believe is the meaning, mood or idea in the work?
D. Judgment
Judging a piece of work means giving it rank in relation to other works and of course
considering a very important aspect of the visual arts; its originality. Students answers the
question, Is it a good artwork?
Criteria: What criteria do students think are most appropriate for judging the artwork?
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 4
Evidence: What evidence inside, or outside, the artwork relates to each criterion?
Judgment: Based on the criteria and evidence, what is the students judgment about the
quality of the artwork?
1. Is the work successful?
2. Does the work evoke an emotional response?
3. Do you like the art work?
4. Can a work be successful even if you do not like it?
5. Does it make sense to spend so much time to create art that you know will be
destroyed by nature?
6. Is an artwork meant to last?
7. Are the photographs that remain the art?

Art History: (Artist or Art Movement/Period):
Land Art, Earthworks (coined by Robert Smithson), or Earth Art is an art movement in which
landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked. It is also an art form that is created in
nature, using natural materials such as soil, rock (bed rock, boulders, stones), organic media
(logs, branches, leaves), and water with introduced materials such as concrete, metal, asphalt, or
mineral pigments. Sculptures are not placed in the landscape, rather, the landscape is the means
of their creation. Often earth moving equipment is involved. The works frequently exist in the
open, located well away from civilization, left to change and erode under natural conditions.

Spiral Jetty (1970): Smithson arranged rock, earth and algae so as to form a long (1500 ft)
spiral-shape jetty protruding into Great Salt Lake in northern Utah, U.S. How much of the work,
if any, is visible is dependent on the fluctuating water levels. Since its creation, the work has
been completely covered, and then uncovered again, by water.

Maya Lin's 'Wave Field' Maya Lin, Storm King, NY
Its seven parallel rows of rolling, swelling peaks were inspired by the forms of midocean waves
but echo the mountains and hills around them. Earth was moved to create the shapes and then
grass was planted over the forms. She has tried to focus on what emotions the space would
create and what it would symbolize to the user. Her belief in a space being connected and the
transition from inside to outside being fluid, (Times)

Andy Goldsworthy specializes in the ephemeral. A seven-foot-long ribbon of red poppy petals
that he stuck together with saliva lasted just long enough to be photographed before the wind
carried it off. His leaves molder, his ice arabesques melt. One work in which he took special joy,
a sort of bird's nest of sticks, was intended to evoke a tidal whirlpool; when the actual tide
carried it into the water, its creator marveled as it gyrated toward destruction. The moment was
captured in


Learning Objectives

Theme Concept: Learn about the Earthworks art movement and converted spaces in land art
through examples of contemporary artists such as Robert Smithson, Maya Lin, James Turrell.
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 5
Use observation skills to find art in nature. Because these works are meant to be permanent, they
are left to the mercy of the elements, decaying, aging, or slightly moving, depending on forces of
wind, water and sun. The installations are meant to coexist with the elements of nature, which
are themselves an ever-changing work of art. Other artists create from the land knowing it will
be destroyed quickly.

Visual Arts Disciplines:
Use of balance, shape, form, texture, and color in creating sculpture and other 3-D works.
Working with the natural environment. Students will assemble found natural objects into an
arrangement emphasizing one or more of the 5 elements of art and decide upon the best view
of their work to be photographed.

Non-Art Disciplines:
Weathering is the process where rocks are worn away or broken down into smaller pieces by
wind, water, or plants. Erosion happens when these broken rocks and sediment are picked up
and moved to another place. The five agents of erosion are wind, water, glaciers, waves and
gravity. Gravity is the underlying agent of all types of mass movement. Without the force of
gravity to pull sediment down an incline, erosion would not occur. However, the other four
agents can also play a part.

Democratic Skills:
1. Students will respond to dissenting opinions on its merit rather than by attacking the
dissenter personally.
2. Students will build a community of inquiry through dealing withn problems with
deliberation and dialogue, through listening to others and learning cooperatively.
3. Students will display respect for majority opinion. Accepts majority opinion in
situations where voting is meaningful but recognizes those situations when it is not.

Modifications and Adaptations for Students with Disabilities
According to individual needs peer assisted learning (PAL) is a resource utilized as required.
Students with limited mobility can work with a team as a director or project manager. They
may choose to draw/illustrate their idea for an installation. Extra time is provided.
Modifications to the lesson can be made, or assistive technologies provided.

In the Classroom

Sequence of Activities:
1. Discussion. Ask students about the natural environment, such as a mountain. Is a
mountain a permanent feature of the landscape? Does it change? Are the changes
noticeable?
2. Introduce Robert Smithson and the Spiral Jetty.
3. Introduce Wave Field and Desert Breath. Ask students if they think these works are
similar to the art of Smithson? In what way?
4. Show the video clip of Maya Lin at Storm King.
5. Students read Colossal Art, Design, and Culture article about Desert Breath
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 6
6. Introduce James Turrells Roden Crater, San Francisco Volcanic Field. Show the
website.
7. Watch Rivers and Tides, a documentary film by Thomas Riedelsheimer that portrayed
Goldsworthy at work and underscored the centrality of time to his art.
8. Discuss with students what they have seen. Do they think it is art? Do they think it is
good art?
9. Ask students what they think is different about the works of Goldsworthy and the other
artists? What is similar?
10. Show The Sea Stone by Goldsworthy at the St. Louis Art Museum. How does this
compare to his other works seen in the video? Is it different in any way?
11. Take students on a field trip around the school grounds, local park or neighborhood.
12. Students should look for a site that inspires them. Create Goldworthy style art from the
natural resources around them. Photograph what has been created.
13. Return in one week, then two weeks and photograph the works each time.
14. Students will compare the 3 photos and examine the signs of degrading.
15. Brainstorm in small groups to create a small scale land installation on the school grounds
or a nearby park. Present them to the class and then vote for the one to be implemented.
Go through the approval process to make the idea a reality.

Materials & Equipment:
Items found in the natural environment: Sticks, rocks, leaves, flowers, boulders, bricks, broken
concrete.
Digital Camera
Printer
Projector
Computer
Pencil
Paper

Resources (books, magazines, articles, websites):
National Geographic: Sculpting Nature
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/weathering-erosion-
article/
Colossal Art, Design, and Culture. http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/02/desert-breath-a-
monumental-land-art-installation-in-the-sahara-desert/
Maya Lin's Wave Field The artist discusses her new projects, including her new installation at
the Storm King Art Center. http://www.nytimes.com/video/arts/design/1194832296918/maya-
lin-s-wave-field.html and
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/arts/design/08lin.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Roden Crater, San Francisco Volcanic Field, James Turrell. http://rodencrater.com/about
Andy Goldsworthy, Land Art https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPDH8yCnlk0
Andy Goldsworthy, Rivers and Tides. Documentary. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-
culture/35-who-made-a-difference-andy-goldsworthy-114067437/?no-ist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQiHfgFnY_A
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 7
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/35-who-made-a-difference-andy-goldsworthy-
114067437/?no-ist

List of Art Works:
Spiral Jetty, Rozel Point, Utah, by Robert Smithson
Desert Breath, near the Red Sea in El Gouna, Egypt
Roden Crater, San Francisco Volcanic Field, James Turrell
Wave Field, Storm King, NY, Maya Lin,
The Sea Stone, SLAM St. Louis, MS, Andy Goldworthy,

Supporting Materials (Vocabulary Lists, artists biographies, historical information, student
self-assessment, rubric):
Vocabulary: erosion, ethereal, ephemeral
Student self-assessment


Narrative of Classroom Procedures

Introduction/Discussion/Questions (about theme concept, concepts in art disciplines, non-
art discipline concepts, art works, democratic behaviors):
Discussion. Ask students about the natural environment, such as a mountain. Is a mountain a
permanent feature of the landscape? Does it change? Are the changes noticeable? What do
they know about erosion? How does this affect outdoor art, like sculptures?

Stimulation Activity:
In groups of 2 discuss and write down what you know about Land Art.
Define it. Name Land Artists and/or their works that you are familiar with.

I Want You to (Problematized instructions for individualized and/or small group art
making):
Create a Goldsworthy style artwork on a field trip to an outdoor space. Visit the art pieces a
week after the lesson is completed and see how the art pieces have faired. Photograph the
works and then return at a later date to record the changes from exposure to the elements.
How will the work of art change in the course of time?

Create an Earthworks art piece as a class. In small groups students will brainstorm ideas and
sketch them. Each group will present their idea to the class. The class will vote for the
proposal they are most excited by and believe to be achievable. As a class create a plan
outlining the budget, and all necessary materials and construction required for the site they
have chosen. Draft a proposal to the appropriate party (principal, town) and submit it. If
approved find ways to fundraise to cover the budget and create it.

More Questions, Statements, Positive Verbal Reinforcement, Suggestions, and Clarification
of Tasks (related to theme concept, concepts in art disciplines, non-art concept, democratic
skills):
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 8
If it is not possible to find a suitable outdoor space to work in, a similar activity can be done
inside, using materials native to the school: Pencils, notebooks, textbooks, chairs, desks, etc.
A temporary installation could be placed in a public/common area of the school for a limited
time.

Concluding the Lesson (Discussion, Questions, Sharing of Productions, Recapping):
What do you think about art that does not last? Can this art be preserved? Should it be?

Lesson Extensions/Connections:
Have students do a close up drawing of all or part of their "installation". Lay cardboard L-frame
over the work to find an interesting part - photograph that part up close to capture details). Draw
from the photograph carefully observing the details. Students could begin drawings outside if
time permits. Paint the drawing with watercolors.

Show students the Ice Hotel. Temporary sculptures created out of butter, sand, ice, etc.

NJCCCS 2009

A. One Visual Arts Standard and Indicator
Visual and Performing Arts
Content Statement: The cohesiveness of a work of art and its ability to communicate a theme
or narrative can be directly affected by the artists technical proficiency as well as by the
manner and physical context in which it is performed or shown.
CPI#: 1.4.12.B.2
CPI: Evaluate how an artists technical proficiency may affect the creation or presentation of
a work of art, as well as how the context in which a work is performed or shown may impact
perceptions of its significance/meaning.

B. One Non-Art Standard and Indicator
Science: 5.4 Earth Systems Science
Content Statement: Moving water, wind, and ice continually shape Earths surface by
eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas.
CPI #: 5.4.6.B.3
Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI): Determine if landforms were created by processes of
erosion (e.g., wind, water, and/or ice) based on evidence in pictures, video, and/or maps.


Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 9



Spiral Jetty, Rozel Point, Utah, by Robert Smithson



Wave Field, Storm King, NY, by Maya Lin

Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 10





Desert Breath, the Sahara desert near the Red Sea in El Gouna, Egypt. artist Danae Stratou,
industrial designer Alexandra Stratou, and architect Stella Constantinides.
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 11



Roden Crater, San Francisco Volcanic Field, James Turrell (ongoing).
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 12
Andy Goldsworthy, Leaves polished,
greased made in the shadow of the tree from which they fell, pinned to the ground with thorns,
Le Jardin Massey, Tarbes, France, 1989.
Andy Goldworthy, Rowan Leaves and Hole, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, 1987.



Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 13




Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 14


Andy Goldsworthy, The Stone Sea, 2013. Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM)
Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 15



Land Art by Children


Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 16
Teacher Evaluation


Lesson Plan:
1. Are the activities in the lesson age appropriate?
2. Are there parts of the lesson that require too much time/parts that dont allow enough time
for adequate understanding?
3. Did all parts of the lesson engage and maintain students interest?
4. Does the lesson conceptually link art with another subject in an integrated way that is both
implicit and explicit?
5. Are the learning activities presented in the best sequence for maximizing students
understanding and participation?

Teaching of Lesson:
1. Did I allow enough wait time?
2. Did I make eye contact with students?
3. Was I excited about the lesson?
4. Did I ask enough open-ended questions?
5. Did I speak clearly and loudly enough for the students to hear me?
6. Did I check for students understanding throughout my demonstration?

Student Outcomes:
1. Did students show understanding of the vocabulary during oral discussion?
2. Was this project too difficult for the students?
3. Were the materials used correctly and safely?
4. Did students stay on task?
5. Are students working in a timely manner to complete the assignment?
6. Did students successfully use scale to make their model?

Unit Title: Permanence and Art Grade Level: 10
Lesson Plan 3: Land Art Time: 6-8 50 minute periods
Mary E. Twomey 17
Land Art
Student Self-Evaluation
Student Name _________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. How important do you feel the location of land art or earthwork is?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. What is your understanding of ephemeral art?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

3. Has your view of art changed? If so, how?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

4. What did you like best about this project?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________