>>Gus: Today, you're gonna bring all the work that you've done
to the cafeteria for the culminating event.
>>And I think each of us are gonna describe what you need.
For tech ed obviously, you need your kinetic sculpture.
I think it's best that each person brings their own sculpture
down there, because we don't want any accidents to happen.
>>Paul: Also, we don't want you to forget those two guiding questions:
how does art reflect the community?
And the other one is, how does science,
math and engineering connect to art?
And also you're gonna wanna show them your Google Maps
on the public art sites, okay?
And all of those things, you have to be prepared to talk about.
And also, you don't wanna--
>>Narrator: The eighty plus students
in King Middle School's York House embarked
on a twelve week learning expedition in the fall of 2009.
They researched and photographed public art sites,
produced a Google Maps walking tour and created a model
of an original kinetic sculpture, and a proposal to install it.
>>Paul: I think it's fine tuning a product to a certain extent and--
>>Narrator: The project began
with a teacher planning session over the summer.
>>It's very difficult to have a really deep, meaningful conversation
around curriculum and how that's all gonna fit together
if you don't actually have the thing made and can connect the kind
of learning that's most important.
>>Narrator: Once the goals were set, tech ed teacher, Gus Goodwin,
took up the challenge of building a model prototype.
>>Gus: So I decided I'd take a sculpture course,
and so this is what I made in that course.
So I brought this in and the kids right away pointed out, "Well,
it doesn't work Mr. Goodwin," or, "This is bent
and you need to fix that and that."
It was pretty funny.
>>That's pretty, yeah, Okay, try to get one with the sun.
>>Sarah: Today we're out here taking photos of already existing public art
that we're studying in social studies.
>>Sarah: We're gonna make a virtual tour where if you click on the piece
of art, it will come up with information that we've found
and written about the statue or piece of art.
>>Paul: Log in using this address right there under Google
and then we go to my maps.
Students are working with Google Maps and they are identifying all
of the public art pieces that exist in the city of Portland.
And then all of our kids have created a description of different art pieces
out there, so that these different public art sites can be connected
as a walking tour.
>>Student: I know how to get there.
>>You know how to get there?
>>Teacher: So if we went to the other map,
would you be able to get us there?
>>Paul: So basically, everything that anybody would want to know
about that public art piece will be here,
and it's designed by our students.
So it's sort of a public art public service.
>>Asiya: This is called Art Underfoot, because they got
like leaves, feathers, like anything that you can find on the ground,
and they've made it out of like bronze bricks and stuff.
And I found out that Art Underfoot wasn't made by one artist.
It was like a community of people.
It kinda shows our community can come together with different people
and how they can help each other make one piece of art.
>>Narrator: In language arts class, students wrote letters
to Portland city officials and created proposals
for the installation of their original works of public art.
>>Gus: I loved shop when I was in school,
but the big difference is the teacher had a plan and said, "Okay, kids,
we're making this pump handle lamp and if you follow the directions,
it'll come out just like mine and that's great."
That was good for those times, but times have changed,
so the focus is more on the kids inventing their own stuff.
>>Student: And if the wind is blowing hard enough,
then it'll make this spin around, and the weight
from this guy makes him come back down.
>>Nesser: This class is like fun because like the teacher help
to be creative and to make our own designs.
So like we will have that experience as we go along.
>>Gus: Well, I think kids have the opportunity to kinda tinker.
They get to think about something, but then also actually build it,
create it, and in that process, fix it when things go wrong.
It's an incredible value that I think is lacking,
where they don't have a class like this or like an art class or music
or something where the kids actually have to do something,
get their hands dirty and make stuff.
>>Excellent, Last night, when I put all the sculptures
>>So there's like eighty sculptures in the front of my room
and it was really amazing, thinking of where we started
and where we ended up, just the variety of ideas
and the ingenuity you had.
Well, you should be really proud.
It's just so cool to look at them all together,
because it's really very cool.
>>Student: It's kinetic because it moves
on its own, so it blows in the wind.
>>These things blow in the wind, and this is how it works.
>>Narrator: On a Friday after school,
students displayed their model sculptures
and discussed their installation proposals with parents
and members of the community.
>>David: What do you mean, you did the math to figure out the balance?
>>Student: Well, this one, which is two inches
by two inches, so I did half of that.
>>David: It's pretty exciting to see the kids get engaged in the work
that they're doing, to take ownership of the work they're doing,
feel responsible for it and then be able to talk
about the things that they're learning.
>>So you had this side balancing this side.
>>David: Sometimes, I think we get too concerned about the standards.
And there's an assumption behind a lotta
that that we actually know what our kids are gonna face in the future.
And I'm not very convinced of that.
And so the pieces about creativity, cooperation, problem solving,
those are gonna be there, and so the kids getting those here is crucial
and key.
>>Adne: It's a weeping willow and it's called the Miss Lincoln Tree.
The name was named after Lincoln Park, where I wanna put this.
>>And these will blow in the wind?
>>Yeah, it has a little bit of aesthetics, and it's three based--
>>It's got a lot of aesthetics.
>>Adne: Yeah.
>>Well, I think you just got my first vote.
>>Adne: Oh, thank you.
>>For more information on what works
in public education go to edutopia.org