Activity test: Balancing Sculptures

A group of students in 6^th grade of Helgafellsskóli Iceland tested two activities that are being developed for the tinkering toolkit of our project Tink@School! The  activities are coordinated by Anna Bjarnadóttir and Ólafur Páll Jónsson from the University of Iceland who visited the school 2023 fall and coordinatd with three teachers, a Head of Department and the school’s principal, discussing also how the SDGs are integrated in the 6^th graders study plan. Helgafellsskóli is a quite new school and opened early January 2019. The school building is new, modern, and open with many possibilities regarding teaching methods. The school aims to create a learning environment that is motivating and meaningful, meet everyone on their own terms and foster interest in learning and independence in working methods.

The testing took place over one week period where the students and teachers started to talk about the project, wondering where they could collect material, look at examples on the internet and discuss what they would like to do in their own sculpture. Most of the materials that was used was waste and natural materials that students collected both from the school and its surrounding and from home. The making of the sculpture itself took place in the classroom in November 2023, with 48 students in small groups working with the material they had gathered and some students even brought some extra tools from home. E.g  left over wood, cardboard boxes, small containers, soda cans, aluminium paper, bottles, corks, branches, pinecones, etc .  using as tools: glue gun, screwdriver, hammer, knife, and pliers. 

It was amazing to see the great collaboration going on in the classroom, the interest, creativity, and participation. Each student took part, they all were really focused, imaginative and hardworking while making the sculpture! The students took both photos and videos on iPad and plan to make a stop motion film from the creation of the balancing sculpture!