I have always admired the glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly, and was thrilled to see the Chihuly exhibition in the Botanic Gardens in Adelaide in January 2025.
In 2024, and a few years before, I had done this plastic cup melt activity with Year 3-4 students, as it fitted in nicely with their classroom Science topic of “It’s a Matter of State” (A change of state between solid and liquid can be caused by adding or removing heat (VCSSU059))
We began by looking at some videos of Dale Chihuly in action making macchia bowls by heating the glass and spinning it around as it was ‘melting’.
Students used permanent markers: (Sharpies and Prockeys) to colour a plastic cup in an interesting design, making sure the rim was a contrasting colour. The type of plastic cup is important for the heat to shape it. The cups we used had number 1 in the recycle triangle symbol on the bottom. I used a heat gun to ‘melt’ the cups, but I think it works in an oven too (I haven’t tried it!) Using a heat gun enabled the students to watch the process.
Art lesson plan with links to useful videos and websites for images, discussion questions, learning intentions and success criteria, lesson activity steps, materials and techniques, images to use and display, an artist /artwork response sheet, examples of student outcomes.