Project Grade 6 Art & Music
Water Tower Mural Design for the Town of Pinnacle Falls
A grade 6 art project where teams design a scaled water-tower wrap mural carrying a real conservation fact, within a fixed budget and panel size.
Objectives
- Students will design a scaled mural that fits a stated panel size and budget.
- Students will feature one real water-conservation fact clearly in their design.
- Students will write and present a proposal justifying their design's message, size, and cost.
Vocabulary
- Water tower
- A water tower is a big tank raised high above town that stores drinking water. Its height is what pushes water through the pipes, keeping the pressure steady even when the power goes out.
- Distribution system
- A distribution system is the network of pipes, pumps, valves, and storage tanks that carries treated water from a treatment plant to homes, schools, and businesses. Most of it is buried underground beneath streets.
Teacher overview
Many towns decorate their water towers with murals, turning a piece of everyday infrastructure into public art that also carries a message. The (fictional) Pinnacle Falls Public Works Department has invited student teams to design a wrap mural for its water tower's midsection, sized to a real panel that will later be printed on weatherproof banner material. Over four sessions, teams design a mural that fits a fixed panel size and budget while clearly featuring one real fact about household water use.
Project Brief
Driving question: How can we design a water-tower mural that shares one real water-saving fact, fits a 20-foot by 8-foot panel, and costs no more than $450?
Scenario: The town of Pinnacle Falls wants art on its water tower. The Public Works Department has asked student teams to design it. The art will be printed on a large banner. The banner wraps around the middle of the tank.
Constraints:
- Panel size: your mural must fit a panel 20 feet wide and 8 feet tall. That is an area of 160 square feet.
- Budget: you get $450 in all. It has to pay for banner material, sealant, and mounting hardware. (This budget is made up for the project.) Your teacher will give you a price sheet. Banner material costs $2.00 per square foot. Sealant to block weather costs $30. Mounting hardware costs $45.
- Content: your mural must show one real fact about home water use. Pick your fact from the fact sheet your teacher hands out. Show it in a picture, in words, or in both.
Final deliverable: Your team turns in two pieces of work. First, a scale drawing of your mural on grid paper, fully colored. Write down the scale you used, such as 1 inch = 4 feet. Second, a one-page proposal to the Public Works Department. Your proposal tells what the mural says, names the fact behind it, and shows how the design meets the panel size and the budget.
Milestones
Session 1, research and constraints (50 minutes): Read the fact sheet with your team. Pick one fact to feature. It could be how much water an average home uses in a day. Then write the panel size (20 by 8 feet, 160 square feet) and the $450 budget on your planning sheet. Output: a completed research and constraints sheet that names your fact.
Session 2, draft two thumbnail designs (50 minutes): A thumbnail is a small practice sketch. Draw two of them, each one to scale. Put your fact in both. Then use the price sheet to estimate what each design would cost. Output: two labeled thumbnail sketches with cost estimates.
Session 3, choose and refine one design (50 minutes): Check both thumbnails against the budget and the panel size. Pick the stronger one. Draw it again to scale, in full color. List every cost, item by item. Output: one final scaled mural design with itemized costs totaling $450 or less.
Session 4, write and present the proposal (40 minutes): Write your one-page proposal. Then show your design and read your proposal to the class. Your classmates act as the Public Works Department review board. Output: a completed written proposal and a short team presentation.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Rubric
| Criterion | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design & message clarity | The featured fact is missing or unclear in the design | The fact appears but is hard to notice or read | The fact is clearly featured and easy to read from a distance | The fact is clearly featured and the imagery reinforces the fact's meaning |
| Budget & size constraint | Design exceeds the panel size, the $450 budget, or both, with no adjustment | Design is close to both constraints but costs are not itemized | Design fits the 160-square-foot panel with an itemized cost list at or under $450 | Design fits the panel, is itemized at or under $450, and explains one tradeoff the team made to stay within budget |
| Proposal & presentation | Proposal is incomplete or difficult to follow | Proposal covers the design but with unclear reasoning | Proposal clearly explains how the design meets the message, size, and budget requirements | Proposal clearly explains all three requirements and anticipates a likely question from the review board |
Differentiation
Support (below grade level)
Provide the panel's cost-per-square-foot calculation already worked out for this project's fictional budget ($2.00 × 160 square feet = $320) so teams can focus on the design and the remaining $130 for sealant, hardware, and adjustments. Provide a shortened conservation fact sheet with only two fact choices instead of several.
Extension (above grade level)
Ask teams to calculate the cost of a larger 24-foot by 8-foot panel (192 square feet) at the same fictional $2.00 per square foot rate, plus the $30 sealant and $45 hardware, and to explain whether that larger size would still fit the $450 budget.
ELL supports
Provide the conservation fact sheet with simple images alongside the English text (for example, a bathtub icon next to the household water-use fact) and allow the written proposal to include labeled sketches alongside shorter sentences rather than full paragraphs.