Project Grade 7 Art & Music

Glaisdale Dam at Fifty: A Three-Color Reduction Print Edition

Grade 7 printmakers carve one block in three stages to print a matched, numbered edition showing water falling through a fictional dam to spin its turbine.

Grade: Grade 7
Subject: Art & Music
Material: Project
Time: 6 sessions, ~300 min total
Prep: Moderate prep
Materials: Soft carving blocks, 6 by 9 inches (1 per student), Lino cutters with V and U gouges, and bench hooks, Water-based block printing ink in several colors, from light to dark, Brayers, inking plates, and wooden spoons or barens, Printing paper, 9 by 12 inches (5 sheets per student), Card stock and masking tape for registration jigs, Tracing paper and soft pencils, Drying rack or a line with clips, A one-page labeled diagram of a hydroelectric dam (teacher-provided)

Standards

W.7.2 Common Core ELA

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

How this material aligns: In Milestone 6 each student writes a 120 to 180 word artist statement that explains, in sequence, how water moving from the reservoir through the penstock turns the turbine and generator; that explanatory passage is the part of the statement that addresses this standard.

All materials for W.7.2 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-09-24.

Objectives

Students will plan an image in four values and print it in three colors from one block using the reduction method.
Students will produce a numbered edition of four matching prints with consistent registration.
Students will show in an image, and explain in writing, how falling water at a dam turns a turbine to make electricity.

Vocabulary

Penstock: The huge pipe that carries water from a reservoir down to the turbines in a hydropower plant. Falling water rushes through it with enormous force.
Turbine: A machine with blades that spin when water rushes past, like a high-tech waterwheel. Spinning turbines turn generators that make electricity.

Also: reduction print, edition, registration, value, focal point, generator

Teacher overview

A hydroelectric dam makes electricity by letting water from a high reservoir fall through a large pipe, called a penstock, and spin a turbine that drives a generator. In this project, grade 7 students make a small print edition for the fiftieth anniversary of the fictional Glaisdale Dam, and every print must show that path from reservoir to river. Students use the reduction method: they carve a single block in three stages and print a darker color after each carve, so every decision about value has to be planned before the first cut. The deliverable is a numbered edition of four matching three-color prints, one proof, and a short artist statement, presented to the class acting as the fictional Mardale Historical Society.

Teaching note: two misconceptions come up in this project, one scientific and one about printmaking. Many students think the dam wall or the still water in the lake makes the electricity, or that the water is used up in the process. The energy comes from water moving downhill through the penstock, and the same water leaves through the tailrace and continues down the river. Ask each student to trace one drop through a thumbnail sketch before any carving begins. On the printmaking side, students expect the areas they carve to print. In relief printing a carved area takes no ink, so it keeps whatever color is already on the paper beneath it. Because the block is cut away after each color, a reduction print can never be reprinted, which is why the edition size is fixed in Session 1 and every sheet is printed in every round.

Glaisdale Dam at Fifty: A Three-Color Reduction Print Edition — Grade 7 Art & Music

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Project Brief

Driving question: How can one carved block, printed in three colors, show a museum visitor how falling water at Glaisdale Dam becomes electricity?

Scenario: Glaisdale Dam is a fictional dam above the town of Mardale. It has made electricity for fifty years. The Mardale Historical Society is planning an exhibit for the anniversary. It has asked your class for a small set of prints that show how the dam works. The society will hang the prints it chooses in a glass case at the town library.

How the dam works: Water is stored in the reservoir behind the dam. It enters the intake, an opening low in the dam. Then it falls through a steep pipe called the penstock and picks up speed. The fast water pushes the curved blades of the turbine and makes it spin. The turbine turns a generator, and the generator makes electricity. The water leaves through the tailrace and flows on down the river. None of the water is used up.

Constraints:

Use one soft carving block, 6 by 9 inches. You may turn it tall or wide.
Use exactly three ink colors. Print them from lightest to darkest.
Use the reduction method. Carve, then print. Carve again, then print again. Carve a third time, then print the darkest color.
Print five sheets in every color round. The best four become your edition, numbered 1/4 to 4/4. The fifth sheet is your proof.
Show at least four of the five stages: reservoir, intake, penstock, turbine and generator, and tailrace.
Make the falling water in the penstock your focal point. It should have the strongest contrast in the print.
Do not carve any words into the block, because carved letters print backward. Write your title in pencil under the image.
The print must read from 6 feet away, because visitors will see it through glass.

Final deliverable: A numbered edition of four matching prints, one proof, and an artist statement of 120 to 180 words. The statement explains how the dam makes electricity. It also describes one choice you made about value or composition and why you made it.

Milestones

Session 1: Trace the water and sketch (50 min). Label the five stages on the dam diagram. Use a colored pencil to trace one drop of water from the reservoir to the river. Draw three thumbnail sketches, each 2 by 3 inches, from three viewpoints: a side cutaway, a view from downstream, and a view from above. Circle the one you will print. Output: a labeled diagram and three thumbnails.
Session 2: Plan four values and transfer (50 min). Redraw your chosen sketch at full size, 6 by 9 inches. Shade it in four values: the white of the paper and your three ink colors from light to dark. Remember the rule: anything you carve away before a color is printed stays the color already on the paper. Choose your three inks and paint a small test swatch of each. Trace the drawing onto the block. Output: a four-value plan, a color card, and a block with the drawing transferred.
Session 3: First carve and first color (50 min). Carve away only the parts that will stay white paper, such as spray or light on the water. Always cut away from the hand that holds the block, and keep the block in a bench hook. Build a registration jig by taping an L-shaped card corner to your table, so the block and each sheet go in the same spot every time. Ink the block with your lightest color and print all five sheets. Output: five sheets printed in the first color, drying on the rack.
Session 4: Second carve and second color (50 min). Carve away the parts that will stay the first color. Print your middle color on the proof first and check that it lines up with the first color. Then print the other four sheets. Output: five sheets that show two colors.
Session 5: Final carve, darkest color, and numbering (50 min). Carve away the parts that will stay the middle color. What is left on the block prints your darkest color, so check that the penstock keeps the strongest contrast. Print all five sheets. When they are dry, choose the best four. In pencil, number them 1/4 to 4/4 at the lower left, write the title in the center, and sign at the lower right. Mark the fifth sheet "proof." Output: a finished edition of four and one proof.
Session 6: Artist statement and the 6-foot test (50 min). Write your artist statement of 120 to 180 words. Then hang the prints. Classmates stand 6 feet away and write down the focal point and the order of the water's path. Present your edition to the class, which acts as the Historical Society. Output: an artist statement, 6-foot test notes, and a short 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
Water path and science	Fewer than three stages appear, or the image suggests that the lake or the wall makes the electricity.	Three stages appear, but the order of the water's path is hard to follow.	At least four stages appear in the correct order, and the water clearly falls through the penstock to the turbine.	All five stages appear in a clear order, and the composition leads the eye along the water's path from reservoir to river.
Reduction process and edition	Colors are printed out of order, or fewer than three colors appear.	Three colors appear, but registration drifts noticeably from sheet to sheet.	Three colors are printed from light to dark, and the four prints match with only small registration shifts.	The four prints match closely, the edition is numbered and signed correctly, and the proof shows how the student checked registration before each run.
Value and composition	Values are similar throughout, so the image does not read from 6 feet.	A focal point exists but competes with other high-contrast areas.	The penstock has the strongest contrast, and most viewers in the 6-foot test name it as the focal point.	All four values are used deliberately, and viewers in the 6-foot test read both the focal point and the path of the water.
Artist statement	The statement is missing or does not explain how the dam makes electricity.	The statement names parts of the dam but does not explain the sequence.	The statement explains in order how falling water turns the turbine and generator and describes one design choice.	The statement explains the sequence accurately, notes that the water continues downstream, and connects a specific value or composition choice to what the viewer understands.

Differentiation

Support

Offer foam printing plates instead of carving blocks to students who struggle with gouges. On foam, carving means pressing lines and areas down with a dull pencil or a pen cap, which gives a similar reduction result with far less hand strength. Provide a side-cutaway template with the five stages already outlined, so the student's decisions center on value and color rather than on drawing the dam from scratch. If time runs short, reduce the edition to three prints plus a proof.

Extension

Ask students to add transparent extender to the middle color so that the first color shows through it and the two mix on the paper, then explain in the artist statement how the printed middle color differs from the ink on the slab and what that change adds to the image. Students who finish early can carve a second, smaller block that shows the turbine and generator up close, printed in the same three colors, to pair with the edition as a detail view.

ELL supports

Provide the dam diagram with an icon beside each stage and a word bank of the vocabulary terms with small sketches. Offer a frame for the artist statement, such as "First, water ... Next, it ... Then the turbine ... In my print, I used ... to show ...", and let students talk through the statement with a partner before writing it.

Extensions

Many historical societies and libraries keep photographs of local dams, mills, and bridges from the years they were built. If one is nearby, students can visit or request copies and compare how the photographer and the printmaker each chose a viewpoint and a focal point. The class can also mount the full set of editions as a single exhibit, with one print from each student and a class-written panel explaining the reduction method to visitors.