Project Grade 7 Art & Music
Slateford Clean-Water Plant Public Art Commission
A grade 7 art project where teams design a scale mural and three tour signs for a fictional clean-water plant within a set budget.
Objectives
- Students will design a scale mural that fits a stated wall size and budget.
- Students will compute the mural area and its paint cost from a scale drawing.
- Students will present a design and defend how it meets the size and budget limits.
Vocabulary
Key words: mural, scale, budget, reclamation
Teacher overview
A water reclamation facility cleans used water so it can safely return to the environment, and many such plants run school tours to show the public how the process works. This project invites student teams to design a wall mural and three tour signs for the fictional Slateford clean-water plant, working for the town's public art commission. Over four sessions, teams draw their mural to scale, size it to a real wall, feature one real water fact, and keep the whole package within a fixed budget. The design work is genuine art, while the scale drawing and budget give it the constraints of a real commission.
Project Brief
Driving question: How can we design a mural and three tour signs for the Slateford clean-water plant that fit a 40-foot wall and a $500 budget?
Scenario: The fictional Slateford clean-water plant runs school tours. The town's public art commission wants student teams to design a wall mural and three tour signs. The best design will guide the tour and teach one real water fact.
Constraints:
- The mural wall is 40 feet long and 10 feet tall.
- Draw your design to a scale of 1 inch equals 5 feet.
- The budget is $500 for paint, signs, and sealant. This is a fictional budget set for the project.
- Use the price sheet: mural paint costs $0.75 per square foot, each sign costs $40, and sealant costs $50.
- The mural must show one real water fact from the fact sheet, such as the average household using about 300 gallons of water a day.
- The package must include three tour signs.
Final deliverable: A scaled mural design drawn on grid paper, an itemized cost list at or under $500, and a short written pitch to the art commission.
Water fact sheet (print one for each team; teams pick one fact for the mural):
- The average US household uses about 300 gallons of water a day, and roughly 70% of it is used indoors (EPA WaterSense).
- Household leaks waste an average of about 180 gallons of water a week (EPA WaterSense).
- In a 2016 study of single-family homes, toilets accounted for about 24% of the water used indoors at home (Water Research Foundation).
- A standard showerhead flows at 2.5 gallons per minute, and WaterSense-labeled models use 2.0 gallons per minute or less (EPA WaterSense).
Milestones
Session 1 -- Plan and pick a fact (50 min): Teams read the fact sheet and pick one real water fact for the mural. They write down the wall size and the budget. Output: a plan sheet that names the chosen fact.
Session 2 -- Draw the mural to scale (50 min): Teams draw the 40-by-10-foot wall to scale, which is 8 inches by 2 inches on the paper. They sketch the mural inside it. Then they compute the real mural area in square feet. Output: a scaled drawing with the area shown.
Session 3 -- Build the budget (50 min): Teams find the paint cost by multiplying the mural area by $0.75. They add three signs at $40 each and sealant at $50. Then they find each item's percent of the $500 budget. Output: an itemized cost list at or under $500.
Session 4 -- Pitch and present (50 min): Teams write a short pitch and present the design, the costs, and the chosen fact to the class acting as the art commission. Output: a written pitch and a short team talk.
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 & fact clarity | The chosen water fact is missing or hard to find in the mural | The fact appears but is hard to read or poorly placed | The fact is clear and easy to read, and the mural fits the tour theme | The fact is clear, well placed, and the imagery reinforces what the fact means |
| Scale & budget constraint | The drawing is not to scale, or the cost is over $500 with no fix | The drawing is roughly to scale, but costs are not itemized | The drawing is to scale and the itemized cost is at or under $500 | The drawing is to scale, itemized at or under $500, and the team explains one tradeoff it made to fit the budget |
| Pitch & presentation | The pitch is incomplete or hard to follow | The pitch covers the design but gives little reasoning | The pitch clearly explains how the design meets the size and budget limits | The pitch explains both limits and answers a likely question from the art commission |
Differentiation
Support
Give these teams the scaled wall outline already drawn (8 inches by 2 inches) and the mural area worked out (400 square feet), so they focus on the design and the remaining budget steps. Provide a shortened fact sheet with two fact choices.
Extension
Ask teams to design a second, larger mural for a 60-foot wall at the same scale and price, compute its new area and paint cost, and explain whether the larger design would still fit the budget.
ELL supports
Provide the fact sheet and price sheet with simple images beside the English text. Allow the written pitch to use labeled sketches and short sentences, and let teams rehearse the presentation with a partner first.