Core Skills Analysis
Visual Arts
Ash visited the Art Gallery of Western Australia to view the Stormie Mills exhibition and reflected on the artworks they saw. Through this experience, Ash engaged with how artists can communicate ideas through visual forms and exhibition contexts. Their reflection prompted them to consider the relationship between art, everyday life and social issues, particularly consumerism and waste. Ash practised attentive observation, interpretation and discussion of an artist’s possible messages.
English
Ash used reflection and conversation to express ideas prompted by the exhibition. They developed oral communication skills by discussing consumerism and waste, connecting their responses to what they had viewed. Ash also practised interpreting meaning and explaining personal responses to visual texts. The activity encouraged them to consider how an artist’s choices can influence an audience.
Humanities and Social Sciences
Ash considered consumerism and waste as social and environmental issues after viewing the exhibition. They began connecting individual consumption with broader questions about resources, discarded materials and community responsibility. This encouraged Ash to think critically about how people and places are affected by human behaviour. Their conversation supported emerging skills in ethical reflection and examining interconnections between society and the environment.
Science
Ash’s discussion of waste introduced scientific ideas about materials, resource use and environmental impact. Although no scientific investigation was described, they recognised that discarded products and excessive consumption can create consequences beyond the point of purchase. Ash began framing a real-world issue that could be explored through questions, evidence and comparison. The experience therefore provided a meaningful context for future inquiry into waste and sustainability.
Tips
Tips: Help Ash choose one artwork that sparked their thinking and write a short response describing its visual features, possible message and personal impact. Together, investigate the journey of one everyday product from raw material to disposal, then map the environmental and social connections involved. Ash could conduct a simple household waste audit, categorising items by material and considering which could be reduced, reused or recycled. Finish with a creative response such as a poster, collage or persuasive letter proposing one realistic change to reduce waste.
Book Recommendations
- The Watcher by Norah McClintock: A thought-provoking novel that supports discussion of observation, interpretation and the different ways people understand events.
- Plasticus Maritimus by Ana Pêgo: A nonfiction picture book about plastic pollution, encouraging readers to consider the effects of consumer waste on marine environments.
- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss: A widely available environmental classic about consumption, resource exploitation and responsibility for the natural world.
Learning Standards
- English AC9E9L02: Ash analysed how perspectives and representations in visual texts shaped meaning through the exhibition and subsequent conversation.
- Humanities and Social Sciences WAHASS91: Ash considered interconnections between people, consumption, waste, the environment and human wellbeing.
- Science AC9S9I01: The activity created an authentic context for developing investigable questions about waste, materials and environmental impacts, although no formal investigation was reported.
- Visual Arts: The activity supported observing, interpreting and responding to artworks and considering how artists communicate ideas to audiences. A specific Visual Arts code was not included in the supplied WACAO standards.
Try This Next
- Artwork response worksheet: record three visual details, two possible messages and one question about a selected work.
- Waste audit chart: classify one day of household rubbish by material and suggest a reduction or reuse strategy for each category.
- Persuasive writing prompt: “What is one change our community should make to reduce waste, and why?”
- Create a recycled-material artwork communicating a message about consumerism, then write a 150-word artist statement.