Classroom Photographs & Videos

The photographs that have been posted below are present in order to give you an idea of the types of activities my students are working on during each class period. Pictures may be posted from throughout the school year so some images may include students who are no longer present in my class. To see larger versions of each image, click on the thumbnails below.  Images with and are movie files.
 

Hot Air Balloon Activity

Some students are nearing the end of the balloon assembly process. Its very important that students carefully remove the wax paper so that the tissue paper doesn't tear.

Students follow some very intricate assembly steps as they glue their core patterns together to form the envelope of the balloon.

Students use wax paper to make sure that the gore patterns on the balloon don't stick together in places other than the accordion fold used to create air tight seams.

Depending on the weather, students will be allowed to launch their balloons outside to calculate the altitude of their balloons.

Before students launch their balloons, they need to check their envelopes for tears or small holes that will release hot air. This will limit the maximum altitude of their balloons.

Depending on the location of the launch, we need to use tethers to prevent the balloons from getting stuck on the roof or in trees around the school. Finding a safe place to launch tissue paper balloons can be a challenge.

This video file shows one of Mr. Hollstein's classes launching the Hot Air Balloons they spent about 13 class periods making. Part of the group has an altimeter gun that measures the angle from the ground the balloon is flying. The students then use basic trigonometry to calculate the altitude of their balloons.

Click the image to the left to launch the video!

Graphic Design - Screen Printing Activity

Thumbnail Sketches

These are various samples of the first stage of the Screen Printing Activity. The students need to first develop 4 thumbnail sketches of possible designs they will later be printing on clothing.

Rough Sketches

Once the students have decided which of their designs they would like to print on a t-shirt, they will need to complete a scale (life size) drawing of their design that not only reflects size, but the color.

Comprehensive Design Layout

The final step in the screen printing process before printing on the determined material is to create a comprehensive layout of the final design. This final design should be identical to the rough sketch.

Final Screen Print

These are some of the samples of screen prints that my students have done this year. Students are required to bring in an article of clothing from home to screen print on. They also have a variety of colors to choose depending on the color of the clothes they bring in. Students are graded on how well the design looks when printed.

This video file shows the Single Color Screen Printing Activity that Mr. Hollstein assigns to his 8th Grade Exploring Technology students. The students are introduced to the concept of Graphic Design and experience the design process that a graphic designer goes through when they are developing a concept. They will be working with hand tools, computers, and screen printing materials to complete the assignment.

Click the image to the left to launch the video!