Watching Glass Grow is a challenge course and competition brought to you by the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium and Makers Empire that will have students learning all about how glass is made and how artists look at nature to inspire their artwork. This free challenge course is suitable for years 3–6 students and includes videos, quizzes and tutorials to help students refine their 3D design skills and creative thinking.
This Challenge Course introduces students to the extraordinary world of glass as an artform. Inspired by nature and the amazing work of glass artist Dale Chihuly and five other talented South Australian glass artists, students explore the history of glass and learn how artists create art works using glass as a medium. Students are guided through the Design Thinking process as they learn about the approaches, tools and mediums artists use when creating art pieces. Students respond to videos by participating in in-app quizzes and design tutorials related to the information shared. The Challenge Course concludes with a Design Thinking Project in which students are asked to design their own work of art inspired by nature and the amazing work of the glass artists they have been introduced to.
Students will
COMPETITION AND AUGEMENTED REALITY
The Watching Glass Grow challenge course and competition was created in collaboration during Chihuly in the Botanic Garden, an exhibition featuring glass art by Dale Chihuly held September 2024 to April 2025.
During the seven months of the exhibition, more than 4000 students took part in the competition and from those entries, 10 were selected to be part of the virtual gallery, located around Adelaide Botanic Garden. You can bring your class to see the winning designs displayed in Augmented Reality and enjoy the self-guided trail as part of the Watching Glass Grow challenge course. During your visit, challenge your learners to find inspiration in the shapes, colours and patterns of nature that they can apply to their 3D designs back in the classroom!
SELF GUIDED TRAIL AT ADELAIDE BOTANIC GARDEN
To explore this self-guided trail, download and print the Watching Glass Grow scavenger hunt map, use a phone or tablet to scan the QR code and see the winning designs come to life. There are 10 3D designs located around Adelaide Botanic Garden, and two pieces of art created by Dale Chihuly that were generously bought purchased and will remain permanently in Adelaide Botanic Garden!
The challenge course will be available via the Makers Empire 3D app from October 2024 and remain in the app throughout 2025.
About Makers Empire
Founded in 2013 in Adelaide, South Australia, Makers Empire is used by over 3.8+ million users in more than 50 countries.
Makers Empire helps students 5 to15 years become resilient creators, persistent problem-solvers, and empathetic innovators. As they use Makers Empire, students develop important 21st century learning skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration and citizenship. They learn how to identify real-world problems and to create solutions for them using Makers Empire’s 3D design tools and Design Thinking.
