The goal of this thesis was to illustrate that secondary students, when motivated to express themselves, can effectively apply to their own work those elements of design relevant to sculptural form. This unit sought, first, to develop in secondary students a knowledge of sculptural techniques for handling terracotta; second, this unit sought to inspire or motivate the secondary students by utilizing a subject of great interest to them, their own images; third, this unit sought to bring together the students' understanding of the material and their motivation for self expression -- to transform their ideas into three-dimensional works of art; fourth, this unit sought to introduce to the students those art concepts related to sculpture that would be immediately helpful to them while working. The projects of this unit were organized into a series of progressively more challenging subjects to gradually increase the students' confidence in handling the material and to develop the students' understanding of sculptural design. The choice of the sculptural material and method was limited to a single material using a simple method -- namely, terracotta with the additive method to illustrate that the expressive possibilities of sculpture can be learned and experienced in depth with this simple approach. This unit in terracotta sculpture lasted approximately seven weeks and was presented in part to a general art class consisting of approximately twenty-nine students at Adams High School and in part to three classes at the Museum Art School totaling thirty students. The students in all classes ranged in age from thirteen to eighteen years of age. The results of these projects were generally successful. The work produced by the students demonstrated an understanding of the use of clay, an awareness of the expressive possibilities of sculpture, and an awareness of some elements of design relevant to sculpture. As the projects progressed, the students became more confident in the manipulation and control of the clay. They began to realize that sculpture can be a very interesting art form due to its three dimensionality, and that clay due to its plasticity, can be used expressively. As their work progressed, they developed an awareness of form, content, and the organization of sculpture as tools for creating effective and interesting sculptures. It was concluded that students on the secondary age level are capable of understanding mature art concepts and, furthermore, are interested in experiencing these concepts if they can be applied immediately to specific needs related to the students' work. These concepts must have the purpose of helping the student express himself more effectively and must be immediately applicable to a subject in which the student is very interested.

This research is an in-depth study of an environment-based education (EBE) professional development program titled "Creeks and Kids" that models how to employ thematic instruction about watersheds using the environment of a school and its community as a context to integrate teaching and learning about water across core subject areas. This case study investigates the EBE characteristics of the Creeks and Kids Workshop and explores how they adhere to the National Research Council's Standards for Professional Development for Teachers of Science. A mixed-methods analysis gathered qualitative data about the overall experience of teacher-participants during the Creeks and Kids Workshop and employed quantitative measures to identify evidence of success related to teachers' gains in knowledge, affect, confidence and intent to act to implement water-focused EBE curriculum in their classrooms. The findings of the study build upon existing research about what teachers need to implement EBE and their beliefs regarding what professional development should provide in relation to those needs. Qualitative results revealed that teachers need an EBE professional development program to include: 1) practical ways to integrate environmental education into their existing curricula and school settings; and, 2) direct experience with activities and field studies that are interdisciplinary, hands-on and inquiry-driven. Teacher-participants identified these characteristics as vital for them to effect a change in teaching practice and build their confidence to engage their students in EBE when they return to the classroom. Quantitative results revealed statistically significant gains across knowledge, affect, confidence and intent to act variables using the t-test statistic to compare means of participants' responses from the pre- to post-workshop questionnaires. The results of this study have broader implications for future educational research on: 1) the ways in which EBE professional development programs can support teachers to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to implement interdisciplinary teaching for student learning about the environment; 2) the methods teachers use to employ EBE teaching strategies in the classroom; and, 3) how EBE helps teachers across disciplines collaborate with one another to implement practical and effective ways to improve students' critical thinking skills and knowledge across multiple subjects.