About
Age range: middle and high school
Estimated Time: one to two hours.
Key Technology: You can use this on a computer or project on a screen or interactive whiteboard. Sound is needed for videos.
This interactive takes students through the preparation and performance of the special fireworks/art event “Tornado, Explosion Project for the Kennedy Center” by Cai Guo-Qiang. There is extensive multimedia content divided into six parts: Conceptualize, Collaborate, Design, Build, Install, and Ignite. Watching, reading, listening, and examining photos and infographics, students will learn about the science, history, and art of fireworks. There is also an interactive fireworks design game.
Learn More
Dig Deeper!
Visit Cai Guo-Qiang’s website: http://www.caiguoqiang.com/
For the Educator
Work through the interactive’s six parts in order to get full understanding of the process behind the Explosion Project, or pick out the media you want to study in depth.
This resource gives you materials on the history, art, and science of fireworks, on gunpowder art, and on the preparation involved in an elaborate art installation. The interactive takes you from the initial concept through the work involved in building and testing the fireworks and on to the installation and performance of the piece.
There are six segments, and each contains multiple parts, so you may want to work through the whole interactive, and then return to sections such as the slideshow explanation of how fireworks shells are made, the video demonstrating gunpowder art, or the explosion event itself.
Instructional Strategies
This interactive lends itself to large-group, interactive discussions supported by an Interactive Whiteboard
