I cycled past these sculptures the other day and thought, 'what a great idea for a STEaM project" - upcycling a broken appliance into a piece of art. Back when I was teaching, the ancient copy machine in our building broke down for its last and final time. The administration had a nice new model ready to go in its place, but they were unhappy that it was going to cost $300 to transport our old dinosaur to the recycling center. I volunteered to let my students take it apart, thus giving my students a hands-on lesson in "how things work" and making the pieces small enough to fit into the trunk of my car eliminating the $300 transportation cost. That old copy machine yielded some excellent lenses, gears, and motors that we used in later science experiments, but they would have also made good components for a steampunk sculpture.
If you want to try this idea out with your own students, I would recommend asking your local parent organization to donate any broken appliances. Keep it small - can openers or radios as opposed to refrigerators or plasma TVs. Ask the students to draw diagrams as they disassemble their devices. Label individual components and discuss or research their functions. When students are ready to turn their components into a sculpture, take a teachable moment to talk about center of mass and what it's going to take to keep their sculptures from tipping over. Be sure to work in a well-ventilated area as adhesive fumes can be toxic. Be safe, but above all, have fun.
