Artist Design Statement

Claire Bedford
Saige Rasmussen
Baylee Beals

The Butterfly Effect of Bacteria Health

ELEVATOR PITCH
This informational walkthrough is a fun and interactive way to learn about the negative and
positive effects of heterotrophic bacteria on the Animas River and its tributaries. Choosing one
of the two rivers displayed on the board will take you on an informational journey in which
players will learn about heterotrophic bacteria and/or E. coli, found in the Animas River and
connecting water sources. Each river will produce information on different effects that
heterotrophic bacteria or E. coli possess, contingent upon the path chosen at the beginning.
Participants gain knowledge on the effects these bacterias have on factors such as the nitrogen
cycle, algae float, aquatic life, recreation, and many more.

I WANT THE AUDIENCE TO LEAVE WITH THE FOLLOWING

The​ ​audience will ultimately leave with a better understanding of how heterotrophic bacteria
supports the nitrogen cycle, creates equilibrium in algae float and aquatic life, inhibits recreation,
and other affected aspects. Viewers will also leave with a better understanding of how E. coli
appears in our very own watershed and what effects it has on the local ecosystem. They should
feel intrigued with the microbiological events that occur in the Animas Rivershed. Participants
should leave with the feeling that they have new information on what happens in the area they
call home. After gaining new knowledge on the microbiology happening in the Animas River,
they might be curious on what they can do to create a better environment through promoting
healthy levels of heterotrophic bacteria and eliminating E. coli. They might want to try and make
a real change on this part of the environment or simply spread the word to peers outside the
exhibit. Participants for this exhibit should be enlightened about how they personally can make a
difference on the ecosystem and what is happening to the Animas River. An exceeding interest
would be taken if the audience is interested in the effects and damages happening on a bacterial
level. Viewers might also be curious about human health and attempt to further their knowledge
about E. coli from our exhibit.
THE STORY MY EXHIBIT TELLS
In this informational walkthrough, different cards will give detailed facts about the effects of
heterotrophic bacteria and E. coli to result in complete understanding of certain bacteria from the
viewer. Our exhibit is hands-on and involves rolling die and moving character pieces, keeping
the engagement levels high and the audience intrigued and ready to learn. The topic that the
participants will be learning about is bacteria located in the river. The bacteria mentioned in the
exhibit are heterotrophic and E. coli. Heterotrophic bacteria has immense effect on the health of
aquatic ecosystems. It affects the nitrogen cycle, living aquatic life, recreation and more. E. coli
directly affects recreation, animals, and humans introduced to the contaminated waters. Bacteria
is a key topic in the understanding of biological sciences, for it is involved in and affects all
things. We decided to partake in this experiment on account of having easy access to the tools
needed to test bacteria; no other group had these resources resulting in a unique experiment that
is not seen in high school science projects often. We brainstormed ideas that we believed no
other group would cover, and used our accessibility of resources to sway our decision. We
wanted to make an interactive piece since most of our peers and studies presented to our class
showed that hands on exhibits created the best possible outcome. Students in this projects
covered many topics and bacteria in the Animas river could be a direct factor to the sewage
plant, especially E. coli, making our experiment a much needed entity for the community’s
ability to gain knowledge and make this exhibition a well rounded source of informational
learning.

TARGET AUDIENCE
This exhibit is intended for middle school aged kids and up. We want participants to understand
the information they are being given and be able to make a difference, making adolescents the
perfect target in light of the fact that they are impressionable and would work to make a change
to better their futures. Adults have more power to make a difference in a way that is unavailable
to younger adults; adults have more resources and a stronger social network to bring about
change. Adults also interpret massive amounts of information differently; the older one gets, the
more comprehensive they are with what they are learning. The best part of this exhibit is that no
background knowledge is needed because the exhibit educates the participants on all subject
matters. For the participants that are fun, hands-on, experiential thinkers, this exhibit is easy to
understand and super interactive. The audience interacting with this exhibit might be the type of
person to express concern for the health of themselves, others, and/or the river. These thinkers
are vital to the exhibit because they would advocate for a healthy Animas River that promotes a
healthy community. Lastly, the targeted audience would be within local grounds for a better
possible understanding of the Animas specifically.
INTERACTION LENGTH AND STYLE OF ENGAGEMENT
The audience is able to participate in this exhibit anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. The task is to
get to the end of the river while drawing a card every move and learning new things. The
audience will have access to a board with two rivers on it. One river has heterotrophic
information cards and designs, the other river has E.coli information cards as well as designs that
match the process of the bacteria that is in the water. Participants are able to continue the game
by selecting the opposite river from what they originally chose and continue down that new path.
Each path has different information on bacteria, so there are many facts to be discovered. This
game makes learning about bacteria a lot more fun than reading about it in a book. The audience
is able to play a hands-on, interactive game by rolling die to determine your move. The exhibit
contains primarily two sensory aspects, touch and sight, to interact with the participant and make
the informational gathering fun.

DEFENSE
Our experiment is vital to the remodeled Santa Rita Wastewater Reclamation Facility because
heterotrophic bacteria and E. coli can be a direct result of human waste. The audience will learn
more about the aspects of heterotrophic bacteria, E. coli, and their effects from our exhibit which
will educate the public and make them want to make a change. This will better aid the
community in understanding the necessity for having a good waste management facility.