|
| |
Pottery
| Strand: |
Art |
| Grade Level: |
4 - 6 |
| Duration: |
45 minutes |
| Location: |
classroom |
| Objective: |
Students will learn about prehistoric pottery making
techniques by experimenting with their own attempts. They will gain an appreciation
of the skill of early potters. |
| Materials: |
potter's clay
sticks
tempering agent (sand, finely crushed rock, burned and/or crushed freshwater mussel shell)
small piece of burlap
boards or pieces of heavy cardboard
pottery handout |
| Vocabulary: |
custom, tempering agent |
| Procedure: |
- Discuss tempering, pass out the selected tempering agent, and have students place it on
their board. If you are using burned shell, point out the differences between burned
and unburned -color, ease of crushing. To burn clam shell, place directly in a bed
of coals for an hour or more. When cool, the shells should crush easily and be
blue-gray in appearance. If you choose to have the students use clay from a natural
source, check the banks of a stream or creek. Clay comes in different colors in
different regions of the state. It may be red, yellow, white, blue, or gray, but it
is distinct in color from the topsoil. Sample the material by taking a handful and
mashing it together. If it holds without crumbling, it probably has a high clay
content. Clay taken at or just above the water level will probably be moist enough
to work without further processing. It will stay workable for some time if sealed in
a plastic bag or container. If the clay is too dry to work, it must be dried out
completely, broken up, and reconstituted with water until the right consistency is
reached.
- Give each student a handful of clay. Have students roll clay in temper and knead;
continue until clay is workable. This is similar to adding flour to a dough; if you
add too much, the mixture will become too stiff to work.
- Slam the clay onto the boards to remove air bubbles.
- Shape into a ball and tap on hard surface to form a cube.
- Holding clay in hands, use thumbs to punch center down and out and use fingers to pull
clay up and in, thus forming the pot.
- If the student is not happy with the results, go back to Step 3 and try again.
- If small cracks develop while shaping the pot, dip finger lightly in water and rub into
crack (use sparingly). Use the finger and thumb to mend cracks.
- Divide the class into groups of four or five students. Have the groups each decide
on a way to decorate their pots. Here are some examples of techniques that might be
used for decoration:
- Wrap a stick or paddle with cord and use it to shape a thin pot, giving the outer
surface of the pot a cord-marked appearance.
- While clay is still wet, add additional decorations by impressing a single cord into the
clay, wrapping the pot in burlap or other loosely-woven fabric and pressing it gently into
the clay, or using your finger or a stick to push small depressions into the clay.
- Let the pot air dry for about 10 minutes. Then thin and shape walls using an
unburned mussel shell. Scrape out the bumps. It's like shaving, be careful to
avoid nicks and cuts.
- Use a sharpened stick or pencil to scribe geometric designs into neck and shoulder of
the pot.
- Add effigies to the pot by molding a small amount of clay into an animal shape and
attaching it as a handle to the pot.
- Compare the designs from the various groups. How are they alike? How are
they different?
|
Material reprinted from Discovering Archaeology: An Activity
Guide for Educators by Shirley Schermer, Office of the State Archeologist,
University of Iowa, 1992 | |
|