Curated OER
Mini Meals
Learners discuss what makes a healthy and balanced meal, and then they make them out of clay. They use hand building techniques, radial design, and their knowledge of healthy foods to create unique mini-sized meals for a wall display.
Curated OER
Clay Heads
Sculpting can be a rewarding way to accent a lesson in any subject. This project requires learners to design and sculpt a head out of clay. The entire process is outlined in this resource; including photos and suggested materials. Tip:...
Lee County High School
Clay Animal Whistles
Investigate North Carolina pottery history by creating clay animal whistles, a traditional leisure activity in the region. They research a particular animal and jot down its attributes to include in their project. Find step-by-step...
Curated OER
Clowing Around: Ceramics
Clowns are a big hit with kids! Explore a few circus related websites to get an idea of how clowns look and what they do. They then build sculpting skills by creating expressive clown faces out of clay. Web links, materials list, and...
Incredible Art
Faberge Eggs: Ceramic Pinch Pots
Introduce your potters to pinching, the ceramic hand-building technique, by asking them to craft their own Faberge egg. An 18-slide presentation, included in the resource, demonstrates the pinch pot technique and includes photos of...
Teach Engineering
Breaking the Mold
A little too much strain could cause a lot of stress. Groups conduct a strength test on clay. Using books as weights, pupils measure the compression of clay columns and calculate the associated strain and stress. Teams record their data...
It's About Time
How Do Plate Tectonics and Ocean Currents Affect Global Climate?
What do plate tectonics and ocean currents have to do with global climate? This fourth installment in a six-part series focuses on how plate tectonics and ocean currents affect global climate, both now and in the past, outlines an...
Curated OER
Ceramic Sculpture: Lesson Plan
Three-Dimensional sculpture, the artists who create it, and ceramic techniques are all covered in this plan. Tenth graders take a trip to a local art museum, watch a presentation on clay sculpture, then design a 3-D art piece. They study...
Curated OER
Incan Artifacts - Clay Pottery Lesson
Students study Incan artifacts found at an online database and create samples using clay pottery and paint.
Curated OER
Forest Dwellings: Toad House
What a great project to use as part of an exploration of animals or habitats. Learners design a clay model of a home for a forest animal. This could be a great way to cement what your class has learned about habitats.
Curated OER
Native American Storyteller Figure
Third graders explore cultures that use clay figures in the art of storytelling. They discover the importance of cultural history being passed through generations. They also form their own storyteller from a clay figure.
Curated OER
Coil Vessels with Symbols
Eighth graders explore symbolism in Renaissance art, use ceramics vocabulary, and demonstrate craftsmanship in working with clay.
Curated OER
Accenting the Negative Space in Ceramics
Fourth graders apply knowledge of the elements of design and hand building techniques in clay to illustrate the concept of negative space by cutting shapes out of the form to create an intricate pattern.
Center for Precollegiate Education and Training
Buoyancy Boats
What did the sea say to the boat? Nothing, it just waved. An inquiry-based lesson starts with a simple concept on the Archimedes Principle and challenges pupils to make something out of clay that floats. Then, they design an object out...
Curated OER
Ceramic Rattles
Students create ceramic rattles using the pinch method of building with clay. They view a slide show of different types of rattles, draw designs of their rattles, and create them using clay and the pinch method. They create the rattles...
Science Matters
Fault Formations
The San Andreas Fault moves about two inches a year, approximately the same rate fingernails grow—crazy! The third lesson in the series allows for hands-on exploration of various fault formations. Through the use of a Popsicle stick,...
Curated OER
Gargoyles: Ceramics
Study the symbolism and significance of Gargoyles throughout the Gothic era, and then make one. Kids visit three different websites to learn about these goolish protectors, then hone their sculpting skills while making one. They make...
Curated OER
TE Activity: The Beat Goes On
Students determine what the pulse is before examining how to measure the heart rate in different situations. They build a simple device that measures the heart rate, take heart rates, and record them on a worksheet. They discuss how...
Curated OER
Neuron Creations
Students examine neurons. In this nervous system lesson, students build models of neurons in order to study their parts and functions.
Curated OER
A Weighty Issue
Want to get your students motivated in science class? Given only a piece of aluminum foil, assign groups the task of designing a "barge" that will support the weight of a bunch of pennies. The group who is able to put the most pennies...
Curated OER
Creating Sacred and Ritual Masks Within the High School Pottery Classroom
Learners research sacred masks and what they were used for. They are to create their own sacred mask and present them to the class.
Curated OER
Paper Maché Mancala Game Boards
Seventh graders create three dimensional works of art from two dimensional plans, develop skills in papier-mach?? technique, utilize elements and principles of design to create 3-D form, and develop math/strategy skills in playing the...
Curated OER
Inuktitut
Students explore Inuit language. In this Inuktitut lesson, students listen to a lecture about the history and phonology of the Inuit language. Students create Inuktitut-English dictionaries with illustrations for younger student use.
Curated OER
Scale Model of the Earth
Pupils work together to create a model of the Earth. They label and identify each layer and describing its properties. They discover how engineers use models to test different concepts.