One of the clay units for fifth grade that is loved by all. 5th grade is given the problem of creating a three-dimensional hollow sphere. This hollow sphere then has to be a self supporting sculpture... and an animal! Below is a picture after some of the animals have been through their first firing in the kiln.
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| From Left to Right: Wolf, Standing Pig (with hat), Elephant, Horse, Whale |
Before the firing... there were several steps that flew by and I did not get any pictures. We created a hollow sphere out of clay by building two pinch pots and scratch, slip (watered down clay like glue), attach, and smoothing them together. Then, everyone thought and sketched out possible animals that could be made. The sketches had to be drawn from at least two perspectives, to get the idea that the animals would be built three-dimensionally.
Why do they have to be hollow you ask? If we were to just roll a big ball of clay it would take too long to dry, and when it gets fired, it would more than likely crack because the temperature on the inside of the piece and the outside of the piece would be very different...causing stress... equalling a crack.
Day 2 was all about building. We thought three dimensionally with cubes, spheres, pyramids and cylinders. A lot of problem solving happened with this step. We had an idea on paper and had to bring it to life. Difficult for some, but for others building with clay comes more naturally. It is all about thinking through it and making it work! The last, but one of the MOST IMPORTANT thing was to make a small air hole with a toothpick. By creating an air hole it would allow the animal to dry evenly and would also allow the hot air from the kiln to circulate inside the sphere, creating a perfectly fired animal with no cracks!