Curriculum Areas: Science, Language Arts,
Mathematics, Social Studies
Recommended Levels: 6th grade
Time Frame: 5-8 days
Tribal Affiliation: Santa Clara Pueblo
Geographic Location: Southwestern United States (New Mexico) Northern Pueblo Agency
Developed by: Phyllis Jenkins
Email addresses of developers: Phyllis_Jenkins@teachnet.edb.utexas.edu
Date lesson was developed: July 25, 2001
American Indian Standards:
Mathematics: Standard 1
Language and Literacy
Science: Standard A
Social Studies: Standard 1
Goal: To learn the physical and chemical properties and changes of materials during the process of making black pottery; to learn the cultural significance of black pottery
Behavioral Objectives: Students will:
Prior Knowledge
Needed:
Materials and Resources Needed:
Culture Content and Strategies:
Santa Clara pottery is highly valued around the world for its beauty. To help students understand how important this art is to the Pueblo, read Tewa Pueblo books about Clay Woman or related readings about clay. Have a member of the community visit the class and explain the importance of keeping tradition alive in making pottery. Ask a potter to visit the class and assist with making the pottery.
Lesson Summary and Performance Tasks:
Although this lesson is designed for students from Santa Clara Pueblo and is cultural as well as instructional, the lesson may be modified for other students. The scientific process of pottery making is instructional for all students, and the cultural importance of pottery in the Southwest is important knowledge for all students. If pottery is not made in your area, you may wish to visit a local pottery store or check the Internet to see if the materials for such an activity may be obtained commercially.
Day 1: Students will study famous local potters from Santa Clara Pueblo. They will study pueblo potters from other villages and compare how the pottery produced by these communities differ in such element as design, clay materials, color of the clay, and shapes of finished pots. Comparison charts or concept maps may be helpful as students compare and contrast different pottery styles. Resource books or the Internet may be valuable for obtaining pictures of pottery styles from different areas.
Day 2: Students will begin digging for clay and white sand. Before they dig, they will offer a prayer using white corn meal. Return to school with enough materials to begin the next step. Ask students to examine the clay and record observations. Is the clay solid, liquid, or gas? Is the clay a single substance, a mixture, or a solution? What about the sand? Is it a pure substance or a mixture? How do you know? Give reasons for your answers.
Day 3: Students will clean and prepare clay materials by separating the small dried chucks from dirt, and using a small mesh screen you add water to clay to clean. (Note: if the materials in a substance can be separated by physical means, what kind of a substance is it?) White sand is collected too, and cleaned the same way. Clay and white sand are mixed together and kneaded like bread dough, producing “mud balls.” Students will examine the mud balls and answer these questions: “Are the mud balls solid, liquid, or gas? Are they pure substances, mixtures, or solutions? Give reasons for your answers. What is the definition of a plastic substance?”
Mud balls are placed into plastic bags and sealed.
Day 4: Students begin shaping pottery-using tools such as Popsicle stick, tongue depressants, plastic spoons, paring knives, and bowls. As the students go through this process, have them identify whether they are making physical or chemical changes in the material. Students should be able to give reasons for their answers. Discuss with students the difference between air-dried pottery and fired pottery. Have students identify when during the whole process of making pottery physical changes are occurring; when chemical changes are occurring. Have them defend their answers.
Day 5: OPTIONAL: With the assistance of local potters, have the pots fired to produce either red or black pottery (see additional information below).
Days 6-8: OPTIONAL: Have students create a PowerPointÔ or HyperStudioÔ presentation on either the famous potters or the process of making pottery. See examples of student products at potteryexample1.htm and potteryexample2.htm .
Answers to science questions: All the materials used except the water are solids at normal temperatures, although the clay is plastic, which means it is malleable (can be easily changed in shape). Sand and clay are both mixtures – composed of several materials- which is the reason they can be cleaned through physical means. Molding the mud balls is a physical change, since the materials change in form only and not in the kinds of substances produced (it is still mud, whatever shape it is in). Air-dried pottery undergoes a physical change; the water evaporates from the clay, leaving it hard. Fired pottery, however, undergoes a chemical change in which new bonds are formed within the clay, making it a new substance. It is really no longer clay at all, but “pottery.” That is why fired pottery is so much more durable than air-dried pottery.
The chemistry of black pottery is especially interesting as it is produced through an oxidation-reduction reaction (note: burning in the presence of oxygen produces red pottery; burning in the absence of oxygen produces black pottery.) Have students research the question, “What makes black pottery black?” Make it a mystery question and encourage students to find out as much as they can about the process and explain it in terms of chemical changes in matter.
Assessment:
Use pre- and post-concept map comparisons to see how students’ understanding of the targeted concepts deepened. Give points for every new bit of correct information added to the map and every new correct connection students make.
Use a rubric to assess students’ research and presentations.
Use a rubric to assess students’ compare/contrast charts.
Display pottery at Arts and Craft show (for student motivation).
Use teacher observation and/or checklist to assess whether students gained the targeted cultural knowledge and values.
Technology
Integration:
Enrichment/Remediation:
See technology integration for suggestions for enrichment.
Arrange a field trip to art museum, cultural center, or art gallery.
Teacher
Reflections
To be added by user