Curated OER
Impressions in Clay
Students examine how fossils are created. They make impressions of different objects in clay and compare them to examples of fossils.
Curated OER
Animal Habitats
Students explore animal lifestyles by researching their characteristics. In this animal habitat activity, students read the story Over in the Jungle and analyze the animal illustrations in the book. Students create clay animal characters...
Curated OER
White Glue Fossils: Casts, Molds, and Impressions
Students make impressions and molds in clay and them make casts with glue. After the glue dries students remove their fossils.
Curated OER
Clay Hill Animal Sampling
Students create animal print casts from molds in the classroom. They use the cast patterns to identify animal prints on a field trip in which they locate animal tracks, identify the location with GPS and create field casts of the...
Curated OER
Ceramic Relief Portrait
Eighth graders use draped slab and slab method to create a relief sculpture, adding coil and slab decoration. They study facial features and form them in clay. They study symbolism in Renaissance relief terra cottas.
Curated OER
Navajo Pottery: Beautiful Objects
Young potters make their very own version of the classic Navajo Pottery. With helpful worksheets and applicable cross-curricular activities, the lesson is an enriching way to mold both your clay and the multicultural acceptance of your...
Curated OER
The Campaign of 1840: William Henry Harrison and Tyler, Too
Students list some issues important during the campaign of 1840. They compare and contrast the careers of Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison before they became president and explain why the Whigs wanted to find a candidate in...
Curated OER
Plaster Casts of Natural Objects
Fourth graders observe objects in science and create a contour picture of the the object. In this arts and science observation lesson, 4th graders develop a clay sculpture of their object. Students generate a list of texture words to...
Curated OER
Fossils!
Young scholars explore what fossils are, how they are formed, what different types there are and why they are significant to both our present and past geology history. They participate in a hands on fossil observation of their choice and...
California Academy of Science
Fish Forms
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, you can add art to any lesson plan! While little learners are discovering why fish have specific body parts such as, scales, fins, and gills, they start making three-dimensional fish forms....
It's About Time
Life (and Death) Before Seat Belts
Did you know only 80-90% of passengers wear a seat belt in a moving car? Young scholars use clay and a cart to complete an experiment about what happens without a seat belt in a collision. The lesson includes Newton's Second Law of...
LABScI
Viscosity: The Fluid Lab
There's more to fluids than meet the eye—they include gases, liquids, and polymers, too! Scholars complete three hands-on activities exploring different properties of fluids. They explore viscosity by measuring the resistance, or...
Curated OER
Homeless Awareness - Paperclay Sculpture
Students study and create a visual response to the plight of homeless populations in the community by using paper clay and sloppy clay. They also participate in a class discussion about their own personal encounters with homeless people...
Curated OER
Creating a Japanese Garden Lantern in Crea-Stone
Students create a Japanese Garden Lantern. In this step-by-step ceramics lesson, students follow simple how-to directions to mold and create a Japanese Garden Lantern out of Crea-Stone.
Curated OER
Plates Everybody Can Make
Students create hand-built plates. In this sculpting instructional activity, students use textured slab molds and plate drape molds to create a plate. Students use texture tools and paint to design their plate.
Curated OER
What are the Different Kinds of Fossils?
Students examine different types of fossils. In this fossil lesson plan, students investigate the attributes of mold fossils, trace fossils, cast fossils, and true form fossils. Students create their own fossil samples.
Curated OER
Making Fossils
Third graders examine the differences between cast and mold fossils. They discuss geological time and how many fossils are millions of years old, then create a cast fossil using clay and a shell, and a mold fossil using a shell and...
Curated OER
Ceramics Pottery and 3D AP
Middle schoolers explore how to form clay by pinching to create a bottle with an elongated neck
PBS
The Egg
The first stage in the butterfly's life cycle is the egg. Young entomologists discuss why different butterflies lay different eggs and what their eggs look like. Then they use the handouts to make a replica of one type of butterfly egg...
Curated OER
The Campaign of 1840: The Candidates
Students compare and contrast William Henry Harrison and Martin Van Buren as candidates for president. They explain why the Whigs wanted to find a candidate in the mold of former president Andrew Jackson and discuss whether Harrison fit...
Curated OER
Hand Built Tea Bowls
Students follow directions to create clay bowls. In this pottery lesson, students use clay and the pictured tools to follow the directions and create a fire baked tea bowl.
Curated OER
Fossils and our Past (part 1 of 3)
Third graders investigate how some extinct organisms resemble organisms that are still alive today. They watch and discuss the Magic School Bus video about fossils, then create clay fossil imprints, matching the imprints to plaster of...
Curated OER
Fossils
Students discuss the work of a paleontologist and examine several fossils and books on paleontology. They use clay and Plaster of Paris to create a cast of an object and compare this activity to the formation of fossils in nature.
Curated OER
Fossil Adventure
Students create a book about the process of a dinosaur becoming a fossil. In this earth science lesson, students are taught about fossils and create a book that tells what happened to a dinosaur's bones after they die.