Glenwood ArtStream Project Journal Index The Power of Water

The clay houses activity is called The Power of Water. The objective is to visually demonstrate how water changes and moves soil and objects. The clay represents different types of soils.
We made 4 clay "houses" -- simple slab constructions, to represent clay soils and solid materials. The houses were: 1) wet, 2) leather hard, 3) bone dry, and 4) fired to cone 04. We placed the houses on a slope just outside the art classroom door for easy access. We placed 2 marbles under each house.
Students observe the clay houses at the beginning of each class period and record their observations in their journals.
	When the rains came, the three unfired houses began to crumble and collapse in order of their dryness. The fired house remained unchanged, as we are past freezing temperatures, which would have affected that house as well.
	Next: First Tile Making Project