At Cockle Bay, 22 mushrooms 'mysteriously' appeared in Room 18. Could it be anything to do with the heavy bag of clay that was delivered earlier in the day?
We spent the morning experimenting with clay and learning how to manipulate it, by making shapes, pounding, rolling, pushing, pulling, poking and cutting. Later, in the afternoon, we made mushrooms by making a think column for a strong stalk, and then a round umbrella shape for the cap. We used a toothpick to make the gills under the cap so that they all looked like real fungi.
It was interesting to learn that the typical umbrella shape of a mushroom is Nature's way of keeping the tiny spores dry. These spores are tucked away under the cap in gills so that they don't get wet. If they stay dry, they are much more likely to catch the wind and fly through the air to find a new place to grow.
We now have to wait three weeks for the clay to properly dry out before we fire our mushrooms in the Cockle Bay kiln.
We spent the morning experimenting with clay and learning how to manipulate it, by making shapes, pounding, rolling, pushing, pulling, poking and cutting. Later, in the afternoon, we made mushrooms by making a think column for a strong stalk, and then a round umbrella shape for the cap. We used a toothpick to make the gills under the cap so that they all looked like real fungi.
It was interesting to learn that the typical umbrella shape of a mushroom is Nature's way of keeping the tiny spores dry. These spores are tucked away under the cap in gills so that they don't get wet. If they stay dry, they are much more likely to catch the wind and fly through the air to find a new place to grow.
We now have to wait three weeks for the clay to properly dry out before we fire our mushrooms in the Cockle Bay kiln.
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