Potter's wheel

High school (ages 12+)
Making & Design

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/potter-s-wheel

1. What is the earliest archaeological evidence?
2. What is the core physical principles?
3. What is a potter's wheel and how does it help make clay pots?
4. Why did people in ancient Mesopotamia use a potter's wheel instead of hand-building?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the earliest archaeological evidence?Mesopotamia, circa 3500 BCE
2. What is the core physical principles?Centrifugal force, friction, and rotational momentum
3. What is a potter's wheel and how does it help make clay pots?A potter's wheel is a spinning plate that lets you shape wet clay into pots. By turning the wheel, the clay is pushed outward and you can press it to make thin walls and smooth shapes.
4. Why did people in ancient Mesopotamia use a potter's wheel instead of hand-building?The wheel made it easier to create thinner, more uniform pots and larger vessels, which helped people store more food and trade more goods. It was a big improvement over coiling and pinching.

Centrifugal Force: An apparent outward force that acts on an object moving in a circular path, tending to separate it from the center of rotation.
Ceramic Arts: The practice of creating art using clay and other ceramic materials, often involving techniques like wheel-throwing, hand-building, and firing.
Material Culture: The physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture and that mark their way of life.