Things Around Us
Making things
Follow the steps that turn clay into a pot and mud into a brick, know what a kiln and a mould are for, and see where the patterns on made things come from.
Mini watched her Appooppan make a pot. He wet the clay — not too watery, not too dry — pounded it, kneaded it like dough, then set it spinning on a stone wheel and shaped it with his hands. The pot was not finished there. It had to dry, and then go into the fire.
Kiln and mould
A kiln is the potter's oven: a very hot fire inside a big oven, where a dried pot is baked until it is ready to use. A mould is a shaped box you press something soft into so it comes out the right shape — the same idea as an idli, cake, dhokla or kulfi mould. Bricks get their shape from a mould and their hardness from a kiln.
Have a play
Three patches of animal skin, and the name of each pattern.
Tap any part of the picture.
Worked example
Why does a pot have to be baked? It already has its shape when it comes off the wheel.
Think about what the pot is at that moment: shaped clay, still soft.
The wheel has given it a shape. Nothing has yet made the shape stay.
Try it together
Now think about the houses in that chapter, together.
Some of them are built from something other than bricks.
1.In some warm parts of the country people build traditional houses out of mud. What does the chapter say this does for the inside of the house?
Have a go
Your turn. Rohan's father works on building sites. Which three things does the chapter say he wears?
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.