Yi+Min’s+Great+Wall

For our “Try It” activity, we created our own mortar mixture in order to create a model version of the Great Wall of China. In order to create the mortar, we gathered three different materials including sand, clay, and potting soil. The sand and potting soil was provided for us already but in order to retrieve the clay, we went outside and gathered clay from the ground. After this, we poured the three materials into a mixing bowl and then added water in order to turn the ingredients into a paste. We mixed up the materials and allowed the mortar mixture to dry for about 30 minutes. We then used our mixture in order to act as a “glue” to hold the wall together. We used popsicle sticks to represent the actual wall and applied our mortar mixture in between each stick to make them all stick together. At first, the mortar held the sticks together, creating a pretty sturdy wall but after the mortar dried more fully, the sticks were not sticking to each other as firmly. With that being said, the wall still stood upwards but I do not know how long it will survive.

 The materials that we used for this project were pretty easy to work with but they are also very messy. With that being said, I feel as though this activity should be used with older elementary school students such as 3rd or 4th grade classes due to their higher level of maturity. I believe that this age group would be able to work with this material and stay under control without allowing things to get too messy. With that being said, I think that this activity should definitely be performed outside so that the students can work freely with the materials and not have to worry about getting any of it on the tables or floor. In addition, I think that the teacher should warn the parents about this activity before they do it in order to make sure that the students are wearing appropriate clothes, such as gym shorts and a t-shirt, so that their nice school clothes do not get ruined.