Project: Fossils are any evidence of ancient life preserved (usually) in stone. Many fossils are impressions of ancient life. Impressions of hard parts are more common than soft parts, but impressions of soft parts such as skin and scales have been preserved as fossils in rock. Fossil tracks are also impressions.
To show how impressions form, and how hard or easy it is for organisms to leave impressions, we can make impressions of different objects in clay! In nature, mud or clay are the best sediments for leaving impressions. These impressions may not show us their original color, but we can observe a lot about textures through these!
Happy art makin’, artists!!!
MATERIALS: Homemade Clay (below), plant life from the Great Outdoors, watercolor paint OR food dye OR washable markers
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CLAY: 1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup flour. Mix all three ingredients together and thoroughly. It will likely be very sticky at first, so keep kneading it (like in the video) until it become more firm. If it's too sticky, add more flour. Too crumbly? Add more water. Once perfect, it needs to dry! Dry time may vary. I put mine in the fridge inside of a Ziploc bag for about 30 minutes, but you might want to try overnight for best results. You can also leave it to dry in a cool, dark place.
I CAN use a SLAB of clay to create an impression on Clay of found textures from objects in Nature.Check out these awesome examples of Student Artwork:
