In the garden on Thursday, Struan and Max found the remnants of the fire from the gardening day last week!

Being bright, inquisitive boys, they picked up some of the burnt sticks and discovered that they were black and powdery.    “Look!” said Struan “You can draw with this!”

 

Maureen was very impressed and told the boys they had discovered the world’s oldest pencil, called charcoal.  People have been drawing and writing with charcoal since humans discovered how to make fire.

“It’s quite messy!” said Struan when he looked at this photo.  “Look at all the black on my face and Max’s too!  I had to wash it off before I went home!”

 

She got them a very big bit of paper and they created this amazing charcoal drawing.

“I’ve drawn a bed and a man!” said Struan.  “I’ve drawn the sun!” said Struan

Next week we are going to investigate how else we can use charcoal, looking at some of the ways artists through the ages have used it to create pictures.

From this experience Max and Struan learned that wood, when it is burned, turns into a different material.  They experienced some of the properties of charcoal. They learned that people have used charcoal in the past to write and draw.  They have learned it is messy and they also learned that it is good to be curious.  All in all, a great morning’s work!  Well done boys!