Experiment

Why do pots have to be fired?

Robinson Crusoe made some pots for corn on the island where he was marooned. Unfortunately, when he tried to use the same pots for his goats’ milk, he was sad to see the milk run out.

Then he remembered ‘firing’ some pots in a kiln  or oven when he was a boy at school and so he stoked up his fire and left his pots on for several hours.

He filled them with milk and he was pleased to see that the milk did not run out.

1 Test how porous clay can be by making a crude pot and seeing what happens when it is filled with water.
2 Then fire the pot in a kiln or oven and test the porosity again.
3 It would also be interesting to compare how long different liquids, such as water, milk and pop take to run out of an unfired pot.