Pottery

Pottery Requirements

1. Explain to your counselor the precautions that must be followed for the safe use and operation of a potter’s tools, equipment, and other materials.
2. Explain the properties and ingredients of a good clay body for the following:

   a. Making sculpture

   b. Throwing on the wheel

3. Make two drawings of pottery forms, each on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper. One must be a historical pottery type. The other must be of your own design.
4. Explain the meaning of the following pottery terms: bat, wedging, throwing, leather hard, bone dry, greenware, bisque, terra-cotta, grog, slip, score, earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, pyrometric cone, and glaze.
5. Do the following. Each piece is to be painted, glazed, or otherwise decorated by you:

   a. Make a slab pot, a coil pot, and a pinch pot.

   b. Make a human or animal figurine or decorative sculpture.

   c. Throw a functional form on a potter's wheel.

   d. Help to fire a kiln.

6. Tell how three different kinds of potter’s wheels work.
7. Visit the kiln yard at a local college or other crafts school. Learn how the different kinds of kilns work, including the low-fire electric, high-fire gas or propane, wood or salt/soda, and raku.
8. Explain the scope of the ceramic industry in the United States. Tell some things made other than craft pottery.

The official source for the information shown in this article or section is: Boy Scout Requirements, 2008 Edition (BSA Supply No. 33215)