How do synthetic materials impact society?

Museum archaeologists and educators lead students through this phenomenon-based investigation to identify and explain the difference between natural materials and synthetic materials. Students use early ceramics as a case study to evaluate how this early synthetic material impacted the lives of people who used them.

What is a synthetic material?

(20 minutes)

What was the form and function of the object this sherd came from?

(60 minutes)

How do ceramics compare to other tools that are not synthetic?

(50 minutes)

How did ceramics impact the lives of people who first invented them and how has that impacted society today?

(40 minutes)