Draft: this lesson was written with AI help and has not yet been read by a human editor.
1 What your class asks
This lesson asks you to describe objects by the materials they are made of, and to ask where those materials come from and what becomes of an object when it is no longer needed. The museum offers one example of old materials being made into something new; the class brings its own objects. 1
Curriculum expectations, with their official codes
- D1.2 assess everyday objects, including structures, that have similar purposes, in terms of the materials they are made from, the source of these materials, and what happens to these objects when they are worn out or no longer needed
- D2.1 describe objects as things that are made of one or more materials
2 The lesson
What was it before it was this?
Pick something in the classroom and name what it is made of. Ask where each material came from and what could be done with it when the object is worn out.
Go deeper
Picture a glassmaker's workshop in Córdoba, long ago. Scientists tested glass found in a suburb called Šaqunda. About sixty percent of it was recycled natron glass 2. Some was lead glass made with waste from metal-working, which Nadine Schibille treats as a new technology in al-Andalus 3 4. She suggests a shortage of glass from the east may have led to this 5.
Think about it
Think of something you threw away this week. What could its material become, and why did you choose that?
Into the museum
- Andalusi lead glass: how analyses of glass from Šaqunda revealed it.
- Córdoba: the city whose south bank the suburb grew on.
- Natron glass: the kind of glass that was recycled in the suburb.
Try this
Collect three used objects and sort them by material. For one of them, write what else its material could become, then read the card about the Córdoba glass.
3 Carry it further
Where this lesson leads in the museum.
4 Check yourself
Nothing here is marked or sent anywhere. It is for you.
In your own words: what does Andalusi lead glass (Šaqunda) have to do with this lesson?
Compare with the card
Glass from metal waste. Analyses of glass found in Córdoba show, according to Nadine Schibille, glassmakers making lead glass from metal waste. About sixty percent of the glass found there is recycled older glass. What happens to the things you throw away?
I can now
Notes
- 1. Ontario Ministry of Education, The Ontario Curriculum: Science and Technology, Grades 1–8 (2022)
- 2. Nadine Schibille, Islamic Glass in the Making: Chronological and Geographical Dimensions (Leuven University Press, 2022), p. 185
- 3. Nadine Schibille, Islamic Glass in the Making: Chronological and Geographical Dimensions (Leuven University Press, 2022), p. 24
- 4. Nadine Schibille, Islamic Glass in the Making: Chronological and Geographical Dimensions (Leuven University Press, 2022), p. 184
- 5. Nadine Schibille, Islamic Glass in the Making: Chronological and Geographical Dimensions (Leuven University Press, 2022), p. 235