4. Mortar Sandwiches!
The STEMmers were excited to hear the words mortar sandwiches! After being told that they could not and would not want to eat them, we moved on :) In this lesson STEMmers tested the qualities of each mortar material. To do this we used small tiles and spread each mortar material in the middle, hence a mortar sandwich.
After letting the materials dry we performed tests and listed any observation we could make, both good and bad, about the sand, soil, and clay mortars. The STEMmers found that the sand was not adhesive at all, the soil was slightly adhesive, and the clay was very adhesive. However, the clay cracked a lot while the soil and sand did not.
So, what is the solution? This is what the STEMmers have been challenged to figure out!
After letting the materials dry we performed tests and listed any observation we could make, both good and bad, about the sand, soil, and clay mortars. The STEMmers found that the sand was not adhesive at all, the soil was slightly adhesive, and the clay was very adhesive. However, the clay cracked a lot while the soil and sand did not.
So, what is the solution? This is what the STEMmers have been challenged to figure out!