Days needed:
at least a week, it will likely take more than one attempt to get the paper to work correctly.
Day One:
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Step 1—Tear up old news paper until you have 1-1/2 cups worth of news scraps. Mix with 2 quarts of water and allow to soak over night. (If heavy paper or cardboard is used, boil the water with the materials for 10 minutes before soaking over night.)
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Step 2—Make screens. Obtain balsa wood, cut and stable together into square frames. Attach screens frames, if metal screening is used be sure to fold edges under first to avoid cuts.
Day Two:
Materials Needed:
-wet paper from day one
-wax paper
-screens from day one
-deep tub or pan
-felt pieces
-blender or hand held egg-beater
-(optional- hair drier)
Procedure:
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Step 1—Put newspaper and water mixture into a blender, or mix up with an egg beater. This makes the slurry, the fibrous solution from which paper is made.
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Step 2—Put slurry into a tub that is about 5 inches deep and large enough to allow the screen to move easily.
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Step 3—Place screen in slurry, and shake gently to stir slurry and make sure that the screen is covered. Raise frame evenly and slowly. Be sure to keep the frame even. Allow the water to drain off over the tub. Blot back of screen with felt pieces, and overturn onto wax paper. If hair drier is available, dry a bit first. Allow to dry over night.
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Step 4—NEXT DAY. Carefully lift paper off of wax paper and trim edges.
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HINTS: If paper is too thin and tears, add more newspapers, to slurry if paper dries like cardboard, add more water to slurry. If paper is not dying flat, place a piece of felt on the top of the paper, and weight with books.
For variance, have students bring in plant leaves, onion skins, or colored paper to mix into the slurry.
Enrichment Activities:
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—Have students research the origins of paper. Paper was invented in China in 105 C.E., during the rule of Emperor Ho Ti. The word “paper” comes from the Egyptian use of the papyrus plant as paper.
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—Assign a creative writing project on a plant which becomes a piece of paper. What processes were involved in making the paper and what was the paper used for.