Just like a sandwich. You start with two large slices of wood. Each slice has grooves cut into it. Next comes the filling. The filling is made from a soft rock called graphite. It is cut into long, thin sticks and placed in each groove, on the bottom slice of wood. The top slice is spread with glue and put on top. The "pencil sandwich" then goes into a machine that cuts, shapes and paints each pencil.
Before pencils
Children didn't always have pencils and paper to write with. They once wrote on slateboards, or blackboards, with chalk instead.
Feathered pens
Years ago, bird's feathers were used as ink pens. They are called quills. The sharp tip of the feather was dipped in ink.
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- The first people to use pencils were the ancient Greeks. Their pencils were flat cakes of real lead, which is a metal.
- More than 10 billion pencils are made each year in the world.
