Science class 7 chapter 3 notes

 Wool is an animal fibre. It is present as a thick coat of

hair on the body of certain animals and keeps them
warm.
 Sheep re herbivores and prefer grass and leaves. Apart
from grazing, sheep rearers also feed them on a mixture
pulses, corn, jowar, oil cakes and minerals.
 A sheep’s hairy coat has two types of fibres:
 The coarse beard hair
 The soft under hair close to the skin
 It is the soft-under hair that is used to make wool.
 The wool from different varieties of sheep differs in
fineness, shine, length, and strength.
 The woollen coat of an animal is called its fleece.
 The finest wool is obtained from the Merino, a breed of
sheep originally from Spain. There wool is so soft and
light, and is therefore used in making the finest woollen
clothes.
 In India, sheep are reared in the hilly regions of Jammu
and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal,
Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Punjab, Haryana,
Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
S.No. Name of breed Quality of wool Products made from State where
the wool found
1. Lohi Good quality Carpets Rajasthan,
wool Punjab
2. Rampur Brown fleece ????????????? Uttar Pradesh,
 bushair Himachal
Pradesh
3. Nail Carpet wool Carpets Rajasthan,
Haryana, Punjab
4. Bakharwal For woolen Woolen shawls Jammu and
shawls Kashmir
5. Marwari Coarse wool Carpets Gujarat
6. Patanwadi For hosiery Hosiery like socks Gujarat
and stockings
 Around the world, sheep are reared I countries ranging
from the hot desert regions of Australia, Asia, and the
Middle East to the cold countries of Northern Europe,
Russia, Iceland, and southern South America.
 Although the main source of wool is sheep, wool is also
obtained from animals of the camel family, goat, yak
and even rabbits.
 Wool is common in Tibet and America.
 Mohair is a type of fibre, obtained from angora goats
found in hilly regions such as Jammu and Kashmir.
 The under hair of Kashmiri goat is soft. It is woven into
fine shawls called Pashmina shawls.
 Animals of the camel family are:
 Camel
 Alpaca
 Llama
 Camel hair is obtained from the very soft fine fur
undercoat of the camel. The Bacterian camels give the
best quality camel wool. The alpaca and llama are found
 in South America. Their undercoat hair is very soft and
shiny, and the fibres are light weight.
 Mohair is used for making ladies’ sweaters and soft
coverings for furniture.
 Angora wool is a type of fibre obtained from angora
rabbits.
 The process in which sheep are selectively bred with
one parent being a sheep of good breed.
 The different processes involved in wool production are
hearing, scouring, sorting, dyeing and drying.
 The process of removal of fleece from an animal is
called shearing.
 Shearing is done in summer because sheep don’t need
their protective heavy woollen coat in summer to
survive.
 Shearing of sheep and a hair cut does not hurt us
because the uppermost layer of the skin is dead.
 The removing of dirt, dust, and grease from the sheared
hair is called scouring.
 Sorting is a process in which wool is sorted on the basis
of length, colour, texture, and the ease with which can
be dyed.
 The process in which sheared wool is dyed in different
colours.
 The natural fleece of sheep and goats is black, brown, or
white.
 The people who do the job of sorting the fleece of sheep
in to fibres of different qualities are called sorters.
 The people who do the job of sorting the fleece of sheep
in to fibres of different qualities are called sorters. The
sorter’s job is very risky because sometimes, they got
infected by a badly bacteria called ‘anthrax’ which
cause a deadly disease called sorter’s disease.
 Silk is an animal fibre produced by silkworms. Silk
fibres are soft and shiny.
 The female silk moth lays eggs, from which hatch
larvae which are called caterpillars or silkworms. They
grow in size and when the caterpillar is ready to enter
the next stage of its life history called pupa, it first
weaves a net to hold itself. Then it swings its head from
side to side in the form of the figure of eight (8). During
these movements of the head, the caterpillar secretes
fibre made of a protein which hardens on exposure to
air and becomes silk fibre. Soon the caterpillar
completely covers itself by silk fibres and turns into
pupa. This covering is known as cocoon. The further
development of the pupa into moth continues inside the
cocoon. After some days, a silk moth hatches from the
cocoon.
 The third stage of the life history of silk moth is called
pupa.
 Rearing of silkworms for obtaining silk is called
sericulture.
 The most common silk moth is the mulberry silk moth.
 A female silk moth lays hundreds of eggs at a time. The
eggs are stored carefully on strips of cloth or paper and
sold to silkworm farmers. The farmers keep eggs under
hygienic conditions and under suitable conditions of
temperature and humidity. The eggs are warmed to a
suitable temperature for the larvae to hatch from eggs.
This is done when mulberry trees bear a fresh crop of
leaves. The larvae, called caterpillars or silkworms, eat
day and night and increase enormously in size. The
 larvae are kept in clean bamboo trays along with freshly
chopped mulberry leaves. After 25 to 30 days, the
caterpillars stop eating and move to a tiny chamber of
bamboo in the tray to spin cocoons. Small racks or
twigs may be provided in the trays to which cocoons get
attached. The caterpillar or silkworm spins the cocoon
inside which develops the silk moth. A pile of cocoons
is used for obtaining silk fibres. The cocoons are kept
under the sun or boiled or exposed to steam to kill the
moth inside. Then the silk fibres are separated out.
 The process of taking out threads from the cocoon for
use as silk is called reeling the silk.
 According to an old Chinese legend, the empress Si-
lung-Chi was asked by the emperor Huang-ti to find the
cause of the damaged leaves of mulberry trees growing
in their garden. The empress found white worms eating
up mulberry leaves. She also noticed that they were
spinning shiny cocoons around them. Accidentally a
cocoon dropped into her cup of tea and a tangle of
delicate threads separated from the cocoon. Silk
industry began in China and was kept a closely guarded
secret for hundreds of years. Later on, traders and
travellers introduced silk to other countries. The route
they travelled is still called the ‘silk route’.
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