Fibres and fabrics: plant, animal or man-made?
Look at twelve fibres, from cotton and jute to pashmina, silk and nylon. Find where each comes from and how a thread of it burns, then sort them into plant fibres, animal fibres and man-made fibres.
Core concept
In short: Find out where cloth comes from: plants, animals or factories.
Natural fibres come from plants (cotton, jute, coir, flax) or animals (wool, silk, pashmina); man-made fibres such as nylon, polyester and acrylic are made from chemicals; plant fibres burn like paper, animal fibres smell of burning hair, and synthetic fibres melt
Topic: Fibre to fabric
Our clothes, bags and ropes are made of fibres: thin strands spun into yarn and woven or knitted into fabric. Some fibres are natural. Plant fibres come from seeds (cotton), stems (jute and flax) or fruit husks (coir from coconut); Bengal's jute is called the golden fibre. Animal fibres come from hair or fleece (sheep's wool, pashmina from mountain goats, yak wool) or from the cocoon of the silkworm (silk). Other fibres are man-made: nylon, polyester and acrylic are made from chemicals from petroleum, and rayon is made by treating wood pulp. A burning test, done carefully by a teacher, tells them apart by smell and what is left.
What you will learn
- Name natural fibres from plants and from animals.
- Name some man-made fibres and what they are made from.
- Describe how a burning test tells plant, animal and synthetic fibres apart.
Before you start
- Know that cloth is woven from threads.
Materials
- Threads or small pieces of cotton, wool, silk and nylon cloth
Equipment
- Tongs, a candle and a metal tray (for the teacher)
Procedure
- Pick a fibre's card and check where it comes from.
- See how a thread of it burns.
- Do this for at least eight fibres, then sort them all.