BGS INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL, SEC-5 DWARKA NEW DELHI

SCIENCE CHAPTER- FIBRE TO FABRIC

CLASS- VII SESSION 2020-21

Q1. What are natural fibres?

Ans: Threads obtained from plants and animals. Example- cotton, flax and jute

Q2. What are the different types of fibres?

Ans:

Natural fibre Artificial/ synthetic fibre

Plants fibre Animal fibre Polyester( from nylon petro- chemicals)
Cotton (fruits of Wool (from hair/
cotton plant) fleece of animal)
Jute (stem of jute Silk ( from coccon of
plant) silkworm)
Coir( from outer Acrylic
covering of coconut)
Flax( stem of linen/
flax)

Q3. Name some wool yielding animals.

Ans: Sheep, Camel, Goat, Rabbit and yak

Q4. Name some Indian wool yielding breeds of sheep.

Ans:

Name of breed Quality of wool State where found

Lohi Good quality wool Rajasthan, Punjab
Rampur bushair Brown fleece Uttar Pradesh, Himachal
Pradesh
Nali Carpet wool Rajasthan, Haryana
Bakharwal For woollen shawls Jammu and Kashmir
Marwari Coarse wool Gujarat
Patanwadi For hosiery Gujarat

Q5. Define the following terms:

Ans: 1. Selective breeding: Selecting the parent sheep for obtaining special characteristic such as
under fur/hair in their off springs is called selective breeding.

2. Rearing of sheep: Rearing of sheep involves providing the sheep with proper food, shelter
and health care for obtaining good quality fleece (fur)

3. Fleece: The thick coat of hair along with a thin layer of skin (outermost) on sheep’s body is
called fleece.

Q6. List the various steps involved in getting wool from sheep.
Ans: a)Shearing- removing the fleece from sheep’s body. It is done once a year generally during
summers. It does not hurt the sheep as the outer most layer of skin is made of dead cells.

b) Scouring- process of washing the fleece that removes dust, dirt, sweat and grease

c) Sorting- process of separating the fleece of sheep into sections according to the quality of
woollen fibres

d) Removing burr- fluffy/ entangled fibres

e) Dyeing or colouring

f) Combing- prepare woollen fibres for spinning the yarn, using combs having metal teeth.

g) Spinning- turning the fibres into thick tarn called wool

h) Making fibre by knitting or weaving

Q7. What is silk?

Ans: Silk is a fine, strong, soft and shining fibre produced by silkworms in making their cocoons. It
is a natural fibre which is obtained from silk moth.

The rearing of silkworms for obtaining silk is called sericulture.

Q8. Draw life cycle of silkworm/ silkmoth.

Ans:
Q9. Explain the life cycle of silk moth .

Ans: 1.The female silk moth lays eggs on the leaves of a mulberry tree.

2. The eggs hatch in 3-4 days to form worm like larvae called caterpillars or silkworms. They
feed on the leaves of mulberry tree and grow bigger in size.

3. After about 3-4 weeks it stops eating leaves and starts secreting sticky fluid/ silk fibre

4. During the movements of head, the silkworm secretes silk in liquid form/ sticky fluid
through the tiny opening in head which solidifies on exposure to air and becomes a silk like
fibre. Soon the silk worm covers itself completely by silk fibres. The silk covering spun by the
silkworm is called cocoon.

5. When the silkworm is ready to enter the next stage of its development called pupa.

6. When the pupa develops completely to form an adult silk moth, then the cocoon splits up
and a beautiful silk moth comes out .The adult female silk moth then lays more eggs and the
life history of silk moth is completed.

Q10. How is silk produced?

Ans: In order to obtain silk, the following steps are followed:

1. Rearing of silkworms to obtain cocoon- The eggs of silk moths are stored carefully on
paper strips and sold to silkworm farmers. The farmers keep these eggs at suitable
temperature under hygienic conditions. When the eggs hatch , silkworms come out and
after 25-30 days the silkworms get ready to spin cocoons. (they enclose themselves inside
the silken cocoons in two or three days.

2. Processing of cocoons to obtain silk fibres- the pile of cocoons is placed in hot water,
which makes the silk fibres of cocoon to come out. The process of taking out silk fibres from
the cocoons for use as silk is called reeling.

3. Converting silk fibres to silk cloth- the fibres obtained from cocoons are spun to form silk
threads called silk yarn which is then woven on looms into silk cloth.

Q11. What is cocoon?

Ans: The silky covering spun by silkworm to protect itself during pupal stage is called cocoon.

Q12. Name any four types of silk produced in India.

Ans:

Name of silk Leaves of silkmoth feed on Place it is produced

Mulberry silk (white) Mulberry leaves Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir
Tussar silk ( golden) Arjun leaves Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh
Muga silk ( golden-yellow) Som leaves Assam
Eri silk (brick red) Castor leaves North eastern India

Q13. What is sorter’s disease?

Ans: People working as sorters in woollen industry sometimes get infected by a bacteria called
Anthrax, causing fatal blood disease among them. This disease is commonly called Sorter’s
disease.

Q14. What is the difference between natural silk and artificial silk?

Ans: Natural silk is obtained from the cocoons of silkworms and is made of a protein whereas
artificial silk is obtained from wood pulp and is made of modified plant material cellulose.

Diagrams (only for reference)

Larva of silk moth Cocoon of silkworm

Pupa of silkworm Eggs of silk moth on mulberry trees