Activity 3.3
Procure outline maps of India and the
world. Find out and mark the places on
the map where you find animals that
provide wool. Use different colours to
denote the location for different wool
yielding animals.
Answers
Answer:
1) From fibres to wool :
For obtaining wool, sheep are reared. Their hair is cut and processed into wool. Let us learn about this process.
2) Rearing and breeding of sheep: If you travel to the hills in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, or the plains of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, you can see shepherds taking their herds of sheep for grazing.
Sheep are herbivores and prefer grass and leaves. Apart from grazing sheep, rearers also feed them on a mixture of pulses, corn, jowar, oil cakes (material left after taking out oil from seeds) and minerals. In winter, sheep are kept indoors and fed on leaves, grain and dry fodder.
3) Processing fibres into wool
The wool which is used for knitting sweaters or for weaving shawls is the finished product of a long process, which involves the following steps:
(a)The fleece of the sheep along with a thin layer of skin is removed from its body. This process is called shearing. Machines similar to those used by barbers are used to shave off hair. Usually, hair are removed during the hot weather. This enables sheep to survive without their protective coat of hair. The hair provide woollen fibres. Woollen fibres are then processed to obtain woollen yarn. Shearing does not hurt the sheep just as it does not hurt when you get a hair cut or your father shaves his beard.
(b)The sheared skin with hair is thoroughly washed in tanks to remove grease, dust and dirt. This is called scouring. Nowadays scouring is done by machines