Thursday, March 15, 2018

Fabric

In our Materials in Our World unit, we shifted our focus from paper to fabric this week.  We started out the week by observing and learning about several different types of fabric.  We explored denim, fleece, terrycloth, burlap, satin, nylon, corduroy, organza, seersucker and knit.  We used our sense of touch to determine which fabrics would be good for clothing, blankets, towels, etc.  We also learned that fabric comes from plants, animals, insects and even oil!  It was a fun activity with lots of rich scientific conversations taking place throughout the classroom.

   

   

In order to better understand how fabric is made, we actually took some fabric apart!  To make fabric, threads are woven together.  The threads to go up and down are called the "warp" and the threads that go across are called the "woof".  The threads in some fabrics are woven together very tight, like in the fabric wool.  But the threads in some fabrics, such as burlap, are not woven together very tight.  We used samples of wool and burlap to take apart.  It was easy to pull the burlap threads apart but not so easy to take apart the wool.

   

   

   

Next we will learn about what happens when fabric gets soiled.


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