Page 27 - Ripples SCIENCE 7 - TEJPUR Edition 2024 Answer Key

3. Fibre and Fabric

Chapter in a Nutshell

v India’s recorded history of clothing goes back to the 5th millennium BC to the Indus valley
civilization, where cotton was spun, woven and dyed using red madder. There is evidence

of cotton and wool being used to create natural fibre around 3000 BC and evidence of the
use of silk in 2500 BC in China.

v Wool primarily comes from sheeps, yak and goat. It is obtained from the hair of animals.
Sheep is the main source of wool.

v The Mohair fibre is chiefly composed of the protein keratin– the same protein found in
nails, hairs, hooves and horns.

v Cotton in the most widely used natural fibre in the world.
v Silk was first produced in China more than 5000 years ago.

v The Mohair fibre is chiefly composed of the protein keratin – the same protein found in
nails, hair, hooves and horns.

v Mohair fibre is obtained from Angora goats, a breed of domestic goat, found originally in
Turkey and also found in the hilly regions of Jammu and Kashmir in India.

v Cashmere is the fine fibre obtained from the under-fur of Kashmiri goats. It is used to make
beautiful shawls called pashmina shawls.

v Wool is also obtained from the body hair of camels, llamas and alpacas found in South
America.

v In India, sheep are reared and bred in Jammu and Kashmir, states of Himachal Pradesh,
Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. After the fleece of a sheep

grows thick, it is shaved off to obtain wool.
v The earliest evidence of fabric textile has been found in the stone artefact of the bust of a

priest discovered from the ruins of the Harappan Civilization.
v Silk fibres are obtained from an insect called the silk moth (scientific name Bombyx mori).

The variety in silk fibres depends on the nature of the leaves the moth feeds on. Mulberry
silk moth is the most common silk moth.

v The rearing of silkworms to obtain silk is called sericulture. India is one of the leading silk
producers in the world. China leads the world in the production of silk.

v Silk moths do not eat or drink at all during their lifetime, they survive on stored body fats
and fluids.

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