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Silk Origin and Processing Science Project
by Jeanette Cain
The purpose of this project is to learn the origin of silk, how it is processed and manufactured and how it is important to mankind. You may find these two links helpful:
Silk worm purchasing
How to Raise Silkworms Tutorial
There are several methods from which you can choose, one of which may be to purchase silkworms and keep a record, or center on the extraction and collection of silk, but that is left to you. The basics are outlined below:
FIRST, learn the origin of raw silk: the silk moth belongs to the Lepidoptera family, to the Insecta. The moth lays the eggs from which caterpillars or silk worms are hatched. A single moth produces 300 to 500.
The caterpillar or worm stage of the silk producing insect: one-quarter inch long when first hatched and grows to 3 inches. It survives best on a food source of mulberry leaves. This is the time at which it spins its cocoon.
The cocoon is a house woven by the worm to serve as its home while going through the pupa stage. Its average length of thread is 300 yards per cocoon. 12 pounds of cocoons will yield 1 pound of raw silk. The complete cocoon is placed in warm water before unwinding. You may wish to spend some time on the metamorphosis stage of the lepidoptera family. You may wish to bring in cocoons of various caterpillars for this project, so that others can see where the first form of silk begins. It is quite a distance between the silken home of the cotton worm, the fuzzy cotton fibres of the cotton seed, and the woolly fibres of the sheep's coat.
Compare the tangled matted silken home of the silk-worm and the open silk work (web) that a spider spins: one spins to make a home, the other spins to catch other insects. Is the silk-worm or the spider's work more important, or do they stand as equals?
You may wish to do a history of raw silk production: it was first produced in China about 3000 BC and was not introduced in Europe until the sixth century. Where was it produced in greater amounts and why is the United Stated unable to have extensive production of silk worms? How did silk improve the lives of Europeans? Is it still making improvements today?
How are the tangled threads of the cocoons prepared and woven into cloth? Some comparisons of the principal forms of cloth are linen, cotton, woolen, and silk. Two are products of the plant world; two are of the animal world. Mankind has invented the methods of preparing these fibres for its use. How has this affected the development of modern machinery in industry? How many jobs have been created thanks to the silk worm?
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