TEXT: FIBRE TO FARIC - CLASSVI & VII (CBSE)

FIBRE TO FARIC 

CHAPTER-3

CBSE CLASS-VI

A Material which is available in the form of thin and continuous stand is called Fibre. The thin strands of thread that we see are made up of still thinner strands called Fibres. 

The cloth produced by weaving or knitting textile fibre is called Fabric. There are two types of fibres,

1. Natural Fibre
2. Man – Made fibre or Synthetic Fibre            

      

TYPES OF FIBRES

Natural Fibre: The fibres which are obtained from pland and animals are called Natural Fibres. Example: cotton wool, jute & silk.

Man-Made or Synthetic Fibres: The fibres that are synthesized in laboratory are called Man-Made or Synthetic Fibres.  Example: Nylon, Polyester, Makmal, Fur etc.  

Natural Fibres

COTTON:  Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.   

      

The fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile. The use of cotton for fabric is known to date to prehistoric times; fragments of cotton fabric dated to the fifth millennium BC have been found in the Indus Valley Civilization. 

Process of Making Cotton: From field to fabric

The process of making cotton transforms the raw fibers into threads, yarn and fabric in three steps: Preparation, Spinning, and Weaving. 

Preparation: To be used for thread or fabric, raw seed cotton must cleaned and free of debris. Seeds, burrs, dirt, stems and leaf material are removed from the cotton during ginning (The process of separating cotton from seed).

Spinning: A Yarn is usually of substantial length & of small cross section. In the cross section of a yarn there are usually a multiple number of Staple fibers (short fibers) or Filaments (long fibers) of unlimited length.

Yarn made out of Staple fiber is known as Spun Yarn, because the staple fibers should undergo number of process stages so that a yarn can be made out of them. This procedure or process stages in correct sequence is called “Spinning”. 

Spinning is the twisting together of drawn-out strands of fibers to form yarn, and is a major part of the textile industry.  The yarn is then used to create textiles, which are then used to make clothing and many other products.

There are several industrial processes available to spin yarn, as well as hand-spinning techniques where the fiber is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. 

Staple Spun Yarn:  Those are made by Twisting Staple Fibres together into a Strand. The length of the Fibre is limited. Given are some of the spun yarns.        

1. Mono Yarn: Solid, Single Strand of Unlimited Length. 

2. Multi Filament: Many continuous filaments with some twist. 

3. Staple Yarn: Many short fibers twisted together tightly. 

4. Two Plied Yarn: Two single yarn twisted together. 

5. Multi Plied Yarn: Plied Yarns twisted together. 

6. Thread: Hard, Fine, Plied Yarn. 

7. Cord or Cable: Many plied yarns twisted into a course structure. 

Weaving: Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling.

SLIK: Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. 

There are different types of silk worm produce different silks in terms of luster and textile. Example: tassar silk, mooga silk, kosa silk etc. are produced by different types of silk moth. Mulbery silk is the most common silk moth.  

The rearing of silkworms for obtaining silk is called Sericulture. silk was discovered in chinna around 3500 BC. Silkworms are reared on mulberry leaves as they feed on mulberry leaves.

Life cycle of silkworm: There are four stages in the life cycle of silk moth. Egg, larva, pupa & adult.

Female silk moth- lays eggs- After about 14 days eggs are hatched into larva (called caterpillar) – Grow into pupa – Secretes fibres made of protein and weaves the fibres around itself completely- This covering is called cocoon.- Lives in the cocoon for some time- After coming out cocoon grows into silk moth. 

Stage 1: Egg

An egg is the first stage of the life cycle of the silkworm. The egg is laid by a female moth which is mostly the size of small dots. A female moth lays more than 350 eggs at a time. In the springtime, the eggs hatch due to the warmth in the air. This procedure happens once in every year. 

Stage 2: Silkworm

A hairy silkworm arises after the eggs crack. In this stage of silkworms, the growth happens. they feed on mulberry leaves and consume a large amount of these leaves for around 30 days before going to the next stage. 

Stage 3: Cocoon
In this stage, silkworms spin a protective cocoon around itself. It is the size of a small cotton ball and is made of a single thread of silk.
Stage 4: Pupa

The pupa stage is a motionless stage. In this stage, people kill the pupa by plunging the cocoon into boiling water and unwind the silk thread. 

Stage 5: Moth

In this stage, the pupa changes into an adult moth. The female moth lays eggs after mating and thus the life cycle of silkworm begins again. 

Silk moth to silk: After they are laid by the silk moth; eggs are stored over a clean cloth or paper strips. When larvae are hatched from eggs, they are kept in clean bamboo trays with fresh leaves of mulberry. Larvae feed on mulberry leaves for about 20 to 25 days.

After that, larvae move into tiny chambers of bamboo in which they start spinning cocoon. They do it by secreting liquid protein from their salivary glands.  Finally they enclose themselves in cocoon. Cocoons get hardened because of exposure to air. 

Process of silk: The process of obtaining silk from silk moth involves- 

1) Rearing of silkworms :The process of keeping, feeding, breeding and medical care of useful animals is called rearing of animals. .

2) Reeling and Dyeing: Cocoons of silk moth are used to obtain the silk fibres. These cocoons are kept under the sun or boiled or exposed to steam. The silk fibres is then separated. This process of obtaining wool from the cocoons is called reeling the silk. This followed by spinning and weaving.

WOOL

Wool is obtained from the fleece (hair) of sheep, sheep, goat, camel, yak, llama, alpaca and other animals. These animals have thick coat hair on their body because the hair traps the air and air is poor conductor of heat. So thick layer of hair keep their body warm and protect them from harsh cold. 

Rearing and breeding of sheep: Sheep are reared in many parts our country like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat etc. Rearing of sheep means to look after the sheep by providing them food, shelter and health care. Breeding is done to obtain animals with desired characters.

Processing of making wool:

The major steps necessary to process wool from the sheep to the fabric are: shearing, cleaning and scouring, grading and sorting, carding, spinning, weaving, and finishing. 

Shearing: Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a shearer.

Cleaning and scouring: scouring is a way of cleaning textile fibres. Wool that's been shorn from a sheep is known as greasy, or raw wool. 

Grading and sorting: Grading should not be confused with wool classing: sorting fleeces into various lines according to fineness, length, strength, yield, color, and style. 

Carding: Short-stapled pieces of wool which result from the carding process, spun and woven to make standard-quality fabrics. 

Spinning: Spinning is the twisting together of drawn-out strands of fibers to form yarn, and is a major part of the textile industry. 

Dyeing: After sorting and picking out of burrs, these are dyed in desired colors. 

Weaving: The process of arranging two sets of yarn together to make a fabric is called weaving. 

JUTE: Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced primarily from plants in the genus Corchorus, which was once classified with the family Tiliaceae, and more recently with Malvaceae. Jute was used for making textiles in the Indus valley civilization since the 3rd millennium BC. 

Process of making jute: The jute fiber comes from the stem and ribbon (outer skin) of the jute plant. The fibers are first extracted by retting. The retting process consists of bundling jute stems together and immersing them in slow running water. There are two types of retting: stem and ribbon.  Manufacturing Process of Jute Yarn:   

        

Raw Jute: Raw jute in the form of bales are processed in jute mills to produce hessian, sacking, jute yarn, bags, and other useful products. 

Selection of Raw Jute: In the selection process, raw jute bales are opened to find out any defect and to remove the defective portion from the mora by experienced workers. Raw jute bales are of two types i.e. 150 kg weight and 180 kg weight with or without top portion cutting. The bales are assorted according to end use like Hessiean weft, Sacking wrap, Sacking weft etc. After selection, jute bales are carried to softning section by workers called Gariwala and Bajawala. 

Softning Process Jute: In softning process jute morahs are made soft and pileable. Two methods are used for softning; use of softening machine and use of jute good spreader. Generally an emulsion plant with jute softner machine is used to lubricate and soften the bark and gummy raw jute. The emulsion plant consists of gear pump, motor, vat, jet sprayer, nozzles, emulsion tank and the jacket. In this softning process jute becomes soft and pileable and suitable for carding. 

Carding: Carding is a combining operation where jute reeds are splitted and extraneous matters are removed. Jute fibres are formed into ribbon called "sliver". There are three different carding sections: 

(i) Breaker carding 

(ii) Inner carding 

(iii) Finisher carding 

In the Breaker carding machine soften jute after piling is feed by hand in suitable weight. The machine by action with different rollers turns out raw jute in the form of jute sliver for finisher carding. In this process root cutting is necessary before feeding the material to the hand feed breaker carding machine.  Finisher carding machine make the sliver more uniform and regular in length and weight obtained from the Breaker carding machine. 

             Finisher carding machine is identical to the Breaker carding machine, having more pair of rollers, staves, pinning arrangement and speed. The material thus obtained is send to drawing section. 

Drawing:  Drawing is a process for reducing sliver width and thickness by simultaneously mixing 4 to 6 sliver together. There are three types of Drawing Frame machine. In most mills 3 Drawing passages are used in Hessian and 2 Drawing passages are used in Sacking.

Spinning: Spinning is the process for producing yarn from sliver obtained from Third drawing. The jute spinning frame machine is fitted with slip draft zone and capable of producing quality yarns at high efficiency with auto-dofting arrangements also. 

           

MAN MADE OR SYNTHETIC FIBRE

These are also known as man-made fibers. Synthetic fibers are obtained by chemical processing of petrochemicals. The synthetic fibers can be woven into a fabric, just like natural fiber.  Synthetic fibers have a wide range of use ranging from household articles like ropes, buckets, furniture, containers, etc. to highly specialized uses in aircrafts, ships, spacecrafts, health care, etc.

Synthetic fibers and plastics are made up of molecules called polymers. A polymer is a large molecule formed by combination of many small molecules, each of which is called a monomer. 

Properties of synthetic fibers:The properties of synthetic fibres are as follows-  They quickly dry up.
1. It means that synthetic fiber dries easily after washing. They are durable. 

2. It means that they can be used for a longer period of time. They are less expensive.
They are readily available.
They are easy to maintain and do not need extra care.

Kinds of Synthetic Fibers: 
There are different kinds of synthetic fibers which are as follows-
Rayon
Polyester
Nylon
Acrylic
Plastic 

Rayon: This is a type of synthetic fibre obtained from wood pulp. Rayon is soft, absorbent and comfortable. It is easy to dye in wide range of colors. Rayon is mixed with cotton to make bedsheets. Rayon is mixed with wool to make carpet.

Nylon: This type of synthetic fibre is obtained from coal, water and air. Nylon is very lustrous, easy to wash and elastic. It dries quickly and retains its shape. It finds its application in seat belts of car, sleeping bags, socks, ropes, etc.  Nylon is also used in ropes for rock climbing, making parachutes and fishing nets. 

Acrylic: Acrylic is warm and lightweight, soft and flexible fibre. It is often used for making sweaters, blankets, cashmere, jackets, shawls, and tracksuits. It is also used as linings for boots and gloves as well as in furnishing fabrics and carpets. It is used in craft yarns, boat sails and vehicle covers. 

Polyester: polyster is obtained from coal, water, air and petroleum. It is made from repeating units of chemical known as esters. It is easy to wash and it remains wrinkle free and it is quite suitable in making dress material. Polyester retains its shape and remains crisp. Polyester is used in making ropes, nets, raincoats, jackets, etc. 

Advantages of synthetic fibres: Synthetic fibres are very durable and do not wrinkle easily They are elastic and can be easily stretched out They are strong and can sustain heavy load. It is soft and hence it is used in clothing material. It is cheaper as compared to natural fibres. 

Disadvantages of synthetic fibres: Most synthetic fibres do not absorb moisture. Synthetic fibre can be affected if washed using hot water. It catches fire easily as compared to natural fibre. 

THANKYOU

NANDITHA AKUNURI

A SHELTER SO HIGH! : (Activities) CHAPTER-13 (EVS-V)

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A SHELTER SO HIGH!-TEXT

A SHELTER SO HIGH!

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

CBSE-V

I am Gaurav Jani and this is ‘Loner ’ – my partner – my motorcycle.

But, Loner is never lonely. We are together all the time. I and my motorcycle wait for a chance to get away from the busy, crowded and noisy city of Mumbai. We like to travel to different parts of this wonderful country. Let me tell you about our amazing journey on the highest roads in India.

Getting ready

This journey took about two months. I had to carry everything on my motorcycle. I had to plan and collect all the things I needed. I packed a small tent, sleeping bag, plastic sheet, warm clothes and food that would remain fresh for some days. I also took my camera and extra cans for petrol. Loner and I left Mumbai, passing through small villages and towns of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan to reach Delhi.

It took me three days to cover 1400 kilometers from Mumbai to Delhi. I was hoping to see something new and different in Delhi. But Delhi looked just like Mumbai! I am tired of looking at the same kinds of houses, made of cement, bricks, glass and steel. I was looking forward to my journey ahead.

I was excited that I would be able to see wooden houses, houses

with sloping roofs and those covered in snow. I had seen pictures of such houses in many books.

I packed more things in Delhi and continued. In two days we were in Manali. It was so refreshing to be in the mountains and breathe the clean air! Now the real journey was to begin. We had to travel through difficult roads of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to reach Leh in Ladakh.

New home

Loner and I were covering long distances each day. All I needed was food and a tent to protect myself from the cold night air. My nylon tent was so small that I could just about fit in it to sleep.

Loner stood guard outside the tent. The breeze and the sound of the birds woke me up to see the sunrise.

Cold desert

At last Loner and I reached Leh. For the first time I saw such an area – high, dry and flat called a cold desert. Ladakh gets very little rainfall. Here there are high snowcapped mountains and a cold, flat ground.

In Leh, I found myself in a quiet street with beautiful white houses. As I rode slowly, I found that I was being followed by a group of children. They called out ‘jule, jule’, meaning ‘welcome, welcome’. They were all amazed to see my ‘Loner’. Everyone wanted me to come to their home.

At home with Tashi

Tashi dragged me to his home. It was a building with two floors. The house was made of stones which were kept one over the other. The walls were coated with a thick layer of mud and lime.

The house looked like a shed from inside with a lot of hay stored there. We took the wooden steps and reached the first floor. “This is where we stay,” explained Tashi.

“The ground floor is for our animals and for storing necessary things.

Sometimes when it gets too cold, we also move downstairs.” I noticed that the ground floor had no windows. Thick tree trunks were used to make the

roof strong.

Tashi then took me to the roof of his house. What a view! I could see the same flat roofs all around. On some red chillies were, laid out to dry and on some there were orange pumpkins and golden yellow corn. Some had stacks of paddy and on some cow dung cakes were laid out to dry.

“This is the most important part of our house,” said Tashi. “During summer season we dry many fruits and vegetables. We store them for winters when we do not get fresh fruits and vegetables.”

As I stood there with Tashi I could see how every part of the house was built specially to suit the needs of his people. I could understand how the thick walls, a wooden floor and a wooden ceiling protected them from the cold.

People living on top of the world

Now was the time to climb higher. Loner had a tough time zigzagging along narrow, rocky mountain roads. At many places there were no roads at all.

I was moving towards the rocky plains of ‘Changthang’. This place is at a height of almost 5000 metres. It is so high that it is difficult to breathe normally. I had a headache and felt weak.

Then I slowly got used to breathing in such air. For many days we kept wandering in this area with not a single human being in sight. No petrol pumps, no mechanics!

Only clear blue sky and many beautiful lakes around. Many days and nights passed. Loner and I kept moving ahead. Suddenly one morning I saw before me flat grassy land. Many sheep and goats were grazing there. Far in the distance I saw some tents. I wondered who lived there and what they were doing in this far out place.

The Changpa

There I met Namgyal and came to know about the Changpa – a tribe

living on the mountains. The Changpa tribe has only about 5000 people. The Changpas are always on the move with their goats and sheep.

 It is from these that they get all that they need – milk, meat, skin for tents and wool for coats and sweaters. Their goats are their only treasure. If a family has more animals it is considered more rich and important.

From these special goats they get wool for making the world famous pashmina wool. The Changpa graze their goats at higher and colder places so that the goats have more and softer hair (fur).

They stay high up on these mountains in very difficult conditions because that is where these goats can live. This is their life and their livelihood.

I was carrying very little of my belongings on my motorcycle.

But the Changpas carry everything that they own on their horses and yaks. It takes them only two and a half hours to pack everything and move ahead. Within no time they put up their tents at the chosen place, the luggage is unpacked and their homes are ready.

“You are most welcome into our home,” said Namgyal as he led me to the big cone-shaped tent. They call their tent Rebo. Yak hair is woven to make strips which are stitched together.

These are strong and warm and protect them from the icy strong winds. I saw that the strips were tightly tied with nine sticks. The ground is dug about 2 feet deep. The tent is then put up around this on the higher part of the ground.

The world famous pashmina

It is believed that a pashmina shawl is as warm as six sweaters! It is very thin yet very warm.

The goats from which the soft pashmina wool is collected, are found on very high altitudes of

5000 metres. In winter, the temperature here drops below 0°C (–40°C). A coat of warm hair

grows on the goat’s body which protects it from extreme cold. The goats shed some of their hair

(fur) in summer.

This hair is so fine that six of these would be as thick as one hair of yours! The fine hair cannot be woven on machines and so weavers of Kashmir make these shawls by hand. This is a long and difficult process. After almost 250 hours of weaving, one plain pashmina shawl is made. Imagine how long it would take to make a shawl with embroidery.

As we stepped into the tent I realised that I could stand up straight. It was not like my tent. I also saw that the Rebo was as big as a room of my flat in Mumbai! It was held up by two wooden poles in the middle.

There was an opening to let out the smoke from the chulah. Namgyal told that, the design of this tent is more than a thousand years old. The tent protected the Changpas from extreme cold.

How cold must it be? In winters the temperature drops many degrees below zero! The wind blows at 70 kilometres per hour. Imagine–if you were on a bus which was going at this speed, how far from your house would you reach in one hour? Near the Rebo there was a place to keep sheep and goats.

Changpas call this lekha. The walls of a lekha are made with stones. Each family puts a special mark on their own animals. The women and young girls count and take the animals out of the lekha. They count them again everyday when they bring them back in the evening.

Towards Srinagar

I spent a few days with the Changpas but, sadly, it was time to move on. My return journey would take me away from this special part of the world, towards towns which looked like a totally different world.

This time I took a different route from Leh. I was going towards Srinagar via Kargil. I saw many more amazing buildings and different houses.

I stayed in Srinagar for a few days. I was amazed by the houses there. They took my heart away! Some houses are on the mountains, while some are on water. I took many pictures of these. See my photo album .

Houses of Srinagar – My photo album

Tourists who come to Srinagar love to stay in houseboats. Houseboats can be as long as 80 feet and around 8 to 9 feet wide. Beautiful carving.

Many families in Srinagar live in a ‘donga’. These boats can be seen in Dal Lake and Jhelum river. From inside the ‘donga’ is just like a house with different rooms.

Beautiful carving on wood can be seen on the ceiling of houseboats and some big houses. This design is called ‘khatamband’, which has a pattern that look like a jigsaw puzzle.

In villages of Kashmir, houses are made from stones cut and kept one on top of the other and coated with mud. Wood is also used. The  houses have sloping roofs.

Some old houses have a special type of window which comes out of the wall. This is called ‘dab’. It has beautiful wood pattern. It is wonderful to sit here and enjoy the view!

When I started my journey, I had not imagined that in one state I would see so many different kinds of houses and lifestyles. I had a wonderful experience of living on the mountains in Leh and another of living on water in Srinagar. I saw how both the houses in these areas were made to suit the climate.

Return journey

Again it was time to move on. In Jammu I saw houses like I have

been seeing in Mumbai. The same– cement, brick, steel and glass. These houses are very strong. But they are not as special as the houses I was lucky to see in Leh and Srinagar. After a long journey Loner and I were about to reach Mumbai. My heart felt heavy. I also felt that my motorcycle did not want to come back.

I was happy that I had learnt and experienced so many new things. I had also brought back some memories in my camera. And of course, this was not the end!

Next time when Loner and I get bored of the city, we will again set out for a new journey!

THANKYOU

NANDITHA AKUNURI