From Worm to Dress The Story of Silk

Transcription

1 Maggie s Activity Pack! Name Date From Worm to Dress The Story of Silk Maggie closed the book. She ran her hands over the cover. It was made of silk threads. That was a wonderful story, she whispered. I wonder how silk is really made. Maggie had just finished reading a legend. It told how Emperor Huangdi of China was upset because his garden was being ruined. He asked his wife, Xilingshi, for help. He wanted to find out what was hurting his mulberry trees. Xilingshi watched the trees. She saw small white worms eating the leaves. These worms were also spinning shiny cocoons. She took some of these cocoons into the palace. On the way, she stopped to check a pot of boiling water. She made a mistake and dropped one of the cocoons into the hot water. She tried to get it out. A thread began unwinding from the cocoon. She looked carefully. She wondered if she could use this shiny thread to make cloth. Xilingshi had discovered silk! Her husband planted a large grove of mulberry trees. Now thousands of worms could spin cocoons. Xilingshi would weave silk.

2 This story is a legend. No one really knows if this is how people first started to make silk. We do know that the cocoons of a moth, called the Bombyx mori, are used in silk making. The Chinese were the only people to make silk for over 3000 years. They kept the secret of the caterpillar of the Bombyx mori moth. Finally in about 550 A.D., two monks took silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds out of China. The secret of this beautiful cloth spread. Now many countries raise silkworms and weave silk. Raising the caterpillar of the Bombyx mori moth takes a long time. Making silk is difficult. There are many steps that must be followed. These sentences tell you about these steps. You will learn how the work of a small silkworm ends up as a dress. The sentences do have mistakes. There may be run on sentences or parts of sentences. The sentences may have errors in capitalization or spelling. Your job is to edit the sentences. Then rewrite the sentences on the lines. You will have a good idea of how a silk moves from the silkworm to the store! 1. A Bombyx mori lays 300 to 500 eggs silk farmers store the eggs

3 2. The next spring. The eggs are put into an incubator. After 20 days, the silkworm hatches. 3. It eats many mulberry leeves it grows and grows. it sheds its skin for times. 4. then the silkworm spins a coccon a gum-like substance holds the threads of silk together.

4 5. The silkworm spins for three days it stays inside the cocoon for three weeks. When it bursts through the cocoon. The silk threads break. 6. Silk farmers dont want the moth to break the silk. They put the cocoon in a hot oven to kill the caterpiller. Before it becomes a moth. Then they can save the theads of silk. 7. The cocoon is soaked. In hot water. This helps get rid of the gummy substance.

5 8. Workers wind the threads. onto a reel. reels of silk are then twisted into skeins. Thirty skeins of silk are put together. into a bundle. 9. This bundle is shipped to a factory. For its next step in becoming a dress. 10. Now the silk is strengthened strands of silk are twisted togther. This is called throwing. 11. The silk is boiled again this gets rid of any gum that is left

6 12. the silk is dyed. To give it color. Finally it is made into a dress.

7 Dear Colleague, As usual, we integrate subject areas in this activity packet. We have heard from so many of you requesting activities on China. We also realize the end of the year is drawing near. You need activities to help prepare for standardized testing and help you evaluate students. We hope this silkworm activity fills one of these purposes for you! I plan on using the primary activity with my top first grade readers. I will also ask them to go a step beyond and use the knowledge they gained to first draw the sequence of From Worm to Dress. Then I will have them write a sequence story. You may want to have your students do the same. I am also attaching photographs of silkworm cocoons and of village women weaving silk. I took these while traveling in Asia last summer. Please feel free to use these pictures in your teaching. Are you counting the days of school left? Kathy These are only suggested corrections. Students may find alternative correct ways to edit the sentences. 1. A Bombyx mori lays 300 to 500 eggs. Silk farmers store the eggs 2. The next spring the eggs are put into an incubator. After 20 days, the silkworm hatches. 3. It eats many mulberry leaves. It grows and grows. It sheds its skin four times. 4. Then the silkworm spins a cocoon. A gum-like substance holds the threads of silk together. 5. The silkworm spins for three days. It stays inside the cocoon for three weeks. When it bursts through the cocoon, the silk threads break. 6. Silk farmers don t want the moth to break the silk. They put the cocoon in a hot oven to kill the caterpillar before it becomes a moth. Then they can save the threads of silk. 7. The cocoon is soaked in hot water. This helps get rid of the gummy substance. 8. Workers wind the threads onto a reel. Reels of silk are then twisted into skeins. Thirty skeins of silk are put together into a bundle. 9. This bundle is shipped to a factory for its next step in becoming a dress. 10. Now the silk is strengthened. Strands of silk are twisted together. This is called throwing. 11. The silk is boiled again. This gets rid of any gum that is left. 12. The silk is dyed to give it color. Finally it is made into a dress. Goals: Students read the legend of Chinese silk making. Then they read the steps in making silk today. Intermediate level students demonstrate their ability to edit sentences using correct capitalization, punctuation, and knowledge of possessives. Primary level sentences edit sentences using knowledge of sentence structure, capitalization, and beginning level punctuation such as periods. The activity correlates with the IRA/NCTE Standard, Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

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