NCERT Extra Questions for Class 6 Science Chapter 3 Fibre to Fabric

Variety in fabrics

Question 1.
What is fabric?
Answer:
Fabric means a woven material, a textile or other material resembling woven cloth. Fabric is made up of yarns. Fabrics are made by the two main processes known as weaving and knitting.

Question 2.
On what factors does our type of clothing depend?
Answer:
Type of clothing which we wear is influenced by climate, occupation, culture and daily needs.

Question 3.
Why are cotton and woollen clothes rough and silk, rayon, nylon, polyester smooth to touch?
Answer:
Roughness of cotton and woollen fibre is due to presence of many folds and uneven surfaces in it. Silk, rayon, nylon and polyester are smooth because they have long plain, fine structure.

Fibre

Question 1.
Classify the following fibres into natural and man-made: cotton, nylon, jute, wool, silk, rayon, polyester.
Answer:

• Natural fibres – Cotton, jute, wool, silk.
• Man-made fibres – Nylon, rayon, polyester.

Question 2.
From where wool is obtained?
Answer:
Wool is obtained from the fleece of sheep or goat.

Question 3.
What is known as golden fibre?
Answer:
Jute is the cheapest natural fibre and is known as the golden fibre.

Question 4.
When we burn wool, why do we get the smell of hair bum?
Answer:
Wool is obtained from the fleece (hair) of sheep, goat, yak, etc. This is the reason why burning of wool gives smell like burning of hair.

Some plant fibres

Question 1.
Name the plant from which jute is obtained. From which of its part do we get jute?
Answer:
Jute is obtained from ‘Putson’. It is obtained from its stem.

Question 2.
Which parts of these plants have fibres?

1. (a) Cotton
2. (b)Mango
3. (c) Coconut
4. (d) Banana.

Answer:

1. Cotton – seeds
2. Mango – seeds
3. Coconut – fruits
4. Banana – leaf.

Question 3.
Name the country which invented cotton clothing.
Answer:
India.

Question 4.
In which states of India, cotton is grown?
Answer:
Cotton is grown in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.

Question 5.
In which states of India, jute is cultivated?
Answer:
West Bengal, Bihar and Assam are the main producers of jute in India.

Question 6.
Which method is used to harvest cotton from the plants?
Answer:
Hand picking.

Question 7.
What is ginning?
Answer:
Ginning is the process of separating cotton fibres from its seeds.

Question 8.
What are bales?
Answer:
Raw cotton fibres are compressed into bundles of approximately 200 kg. These compressed cotton bundles are called bales.

Question 9.
Which type of soil is the best for the cultivation of cotton?
Answer:
Black soil.

Question 10.
Which type of soil is best suited for jute crop?
Answer:
Alluvial soil in the delta regions of rivers like the Ganga and the Brahmaputra are the best for the cultivation of jute.

Question 11.
In which season, jute (putson) is cultivated?
Answer:
Rainy season.

Question 12.
What are the uses of cotton?
Answer:
Cotton has a variety of uses. Some uses of cotton are given below:

• Cotton or cotton in combination with other fibres is used in manufacture of textiles.
• Cleaned cotton is used as an absorbent in hospitals.
• Unspun cotton is used ,as fillers in mattresses, pillows and quilts.
• Cotton is used as a main raw material in manufacturing of rayon and in paper industry.
• Due to high water absorption property, clothes made from cotton are extensively used as mops in household and for cleaning machines in industries.

Question 13.
Explain various steps in the manufacture of cotton fabric from cotton.
Answer:
Important steps in the manufacture of cotton fibres are as described below:

1. Cotton is hand picked from the plants.
2. Ginning: The picked cotton is taken to godowns where the seeds are pulled out of the cotton by steel combs.
3. Bailing: Ginned cotton is compressed tightly into bundles weighing approximately 200 kg called bales.
4. Raw cotton from bales is cleaned from straw and dried leaves, combed and straightened and finally converted into rope like strand called sliver.
5. Spinning: To make this strand into yam strong enough for wearing, it is pulled and twisted.
6. Yarn is wound on big reels called ‘bobbins’. These bobbins of yam are subjected to weave for making cloth.
7. Weaving: Weaving from yam is done in the looms.
8. Bleaching and dyeing: Fabric made in the loom is grey in colour. The fabric is now bleached and dyed at a finishing plant.

Question 14.
In which season is cotton planted? What is its course of growth?
Answer:
It is planted early in the spring. Cotton plants grow steadily and soon become bushes of 3 to 6 feet high. After about 2 months, they bear white or yellowish flowers which turn pink or red after a few days. The petals of the flowers fall, leaving behind tiny green seeds. This later grows into spherical-shaped structure of the size of a walnut, which is called cotton boll. As the cotton bolls grow steadily, the seeds and the fibres grow inside. On maturing, the green bolls begin to turn brown. On complete maturation, they become ready to burst open, exposing the white fibres. As the fibres dry in the sun, they become fluffy.

Question 15.
Why are jute plants cut at flowering stage and not on complete maturation?
Answer:
Jute plants are cut at the time of flowering stage because a good quality of fibre is obtained at this stage. On complete maturation of plant, fibres of its stem become very hard.

Question 16.
What are the important uses of jute?
Answer:

• Jute is extensively used for making gunny bags, potato sacks, carpets, curtains, coarse clothes and ropes, etc.
• These days, fine quality of jute is also used for making jute fabrics.

Question 17.
What is retting? Explain how fibres are obtained from the jute plants.
Answer:
Jute plants are cut at the flowering stage when plants are 8-10 feet high. The cut plants are grouped at different places in the field for a few days when most of the leaves dry up and fall down. The plants are now tied into small bundles. The bundles are made to sink in stagnant water of a pond for a few days and then the gummy skin rots out to separate fibres. This process is called ‘retting’. Fibre is extracted from the retted jute by hand, with jerks and pulls. The.dried fibres are then tied together in small bundles.

Spinning cotton yarn

Question 1.
What is spinning?
Answer:
The process of making yam from fibres is called spinning.

Question 2.
Name two simple devices used for spinning.
Answer:

1. Takli
2. Charkha

Question 3.
Name the person who made the charkha popular during independence movement.
Answer:
Mahatma Gandhi

Question 4.
Where were the cotton and flax plants cultivated in ancient Egypt?
Answer:
Cotton and flax plants were cultivated near the river Nile in ancient Egypt.

Question 5.
How are natural fibres better than synthetic fibres?
Answer:
The natural fibres absorb sweat, give cooling effect and comfort in all seasons.

Activity 4.
Hold some cotton wool in one hand. Pinch some cotton between the thumb and forefinger of the other hand. Now, gently start pulling out the cotton, while continuously twisting the fibres (See Fig. 3.2 on page 31). Are you able to make a yam?

Yes, the cotton fibres are drawn out and twisted into long thread like strands. These strands are spun with the help of spinning machines to yam.

Yarn to fabric

Question 1.
What is weaving?
Answer:
The process of arranging two sets of yam together to make a fabric is called weaving.

Question 2.
What is knitting?
Answer:
In knitting, a single yam is used to make a piece of fabric.

Question 3.
What are looms?
Answer:
Loom is a device on which weaving of fibres is done.

Question 4.
Name the two types of looms.
Answer:
Looms are of two types:

1. Hand operated
2. Power operated.

History of clothing material

Question 1.
What were the wearings of the people of stone age?
Answer:
During the stone age, people wore bark, big leaves of trees or animal skins to keep themselves warm. ‘

Question 2.
Why primitive life was confined to the tropics? When was it possible for the people to migrate to colder regions?
Answer:
Primitive men and women had no idea about clothes, and were at the mercy of their environment. Primitive life was confined mostly to the tropics where the climate was warm and no clothing was needed. Only after the invention of fire, it became possible for people to migrate to colder regions.

Question 3.
What are the three stages in history of the development of clothing material? t
Answer:
In terms of raw materials, cloth making was developed in three stages. The first stage was cloth from plant fibres, such as flax, cotton, nettles and inner bark of the trees. The second stage began with the use of animal fibres especially wool and silk. Silk came to various parts of the world from China. The third stage in the history of clothing began in the late 19th century with the development of man-made or synthetic fibres like rayon, nylon and polyester. Now man-made fibres combined with other animal with or without plant fibres are used for making clothes for improved strength, wearing ability and other qualities.

Question 4.
When stitching was not known, how did people use fabrics available with them?
Answer:
When stitching was not known, people simply draped the fabrics around different parts of their body. Many different ways of draping fabrics were used.

Question 5.
Name the clothes which are used as an unstitched piece of fabric even now.
Answer:
Saree, dhoti, lungi or turban are the clothes which are used as an unstitched piece of fabric even now.

Objective Type Questions

Question 1.
Match the following items given in Column A with that in Column B

Answer:

Question 2.
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words:

1. Clothes are made up of …………… .
2. Different clothing materials have ………………. properties.
3. Cotton plants need…………………. climate.
4. Cotton is planted in the ………….. .
5. …………… soil is excellent for the cultivation of cotton.
6. …………………….. Usually cotton is picked from the plants.
7. Separation of cotton fibres from their seeds is called …………….. .
8. A ………………. of cotton is a loose strand of cotton fibres.
9. In villages, the cloth is woven on small scale in …………… .
10. Jute is cultivated in ……………… season.
11. Jute is grown in …………………. soil.
12. On large scale, cotton clothes are made by machines in ……………. .
13. Twisting of fibres into yarn increases the ………………. of fibres.
14. Cotton fibres are obtained from the …………….. of cotton plant.
15. Jute fibre is obtained from the …………………. of jute plant.
16. Tightly compressed bundles of cotton are called ……………. .
17. The process of getting fibres from the jute stem is called …………… .
18. People migrated to colder regions only after the invention of …………… .

Answer:

1. fibres
2. different
3. warm
4. spring
5. Black
6. hand
7. ginning
8. sliver
9. handloom
10. rainy
11. alluvial
12. powerloom
13. cohesion and strength
14. seeds
15. stem
16. bales
17. retting
18. fire

Question 3.
State whether the statements given below are True or False:

1. Ml the plants have fibres in their body structure.
2. Cotton is the most important industrial crop.
3. India was the proud inventor of cotton clothing.
4. Cotton plants need cold climate.
5. Alluvial soil is best suited for cotton.
6. Jute is obtained from the stem of ‘putson’.
7. Jute fibres are quite strong, 6-8 feet long and have a silky lusture.
8. Primitive men and women had no idea about clothes.
9. Type of clothing which we wear is influenced by climate, occupation, culture and daily needs.
10. Cotton; and woollen clothes are smooth to touch.
11. Clothes are made from threads, and threads, in turn, are spun from fibres, (xii) Coconut fibres are good for making yarn.
12. Twisting of fibres into yam increases cohesion. ‘
13. While working in kitchen, we should wear cotton clothes.
14. Clothes protect us from adverse weather condition.

Answer:

1. True
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. False
6. True
7. True
8. True
9. True
10. False
11. True
12. False
13. True
14. True
15. True

Question 4.
Choose the correct option in the following questions:

(i) Which one of the following is a synthetic fibre?
(a) Nylon
(b) Rayon
(c) Polyester
(d) All of these
Answer:
(d) All of these fibres are man-made.

(ii) Which is a natural fibre?
(a) Silk
(b) Nylon
(c) Rayon
(d) All of these
Answer:
(a) Only silk is natural.

(iii) The clothes are made up of thinner and thinner strands called
(a) yam
(b) thread
(c) fibre
(d) fabric
Answer:
(c) Fibre is thinnest unit of fabric.

(iv) Separation of fibres of cotton from its seeds is known as
(a) weaving
(b) spinning
(c) knitting
(d) ginning
Answer:
(d) Cotton fibres are separated from seeds by combing and the process is called -¬ginning.

(v) Jute fibres are obtaine from
(a) stem of jute plant
(b) seeds of jute plant
(c) fruit covering of jute plant
(d) roots of jute plant
Answer:
(a) Jute fibres are obtained from the stem of jute plant.

(vi) Number of yams used to make fabric by weaving and knitting are
(a) two sets of yams in each case
(b) single yam in each case
(c) two sets of yams in weaving and single in knitting
(d) single yam in weaving and two sets in knitting
Answer:
(c) In weaving two sets of yam are arranged while knitting is done by a single yam.

(vii) Weaving of fabric is done in
(a) handlooms
(b) power looms
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) takli
Answer:
(c) Weaving is done both in handlooms and power looms.

(viii) Which one is spinning device?
(a) Takli
(b) Loom
(c) Charkha
(d) Both (a) and (c)
Answer:
(d) In looms, fabric is woven; while by takli and charkha, yam is made.

(ix) Which of the following is a plant fibre?
(a) Wool
(6) Silk
(c) Cotton
(d) Nylon
Answer:
(c) Cotton is a plant fibre.

(x) The right time to cut jute plants is
(a) matured stage
(b) before flowering stage
(c) flowering stage
(d) any time after flowering
Answer:
(c) Jute plants are usually cut at the flowering stage.