Page 26 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

(Left and below) Cutting a fleece. The shearer’s hand is covered in the natural lanolin that makes the fleece water-resistant.
Wool
Wool
Wool is an animal fibre like the protective hairy coating on most other animals. The fibre covering is called the fleece. Sheep, goats, and camels all develop wool.
In sheep the natural outer and coarser hairs that were once a feature of wild sheep have been bred out, so the downy undercoat now makes up almost all of the fleece. As a result, sheep are more productive of wool than, for example, Kashmir goats.
Wool is obtained by shearing the sheep to leave
the fleece in one piece. The fleece contains a natural waterproofing grease called lanolin, which, once removed, can be used as a base for many cosmetics.
Wool is made of a protein called keratin. The wool fibres are coarser than many other animal fibres and most
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