Science on the Silk Road

We've been learning about Marco Polo and the Silk Road, so we did an early science investigation on this odd little thing:

What could it be, we wondered?

Thinking like scientists, using all our senses to observe and gather data, we NOTICED:

Then we THOUGHT about it. Did it have a tree or a bean inside?

Then we WONDERED:

After noticing, thinking, and wondering, we read a few books to see what we could find out. We were delighted to think that something that looked just like this once fell into the Empress' tea, and we quickly identified our object as a silk worm cocoon. We also decided we should try dropping ours into boiling water to see what would happen.

Just like in the book, the silk from the cocoon "unwound" and seemed to go on forever! Everyone had a chance to pull on it, and we did not even get it halfway unraveled.

We looked at the life cycle of a silk worm.

We were sad to learn the pupa dies in cocoons used to make silk, and a little grossed out to find one all dried out inside the cocoon. ("THAT'S what made the noise inside!")

Finally, we looked at some things made out of silk, noticing the luster and the softness.

            To think, this little oddity turns into beautiful material and scarves like this. Fascinating!