Sheep to Sweaters Lesson Plan

1. Sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated by humans, with evidence dating back to around 9000 BCE. (Dogs are considered to be the first, and it is believed that they were domesticated around 13,000 BCE.) The first domesticated sheep were primarily raised for meat, milk, and skins. As people learned how to spin and weave, they began to shear sheep to turn their wool into thread and yarn. Have students explore the history of wool. How did weaving evolve from pulling fibers by hand to using foot-operated spindles to machine-based mechanics? How many sheep breeds are there, and what are some of the commonly used breeds for textile products? Why was wool historically considered an important import/export?
2. Have students create a diorama depicting sheep, sheep shearing, the weaving process, or a combination. A recycled box can serve as the base, which can be illustrated with markers. Cotton balls can be used to construct the shape or the sheared wool, craft sticks might be used for a loom, and chenille sticks could be the sheep's legs.
3. When the dioramas are complete, have students present their work and describe the scene they depicted.

SS: Time, Continuity, and Change: Read, reconstruct, and interpret the past. Imagine the future. Place oneself in various times and spaces and reflect on change.

SS: Science, Technology, and Society: Identify how technologies such as communication and transportation have evolved and how people have employed advances in technology to modify daily lives including health and economics. Explore historical examples and imagine future technologies.

What happens if sheep are not sheared? Ask students to explore the health implications to the sheep. Have them learn about the sheep named Chris that was spotted in Australia and rescued by an animal association. He had wandered away from a herd and lived in the wild for several years. Eventually, shearers, with guidance from veterinarians, removed almost 90 pounds of wool.

Have students learn about fiber artists and view some images of their creations. Suggestions include Judith Scott (1943-2005) a deaf artist who had Down syndrome, Vanessa Barragao who uses collected and waste yarn to create her art, Itchiku Kubota who fused the 16th-century Japanese art form called tsujigahana with modern textile art, and others.