11. What is
wool?
Wool is a natural fibre and environmentally friendly!
It is made up of complex proteins and contains small
amounts of fat, calcium and sodium.
A single wool fibre!
16. A female sheep is called a ewe
A baby sheep is called a lamb
A castrated male is called a wether
A male sheep is called a ram
17. Teeth are
Important
Just like you and I, lambs have
milk teeth when they are very
young.
Sheep do not have upper front
teeth.
Sheep have 32 permanent teeth.
Sheep are aged by their teeth.
19. FACT!
Your hair grows 10
How Does
mm per month
Wool grows on
average 6mm per
Wool Grow?
month
Wool grows like human hair outwards
from the skin.
How long a fleece will grow is
dependant on factors such as the
environment and nutrition
There is enough wool on the average
adult sheep to make 3 men's suits, 6
dresses or 70 pairs of socks
21. How is wool processed?
Scouring Carding Combing Spinning
Dyeing
Weaving Knitting
22. Colour
Wool growers usually exclude black
sheep from their flocks as not
only is their dark fleece hard to
dye, but it may contaminate the
bright white fleeces we can dye
these amazing colours!
23. Shearing
Most sheep are shorn once a
year.
It takes around 3 minutes
for a shearer to shear a sheep.
60 minutes / 3 minutes x an 8 hour
working day = 160 sheep!
24. The first bits shorn off are around the head and
belly. These par ts are usually a bit stained and are
kept separate from the rest of the fleece.
27. Shed Duties
The rouseabout helps the classer
skir t the fleece, sweep the floors
and pen up more sheep for the shearer.
The wool classer assesses (classes) the skir ted fleece and
places it in the appropriate wool bin.
The wool presser takes the wool from the wool bin and
presses it into wool bales.
Mum- bakes all of the yummy
biscuits and cakes for smoko!
28. Bloopers
Just like you might find some funny things in your
cereal box other people have found
Strange things in their wool bales!
Tea towels
Spanners
Clothes
Babies- don’t worry, it was okay!
Work boots
Hammers
29. Did you know?
It takes 50 skir ted fleeces
to fill a wool bale!
Most wool bales weigh in
the range of 170-190
kilograms. That’s more
than a few of you and I!
30. Wool Fibres
Woolfibres naturally group together
as they grow from the sheep’s skin.
These groups are called staples!
Wool fibres growth with a natural
crimp which gives wool its elasticity.
Merino and
crossbred wool
staples.
31. Micron Wool
What is a micron?
The measurement used to express the diameter of a
wool fibre.
Microns are TINY! A micrometre one millionth of a
metre!
Fine wool Less than 20 microns
Medium wool 20-23 microns
Strong wool` More than 23 microns
32. Wool Value- Where does my wool sit
in the market?
Fibre diameter- how many microns?
Yield
Staple length- length of wool fibres measured in
millimetres.
Colour- white and cream wool can be dyed any
colour!
Staple strength- amount of force required to break
the wool fibre affects the way wool can be
processed and what it is used for.
33. Wool makes you look the top of your game!
Miranda Kerr Copenhagen
spor ting wool! Fashion Week
34. …And feel it too!
The natural oil in wool that
coats each fibre and gives it
impor tant insulation
proper ties is called
lanolin.
This stuff is GREAT for
your skin!
36. Other Things Made From Wool
Felt tip pens
Doonas
Insulation in roofs of houses
Felt hats
Tennis ball covers
Filters to stop oil and dust
Firefighter uniforms
Piano key hammers
Doonas
The inside of cricket balls
37. Why is wool
It doesn’t burn
so wonderful? easily
It’s
It doesn’t get
environmentally
dir ty easily
friendly!
And cool in It keeps you
winter warm in summer
38. Why Farmers Are Impor tant?
Just think:
What would you be eating without the work
of our farmers?
Would you even be wearing clothes?
39. Careers in Agriculture
Agriculture is everywhere- from the boardroom to the bush!
AND… it’s not just for the boys!
Farmer/
Producer
Fashion
Chef
Designer
A teacher
Scientist An ar tist
Accountant
