Summary
A silkworm caterpillar spins a single unbroken thread nearly a mile long to wrap itself in a cocoon. Deep Look shows the silkworm's life cycle and the amazing thread people have gathered for thousands of years.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A silkworm goes from egg to hungry caterpillar to a cocoon it spins from one long silk thread, then to a moth. Inside the cocoon, metamorphosis rebuilds the caterpillar into an adult.
- What are the stages of a silkworm's life cycle?
- What does the caterpillar make its cocoon from?
- Why does the silkworm wrap itself up before changing into a moth?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: cocoon, silk, metamorphosis, life cycle.
Try it: Wind a single long thread around your finger, then picture a mile of it. Write how a silkworm builds a cocoon from one thread.