Highland Park Elementary School
Austin, Texas
My class has been studying cotton, from the planting stage to the manufacturing of cotton products.
The children have learned a great deal and are eager to tell you all about "cotton". For additional
information on cotton, you may want to check out the North Carolina Cotton Information Page.
Evelyn Powers,
epowers@hipark.austin.isd.tenet.edu
- Kevin
- Erin
- Rachel
- Samantha
- Kyle
- Rose
- Chris
- Colin
- Patrick
- Liza
- Issac
- Hart
- Amy
- Mackenzie
- Daniel
- Jeb
- Cole
- Alex
- Lane
- Mary
Kevin
In the United States cotton is grown in the south. This part of the United States is called the Cotton Belt.
To Student List
Erin
To grow cotton, the plants need a warm climate, good soil, and plenty of water.
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Rachel
Flower buds appear on cotton plants about two months after the cotton was planted.
To Student List
Samantha
It takes three weeks for the blossoms to open. The flower changes from creamy white to dark yellow to pink and finally to dark red.
To Student List
Kyle
The flowers fall off the cotton plants in three days. Pods called cotton bolls appear where the flowers were.
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Rose
The warm sun makes the fiber inside a cotton boll expand and split the boll apart. The fluffy cotton breaks out and looks like white cotton candy.
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Chris
The boll weevil is an insect that destroys cotton plants. No good way has been found to get rid of boll weevils.
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Colin
Sometimes airplanes spray poison over cotton fields where there are boll weevils.
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Patrick
When there is not enough rain for cotton to grow, farmers use irrigation. That means the cotton is watered by using pipes or ditches or streams.
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Liza
Cotton used to be picked by hand by slaves. The farmers did not have to pay them much money. This was one of the causes of the Civil War.
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Stuart
Today almost all cotton is picked by machines called cotton picking machines or strippers.
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Isaac
After the cotton is picked, it is loaded onto trailers and taken to the cotton gin.
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Hart
In 1793 Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. The machines did the work much faster than when it was done by hand.
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Amy
The cotton goes through cleaning machines at the gin to remove dirt, small twigs, and dried leaves.
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Mackenzie
After the cotton is cleaned at the gin, it goes through another machine that separates the seeds from the fiber.
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Daniel
From the gin, the clean fiber is pressed together and made into bales. Each bale weighs about 500 pounds.
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Jeb
The cotton bales are sold to textile mills where the fiber is made into thread and fabric.
To Student List
Cole
The most important part of the cotton plant is the fiber. It is used to make cotton material.
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Alex
The cotton seeds are sold to the oil mill where the fuzz is removed from them. The bare seeds are then made into oil. Then foods can be made from the oil.
To Student List
Lane
The short fuzz on the cotton seeds is called linters. It is used to make mattresses, cushions, and plastics.
To Student List
Mary
The world uses more cotton than any other fiber. Two hundred fifty pairs of men's cotton pants can be made from one bale of cotton.
To Student List
Copyright 1995 Highland Park Elementary School, Austin, Texas
