Silk worms, mankinds dark and dirty secret

Hi- This post is going to be about SILK and silkworms. I am currently raising silkworms to have in my classroom next year. Over the last month I've learned a lot about these little creatures, and about silk in general.

1. Silkworms have been adapted and changed over the thousands of years, so they cannot live outside captivity. They will die.

2. To make silk, they kill the pupua before the complete metamorphosis by puting the cocoon in boiling water.

3. It takes a silkworm 3-4 days to make a silk cocoon, and it is a continuous silk thread about a mile long.

4.The silk is their saliva that hardens when exposed to air.

5. silk worms cannot fly, they only live for about 4 days, reproduce then die. The cycle begins again.

Here is my thoughts about silk, and the process. How depressing that Humans have altered a wonderful creature, for profit and fabric. At first I was like:  " NO WAY i'm NEVER going to wear silk AGAIN" then my mom said " Wait if you don't wear silk, then what will happen to them, they will vanish" This sounds like a ( catch twenty-two, a rock in a hard place, a dilemma) What to do. I will teach about silk worms next year. I remember, learning about silk worms in 3rd grade but I don't remember my teacher telling us about mankind's dirty little secret. I think I will tell the whole story about silk, the worms, and the intervention of humans. I believe an 8 year old should know the vast capablities WE have to change animals and our environment.    TOODLES erin