It's probably best for the group to look around the farm before this activity, examine the different varieties of sheep and goat, and look at the type of fleece each produce. Perhaps the group can note down each variety of sheep or goat (or any farmyard animal?) then find words to describe what its coat is like. Is it soft or springy, shaggy or curly, smooth or prickly? You might lead discussion linking the length of coat with the part of the world from which each animal originated (e.g. shaggy highland cows live in cold Scottish glens).

The activity session lasts 30 -40 minutes and starts with the examination of different fleeces and a discussion of when and how the animals are sheared. Perhaps the group can guess from which variety each fleece came? Carding combs are passed around and the group set to work combing the fleece to align the fibres. The group then has a go at spinning the carded fibres using drop spindles. Each child should produce sufficient thread to wind around a card and take back to school. The demonstrator will also show how the spinning wheel was used to speed up this process. Objects and materials will be passed round and discussed to illustrate how thread can be dyed and then made into fabric by weaving, knitting or crochet.

Suggested curriculum links:

Attainment Outcome: Earth and Space
Strand : Changing Materials
Learning Outcome: To observe the ways which raw fleece can be changed by the process of stretching and twisting e.g. carding and spinning (Level A).The above outcome at Level A is directly related to Renfrewshire Guidelines for Science, P3 Unit 1 Lesson 1.

Attainment Outcome: Knowledge and Understanding -Technology
Strand : Needs and how they are met
Learning Outcome: To talk about some everyday needs and the things that are made to meet these e.g. clothes to keep warm (Level A).
To describe how some everyday needs are met by familiar and new products e.g. knitting needles and knitting machines (Level B).

Attainment Outcome: Knowledge and Understanding - Technology
Strand : Resources and how they are managed
Learning Outcome: To name some familiar products, say what they are for and what they are made from e.g. woollen clothes (Level A).
To give some examples of how materials are changed in making products, e.g. raw fleece to jerseys (Level C)
To demonstrate how materials, tools and people are resources necessary to make things. (Level C)