Activity Books Wool & Sheep Activity Book | Page 16

THE WOOL STORY
Wool has developed because humans raised and bred sheep for wool.
The ancestors of our tame sheep had long hair and a soft, downy undercoat.
Shepherds chose to keep and raise the young from the sheep that had more
of the soft downy undercoat. Slowly the long hair was replaced by wool. Wild
sheep do not have wool.
Over 8,000 years ago,
people domesticated
sheep. Sheep were one of
the first animals to be
herded by humans. Sheep
helped provide people
with food, clothing and
shelter. As humans moved
from place to place, sheep
were easy to herd and
take with them.
Buying and selling
wool cloth was important
to many areas. As early as
4,000 B.C., woolen cloth
was being used in the city
of Babylon. Babylon means
“land of wool.”
Today, there are over
1 billion sheep in the world
and more than 200
different breeds. Last year
sheep produced 50 million
(50,000,000) pounds of
wool in the United States.
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Wool is versatile. Wool is comfortable to wear year-around because it is an
absorbent fiber that helps regulate body temperature.