Examining the structure of cotton and its characteristics is a good way to begin teaching about cotton. Cotton is a short, fluffy fiber that grows in warm climates. Today, most of the world's cotton grows in the United States, Uzbekistan, China and India. In the U.S., cotton production takes place in the South, from the East to the West coasts. Cotton is a short, smooth fiber -- in contrast to wool's lengthy, scaly fibers. Cotton's natural fiber construction gives it both its strength and moisture-absorbing properties. Composed of cellulose layers around a hollow core, its cells are arranged at alternating angles, which gives it its strength. This layering, and the cells' hollowness, allow cotton to effectively absorb moisture as well.
You can create a timeline highlighting interesting facts throughout history relating to the growth of cotton. Archaeological evidence has shown cotton grown intentionally -- as opposed to in the wild -- in India 5,000 years ago, in America 7,000 years ago and in Egypt as long ago as 12,000 years ago. In fact, many ancient Egyptian mummies were wrapped in cotton cloths. At this time, cotton was processed and spun by hand, an exceedingly tedious process. One of the first crops planted in the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, was cotton -- and from there, cotton grew into a crop that the Southern colonies were highly dependent upon. For the next 150 years, all cotton crops were shipped back to England for processing. After the War of Independence, anyone who knew how to operate spinning machines in Great Britain was forbidden to leave the country, in order for the British to maintain the monopoly on textiles.
The cotton gin was an extremely important invention in American history, and makes an excellent focus for teaching about cotton. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, a hand-crank machine that processed cotton by plucking the seeds from the fluffy cotton fiber. This invention revolutionized the United States' cotton industry. At this time, cotton picking was done by slaves. A slave could usually gin about 1 lb. of cotton a day, but with Whitney's machine, one slave could gin 50 lbs. of cotton in a day. If possible, take students on a tour of a plantation or to a museum with a cotton gin. Ask them to speculate on the effects that this invention had on the U.S. Students may think this relieved the need for slaves -- when in reality, the sudden growth in profitability of cotton only made slavery more desirable for plantation owners.
Cotton is among the most popular fibers for clothing. Ask students to spend an evening noticing everything in their home that is made from cotton. Give them a hint by encouraging them to notice clothing, upholstery and drapery -- and even money. (A bale of cotton, which weighs almost 500 pounds and is the size of a refrigerator, can make 313,600 $100 bills!) Discuss the modern cotton industry: Students probably don't know that the U.S. produces 43 million tons of cotton a year, with Texas, Mississippi and Georgia dominating the industry.