This article will make you think twice when dealing with everyday objects that you think are useless. Actually, the more appropriate term is “look twice” at everyday objects since as kids, you will be using microscopy equipments such as a kid microscope when looking closely at these things.
As the title suggests, this article is all about chicken feathers and what possible products one can produce by studying them and their structure with the help of simple instruments such as a kid microscope.
This article also focuses on Walter Schmidt, a chemist with the Agricultural Research Service. No one would have guessed that this little kid, would eventually end up playing, experimenting and observing chicken feathers using microscopes when he grew up! If you’re a kid, you can also be like Schmidt and conduct your own experiments using a kid microscope. But being an environment- conscious kid, this was probably his way of “cleaning up the world”.
Since his background was connected with the Agricultural Research Service, it is natural that Schmidt had to study the shape, size and chemical properties of all kinds of substances and materials. It was during one of his experimentations that he discovered that chicken feathers could be used to make, of all things, a boat! According to him, this can be made possible by combining fiberglass with chicken feathers. The kind of boat he was referring to though, was not toy boats but canoes made of this mixture are possible.
This is definitely good news for our environment. Imagine how many pound of feathers are produced by poultry companies every year? Thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds! Most farmers don’t even know what to do with them anymore and eventually end up grinding them and mixing them in animal feed to add protein to their diets. Now, Schmidt has found an effective way of putting these byproducts to better use.
Schmidt did not only stop with boats though. Being the environmental chemist that he is, he has also explored making other things using chicken feathers. Among these are dyed paper, cloth, paper plant pots, insulation for homes, air filters for buildings and cars, and even diapers.
This article also gives a description of the composition and what kids can see when they look at chicken feathers under a kid microscope. According to the article, a single barb of the feather can have different appearances depending on the magnification of the kid microscope used. They may look like a pipe, an insect’s leg or an elephant’s leg. Chicken feathers are composed of Keratin, which is also found in wool; only the former is shorter, finer, stronger, and more absorbent.
After reading this article, I hope kids may see the usefulness of things and objects which are believed to be ordinary or simple. There is much to explore in the world of recycling and the first step is having the necessary equipments such as a kid microscope. Who knows, you might be the next Walter Schmidt!