4th Grade Virginia Studies SOL Practice Exam

Separating cotton seeds from the fiber is what the cotton gin does. This machine quickly pulls apart the cotton fibers from the seeds, turning a long, slow hand task into a fast process. Before the gin, workers spent a lot of time picking seeds out by hand, which limited how much cotton could be prepared for spinning into fabric. The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, sped up this step, boosting cotton production and shaping the economy of the Southern states. The other options don’t fit because weaving into fabric happens after the cotton is cleaned, harvesting is about growing and collecting the plants, and cleaning could refer to removing dirt, but the machine’s specific job is to separate seeds from the fiber.