I don’t understand it at all. What are they even made out of?
In: 465
The clam has a self filtering process from how it consumes that is excreted as mucous that solidifies
Bi-valve molluscs, such as clams and oysters make pearls as a response to an irritant. When something gets inside their shell, like a grain of sand or a sharp piece of shell, it can irritate their soft flesh. They secrete a substance called nacre to surround the irritant so it stops bothering them. They secrete it in layers around the irritant and it hardens into a smooth ball, and that’s what pearls are.
Nacre is actually just a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, which is an extremely common substance. Chalk is calcium carbonate, as are many over-the-counter antacids like Tums or Rolaids.
Imagine clams are like little oysters with a secret superpower. Sometimes, tiny grains of sand or food get inside their shells and bother them, like having a splinter. To protect themselves, the clam makes something special called a pearl.
It’s like when you put a band-aid on a boo-boo. The clam covers the annoying thing with layers and layers of shiny stuff called “nacre.” This nacre makes the pearl, and it’s what makes pearls so pretty and shiny. Nacre is made of a thing called calcium carbonate, it’s also found in the chalk your teacher uses, marble, eggshells, snail shells, etc.
So, clams make pearls to keep themselves safe from the things that bother them, and pearls are made of lots of layers of shiny stuff! 😀
Clam get sand in mouth. Clam coats sand with fancy spit to make smooth. Fancy spit builds up on sand over time. This is pearl.
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