In the olden days, most functional items were made out of wood. The raw material was found in the nearby forests, and most people knew how to make their own tools and furniture. 

Although plastics have replaced wood as the most prominent raw material in items and construction, the old material still has its uses. One of the advantages of wood is that it decomposes in nature. It can also be safely burned. 

Wood is a light material. It makes it possible for us to build houses and buildings without the help of heavy machinery. Wood as a building material also does not need a lot of energy.

Wood conducts heat weakly. This is why saunas are usually made out of wood. 


Image on the left: Wood is a light material, which makes it possible for us to build large constructions without the help of heavy machinery. Image on the right: Saunas are usually made out of wood, because wood conducts heat very weakly.

Paper can be made out of various fibers and grains. Most commonly, it is made from wood pulp, because it is the cheapest available material. The image on the right below shows the edge of a newspaper sheet as seen through a microscope. In it, you can easily distinguish the grains of wood, which together form a unified sheet of paper.

Wasps also know how to make paper. They build nests by mixing wood and spit, which results in a paper-like structure. 



Image on the left: The microscopic image shows the edge of a newspaper sheet. Image on the left: Wasps build nests from a paper-like material.