Our Environment

Unit 1

Our Environment

You will learn about

* The nature of different environments-Forests, Plains, Hills, Ponds, Rivers, Seas and Deserts

Our earth has different land forms and water bodies like forests, plains, mountains, hills, deserts, rivers and seas.

There was a big celebration in school for the National Children‛s Science Congress. Everybody was excited. Students had come from many schools from all over India. They introduced themselves and spoke about the places they had come from.

Forest

Daniel said,”I live near a forest.

A forest has a large number of trees. The ground is covered with bushes and grass. Streams and ponds are also found in the forest. It is home to many animals like elephants, tigers, deer, lions, bears and snakes. Birds like peacocks, doves, sparrows, parrots and woodpeckers live there. You can hear the different sounds of animals. I like the forest. It is cool and shady”.

The age of a tree can be found by counting the number of annual growth rings in its trunk.

Forests are useful to us in many ways. We get wood, honey, fruits, rubber and many other things from forests.

Word list

forest, shade, bushes, sounds, ground, grass, cool

Some birds found in forests can also be seen near our houses. Put a tick (✓) mark for the birds that you have seen.

Plain and Hill

Tharun said, “I come from a farming family.

We live in the plains. A plain is a flat land area. It is warmer than the hills. Plains are important for growing crops. Without growing crops, how can we get our food?

Farms get water from the rain, rivers, lakes, ponds and wells. We find many animals like cows, goats, bullocks, buffalo and many kinds of birds there. I like to watch the birds”.

Kamakshi said, “I live in the hills.

A hill is like a mountain but not so high. Hills are generally green and beautiful. It is also much cooler than the plains. People visit the hill stations especially in summer”.

Word list: hill, hill station, summer, farming, crops, step farms

Look at this picture. This hill looks as if steps have been made on it. Crops are grown in the step farms, also called as terrace farms. Tea and coffee are grown on some hills.

* Udhagamandalam (Ooty) is called the ‘Queen‛ and Kodaikanal is called the ‘Princess‛ of the hill stations in Tamil Nadu.

* Our state animal, the Nilgiri Tahr, is found in the Nilgiri mountains.

Fill in the columns with the given words.

(cool, tea, flat, step farms, warm, sugarcane, hill station, coffee, high, crops)

Plain: flat, warm, sugarcane, high, crops

Hill : cool, tea, step farms, hill station, coffee,

Pond

 Sulaiman said, “I would like to speak about the pond in my village. A pond is a place where water collects. It gets filled by rain. Fishes, insects, snakes, frogs, crabs and turtles live in a pond. Flowers like water lily and lotus are also found in ponds. A lake is bigger than a pond”.

Draw the fish as given below and colour it.

River and Sea

 Sultana said, ”I live near a river. I love to watch the river flowing. It starts its journey on a mountain, follows a path and finally flows into the sea.

Word list: river, sea, path, boat race, salty

We use river water in many ways. Because of this, in olden days, people lived near rivers. Many kinds of fishes, crabs and birds live in and around the river. Sometimes boat races are also held in the river. My brothers like to participate in the boat races”.

Journey of a River

Sea

 Gopal said, “I belong to a family of fisher folk. We live near the sea. A sea is a large water body. The sea water is salty. We get salt from the sea. Plants, fishes, turtles, prawns and crabs live in the sea. We go fishing in the sea using fishing boats called Catamarans (Kattumaram) and fishing nets”.

We get pearls from oysters.

Put a tick (✓) in the suitable box.

Desert

Word list: desert, sandy, quiet, sand dune, cactus

Mewa Ram and Kamala said, “We come from a desert area. A desert is a hot and sandy place. There are hills of sand called sand dunes. The Cactus plant grows in the desert since it needs very little water to live.

Camels are used for travelling in the desert. The camel is called the ‘Ship of the Desert‛. Since we have very little water, we use it carefully”.

All the students were happy to know about each other‛s homes and surroundings. They became aware that they were a part of nature. They took a pledge to care for the environment and the natural life around them. Shall we also take such a pledge?

The camel can drink a large amount of water at one go. It can live without food and water for many days.

Colour the ones which belong to a desert.