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Standard V – Section I: The Environment – Near & Far
Introducing the Environment !
The environment is everything around us. It includes the sky and the birds, a rock or a
river, your “Smokin Joe’s” pizza and the box it came in and even other people. The
environment is made up of living and non-living things. While rocks and sand and non-
living things, a parrot flying from tree to tree is a living thing. In fact, all plants and
animals are living things.
The Seven Characteristics of Living Things :
1. They need to take in food from the environment for energy.
2. Show some kind of movement (it may be internal or external).
3. Exchange gases with the environment (breathing).
4. Excrete & remove waste from the body.
5. All living things grow.
6. Sensitive to changes in the environment around them (feel).
7. All living things reproduce.
Sometimes it is not so easy to decide what is living and what is not. A car moves, but it is
not a living thing, while a tree doesn’t seem to move, but it is a living thing. Strawberry
jam came from a living plant but it is not a living thing.
See if you can distinguish between Living & Non-living. Label each of the
images below as a) living, b) always non-living c) non-living but once part of a
living thing.
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Standard V – Section I: The Environment – Near & Far
Plants & Animals Plants & Animals of the Desert
Plants and animals are the two main Plants and animals of the desert have to
groups in living things. There are many adapt to hot and dry conditions. There is
differences between plants and animals where little rainfall in the desert and so
but the main difference is that plants can the most important thing is conserving
produce their own food while animals water.
cannot. Shown below is a desert plant & a
Can you think of more differences desert animal.
between plants & animals. List them How have they adapted to the hot
in the table below. and dry desert condition?
Plants Animals
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Standard V – Section I: The Environment & A Child’s Needs
Dependence on the Environment Cloth & Clothing
All living things depend on the environ- As human beings we also depend on the
ment in one way or another. The most environment for other things, things that
important things that the environment most animals and plants don’t need. One
gives us are food & water. While plants of these essential products is cloth.
are capable of producing their own food Cloth is used for a variety of things but
animals like humans have to go in search one of the most important uses of cloth
of food, or grow it as people do. is to create clothing.
There are four kinds of food: Can you think of some other uses
1. Carbohydrates (sugars) for cloth? List these uses in the space
2. Fats below:
3. Proteins 1. _____________________________
4. Minerals and Vitamins. 2. _____________________________
3. _____________________________
Carbohydrates and fats are energy foods, Match the natural cloth shown
they give us the energy to work, play and below to its plant or animal source:
move around. Proteins are foods that Cotton
help the body grow and repair itself.
These foods are very important for
children. Finally, minerals and vitamins
Wool
help our bodies function and are needed
for healthy tissues.
Linen
Assignment: A Food Diary
Write a diary of all the foods you eat for
breakfast, lunch and dinner for five days.
Put each food item into one of the food Silk
categories shown above. Bring your
diary to class and within your group
discuss which foods from your diet are Hemp/Jute
healthy and which are not. (Image References: Wikipedia, USDA, GFTCL)
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Standard V – Section III: Care & Protection Of The Environment
Looking After Our Home
Although the earth provides us with all Assignment: Pollution Watch
the things we need, food and water, Everyday, even if we don’t realize it, we
cloth, and materials for building houses take part in different activities that cause
and offices, human beings have begun to pollution. Try and find out how much
abuse the environment by either taking pollution you and your family create in a
more than we need (over-exploitation) day by making a table (like the one
or destroying natural resources through shown below) of your activities. Try and
pollution and the destruction of natural think of ways in which those activities
habitats. may have been avoided.
Label the images below that show Time Activity Pollute? Alternative
some of the ways in which people
8 am Breakfast NO -
harm the environment
10 am Car to School YES Bus
6 pm Ate wafers, YES Use a bin
threw packet
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Standard VI – Some Useful Websites
Food & Agriculture Organisation of the U.N
This UN site contains information on the environment, pollution and waste.
http://www.fao.org/
Energy Hog
A fun website on energy and its conservation.
http://www.energyhog.org/childrens.htm
Wikipedia
An online encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia