Houses, Animals & Transportation (PDF)

## Houses: Then and Now Today, Reema and Seema with their parents have gathered at grandfather's house to celebrate his 75th birthday. The whole house has an entirely new look. Grandfather was busy in renovating the house since a year, for this special day. Now, grandfather has a nice, modern new...

## Houses: Then and Now Today, Reema and Seema with their parents have gathered at grandfather's house to celebrate his 75th birthday. The whole house has an entirely new look. Grandfather was busy in renovating the house since a year, for this special day. Now, grandfather has a nice, modern new house. He proudly took his children and grandchildren around the house. He showed them a well-furnished drawing room, bedrooms with air conditioners and a modular kitchen with an electric chimney. Bathrooms had a shower and a bathtub too. The whole house had water supply through pipes. In the evening, children went out for a walk with grandfather. They saw many types of houses. They asked grandfather to tell about them. After returning home, grandfather told them about the types of houses. **Grandfather:** My grandparents lived in a kachcha house. It was made of mud, grass and straw. There was a lot of open space. There were no taps for water. Some houses had a well in the backyard. There were few common wells. Later, when I got married, my father built a semi pakka house. There were very few rooms in it. ## Types of Homes * **Grandfather's ancestral house** * **Grandfather's new house** * **A kachcha house** * **A semi pakka house** ## Animal Homes Different animals live in different habitats. The natural environment in which animals live is known as their habitat. Forests, deserts covered regions are some of the habitats. Animals survive in these habitats by adapting themselves to survive in these surroundings. The way in which the animals adapt themselves to their surroundings is called adaptation. On the basis of their surroundings or habitat, animals can be classified into the following types: * **Terrestrial animals** * **Arboreal animals** * **Aquatic animals** * **Aerial animals** * **Amphibians** **Terrestrial animals** Animals that live on land are known as terrestrial animals. These animals breathe with the help of their lungs and move with their legs. Such animals may be wild or domestic. * A cat * A dog * A horse * Wild animals like lions, tigers and bears live in caves called dens. Elephants and deer live under shades of trees. * An elephant * A lion * A tiger ## Animal Transport The invention of the wheel brought a revolution in transport. The early humans learnt to make cart with wheels. They domesticated animals and used them to pull the carts. The carts were used to carry people and goods from one place to another. The early humans learnt to use animals for transport. * **A tonga** * **A bullock cart** * **Carriage drawn by horses** ### Animals Used in Transport Presently * Camels are used for transport in deserts, as they can withstand the heat and stay without food and water for many days. So, they are called the ship of the desert. * Elephants are used to transport logs in the forest. * Donkeys are used to carry loads in villages. In hilly regions, donkeys, mules and Yaks are used to carry people and loads. * Dogs and reindeers are used to pull carts without wheels called sledges at places where the land is covered with ice and snow. * **A mule carrying a person** * **Yaks carrying people** * **A reindeer pulling a sledge** * **A camel carrying a person** * **An elephant carrying a person** * **A donkey carrying load** ## The Use of Animals During Special Occasions * In some Indian weddings, the bridegroom comes on horse-back. At times, a 'buggy' is also used. A buggy is a carriage pulled by one or two horses. * People, at some tourist places, enjoy buggy rides. * In wildlife sanctuaries, tourists enjoy watching other animals, riding on an elephant. This is called an elephant safari. * Many amusement parks for children on camels, organise fun rides for elephants and horses. * **An elephant safari** * **A marriage buggy** ## Animals Help Us Animals help us in a number of ways. We should be kind to them. We can take care of them in the following ways: * We should give them proper food and clean drinking water. * We should keep them in proper shelters. Shelters should be cleaned regularly. * We should give them a bath regularly. * We should not force the animals to work. They may be ill, injured or tired. * **Food and shelter for animals** ## Arboreal Animals The animals that spend most of their time on trees are known as arboreal animals. Squirrels and monkeys are some arboreal animals. Chimpanzees live both on trees and ground. Baboons live on trees and swing from branch to branch. * **A squirrel** * **A chimpanzee** ## Aerial Animals Animals that fly in the air are called aerial animals. Birds and bats are aerial animals. They have wings that help them to fly. * **A crow** * **A bat** ## Spiders Web A spider's home is the 'web'. A spider makes webs to trap its prey but sometimes the spider itself gets trapped. The web is formed by a liquid produced in spider's body. After coming in contact with air the liquid becomes solid silky thread which is spinned by the spider. This thread is very strong and is used for making nets and fishing baits. * **A spider's web** ## Bird's Nest Birds build their nests to lay and hatch eggs. They protect their eggs and nestlings from enemies and also from heat, rain and cold. Different birds build different nests. ## Aquatic Animals Animals that live in water are called aquatic animals. Fish, turtle, crab and octopus are some aquatic animals. They have fins or limbs for swimming. There are some fish which make their home under water plants. Corals provide shelter to many animals. Crabs and lobsters live inside their own shells * **An owl** * **A bat** * **A fish** * **A turtle** * **A crab** * **An octopus** ## Amphibians Some animals can live both on land and in water. These are called amphibians. Frogs, toads and salamanders are some amphibians. They have lungs to breathe on land. They breathe through their skin in water. They have legs which help them to move on land and webbed feet to swim in water. * **A frog** * **A toad** * **A salamander**