Plants and Animals Live Together – Class 3 The World Around Us Chapter 5 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 3The World Around UsChapter 5NCERT book: Our Wondrous World - Class 3

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 5 of the NCERT Class 3 The World Around Us book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 5: Plants and Animals Live Together

Introduction

Chapter 5 builds on Chapter 4: "Where there are plants, there are animals too." Look carefully and you will find lots of animals living on, around and even underneath plants. Children explore the soil, spot animals near their "plant friend", learn how animals use plants for food, shelter and resting, and listen to the sounds of birds.

What's in this Chapter

Animals with plants (pictures): elephants feeding on grass, a moth resting on a leaf, a caterpillar chewing a leaf, earthworms on leaves and soil, a tailorbird singing, a woodpecker on a tree trunk, ants building a nest with leaves, a colourful stink bug, a frog resting on a leaf, a butterfly on a leaf, squirrels using tree hollows to hide and rest, and a barbet using a tree hollow for nesting.

Life in the Soil: Stand on the soil near a plant, feel it, look at it and smell it. Is it dry, damp, rough, smooth, hard or grainy? Repeat the day after it rains and compare. Compare with soil far away from plants.

What is soil? "Soil is the topmost layer of the Earth's surface." It is made from rocks broken into tiny pieces, plus old leaves, roots, stems and living and dead animals like insects. Ants, termites, small beetles and grasshoppers live on the top layer; after rain, earthworms and millipedes may appear. Some insects wait for the rains to come out, and seeds can stay in the soil for a long time and sprout when it rains.

How animals use plants: camels eat leaves; owls use tree hollows to bring up their young; squirrels and crows use twigs to build nests; monkeys eat fruits; sunbirds and butterflies drink nectar from flowers; tailorbirds stitch leaves to build nests; bats and leopards rest on branches; caterpillars munch leaves.

Sounds of Birds: Close your eyes and listen; cup your ears and turn towards the sound to hear more clearly. Write down bird sounds (example: pigeon — "Gutru Gu"). Do you hear more birds in the morning, afternoon or evening?

Put in order: Suma watches a caterpillar on a tagar plant eating tender leaves. The life-cycle steps are: it stopped eating → it formed a cocoon → it came out of the cocoon → it was a butterfly → it flew away gently.

Key Ideas

Plants and animals live together; many animals live on, around and under plants.

Animals use plants for food, shelter (nests, hollows) and resting.

Soil is the top layer of the Earth, made of tiny rock pieces and old plant and animal material, and full of small creatures.

Rain changes soil and brings out new plants and animals.

We can learn about birds by listening carefully to their sounds.

Activities from the Book

Pick up soil near your plant friend and record how it feels and what it has (nothing, leaves, small stones, insects).

Repeat after rain; compare with soil far from plants.

Fill the table: I saw … / It was on … / What was it doing?

Listen for bird sounds, cup your ears, and write bird names with their sounds.

Draw your plant friend with coloured dots showing where you spotted animals.

Put the caterpillar-to-butterfly changes in order.

Words to Learn

Soil (मिट्टी) — the top layer of the Earth's surface

Insect (कीट) — a small animal with six legs, like an ant

Earthworm (केंचुआ) — a long soft animal that lives in soil

Nest (घोंसला) — a home birds make for their young

Hollow (कोटर) — an empty space inside a tree

Nectar (मकरंद) — sweet juice in flowers

Caterpillar (इल्ली) — the young stage of a butterfly

Cocoon (कोया) — the case a caterpillar forms before becoming a butterfly

Damp (नम) — a little wet

Shelter (आश्रय) — a safe place to live or rest

Tips for Parents & Teachers

After rain, go out together and look for earthworms and new plants.

Keep a small "bird sounds" list at home for a week — morning and evening.

Look under a potted plant or fallen leaves for tiny creatures; observe and put them back gently.

Watch a caterpillar on a plant over a few days, if you find one.

Common Mistakes

Thinking soil is just dust. Soil contains tiny rock pieces, old leaves, roots and living creatures.

Thinking animals use plants only for food. They also use them for shelter, nesting and resting.

Mixing up the order: the caterpillar forms a cocoon first, and the butterfly comes out later.

💡 Key Learning Points

✓Where there are plants there are animals; animals live on, around and under plants.
✓Animals use plants for food (leaves, fruits, nectar), shelter (nests, hollows) and resting (branches).
✓Soil is the topmost layer of the Earth, made of tiny rock pieces, old leaves, roots, stems and animals.
✓Soil is home to ants, termites, beetles, earthworms and millipedes; rain brings out many new plants and animals.
✓Listening carefully, and cupping our ears, helps us hear and identify different birds.

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Take children to their plant friends and let them touch, look at and smell the soil; record observations.
→Repeat the soil activity the day after rain and discuss the changes.
→Use the picture page to play 'Which animal? Where does it live?'
→Do a silent listening walk; practise cupping ears towards bird sounds and imitate the calls.
→Make a class chart of animals seen on plants with columns 'I saw', 'It was on', 'What was it doing?'
→Use picture cards to put the caterpillar-to-butterfly stages in order.
→Remind children to observe creatures gently and never harm them.

📋 Assessment Questions

Can the child describe how soil near a plant looks, feels and smells?
Can the child say what soil is made of?
Can the child give three examples of animals using plants for food, shelter or rest?
Can the child name a bird and the sound it makes?
Can the child arrange the caterpillar-to-butterfly steps in the correct order?

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