Food We Eat – Class 3 The World Around Us Chapter 8 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 3The World Around UsChapter 8NCERT book: Our Wondrous World - Class 3

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 8 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 8: Food We Eat

Introduction

This chapter is about the food we eat and why we eat it. Children talk about their favourite home-made dishes. They meet Shirin, a fast runner who learns the value of a balanced diet, and discover that food changes with the seasons and from place to place. It comes from different parts of plants and from animals.

What's in this Chapter

1. My favourite food. Children draw and name their favourite home-made dishes and share why they like them. Some foods are sweet, some sour, some spicy and some bitter. A side box explains Chhappan bhog: special food prepared on festivals and auspicious occasions, with 56 varieties blending six tastes: sweet (meetha), spicy (teekha), astringent (kasaila), sour (khatta), salty (namkeen) and bitter (karva).

2. Story of Shirin, the Runner. Shirin in Class 3 ran faster than everyone, but she often fell sick. She told a champion runner, "I like only rice and potatoes." The champion said, "Shirin, it is good that you eat rice and potatoes, but you must eat a lot of other things as well, to have a strong and healthy body." She advised vegetables and fruits, grains like rice, ragi, jowar, wheat and bajra, and pulses (dal) and nuts, adding that "it is always good to eat food cooked at home." Shirin practised harder and ate a variety of home-cooked food. After a few months she felt energetic and healthy, and won a medal for her school.

3. We eat different things. In summer we enjoy kulfi, ice-cream and tender coconut water. In winter we eat warm food, soups and stew and hot drinks. Mangoes and melons come in summer, and plenty of apples in winter. People in different parts of the country eat many delicious foods.

4. Drinks and water. Children name tender coconut water, mango juice, aam panna, orange juice and lime water in their own language. In summer we sweat and lose water from our body, so we drink more water, buttermilk, nimbu pani, aam panna, sugarcane juice or coconut water. We also sweat while playing. "Water is life."

5. Where does food come from? We eat different parts of plants:

  • Leaves: spinach (palak), fenugreek (methi), coriander (dhaniya), cabbage, mustard
  • Fruits: guava, sapota, apple, mango
  • Roots: carrot, radish, beetroot
  • Stems: potatoes, bamboo shoots, ginger, onion
  • Seeds: grains, pulses, dry fruits

    • Some foods come from animals: milk, curd, ghee, cheese, paneer, honey, eggs and meat.

    Puzzle time: two commonly used ingredients come neither from plants nor from animals. Salt is one such ingredient, and water is another.

    Key Ideas

  • We need a variety of food for a strong, healthy body. This is a balanced diet.
  • Home-cooked food is good for us.
  • Seasonal fruits and vegetables change through the year.
  • Our body needs a lot of water, especially when we sweat.
  • Food comes from plants (leaves, fruits, roots, stems, seeds) and from animals.
  • Sharing food and not wasting it are good habits.

    • Activities from the Book

  • Tick the foods you eat regularly and decide which belong in a balanced diet.
  • Make summer and winter lists of fruits, vegetables and special dishes.
  • Tick the plant parts you eat.
  • Write the recipe of your favourite dish.
  • Draw three thalis for morning, afternoon and night.
  • Eating together: bring a fruit and make fruit chaat or salad with your class.
  • Think: what would you serve a guest who arrives suddenly?

    • Words to Learn

  • Balanced diet (संतुलित आहार): eating many different kinds of healthy food
  • Grains (अनाज): rice, wheat, ragi, jowar, bajra
  • Pulses (दालें): dal
  • Seasonal (मौसमी): available in a particular season
  • Sweat (पसीना): water that comes out of our skin when we are hot or active
  • Leafy vegetables (पत्तेदार सब्ज़ियाँ): palak, methi, dhaniya
  • Root (जड़): the part of the plant under the soil, like carrot and radish
  • Stem (तना): like potato and ginger
  • Recipe (बनाने की विधि): steps to cook a dish
  • Ingredient (सामग्री): a thing used to make a dish
  • Energetic (ऊर्जावान): full of energy

    • Tips for Parents & Teachers

  • Retell Shirin's story at mealtime and let your child count how many different foods are on the plate.
  • Visit a vegetable market and sort vegetables into leaves, roots, stems, fruits and seeds.
  • Make a simple lassi or fruit chaat together and name each ingredient as plant-based or animal-based.
  • Remind children to drink water often, especially after play.
  • Ask grandparents about traditional seasonal dishes.

    • Common Mistakes

  • Thinking potato and ginger are roots. The book lists them as stems.
  • Thinking eating only one favourite food is enough. Shirin fell sick until she ate a variety.
  • Forgetting that salt and water come from neither plants nor animals.

    • 💡 Key Learning Points

    • ✓We need to eat a variety of foods — vegetables, fruits, grains, pulses and nuts — for a strong and healthy body (a balanced diet).
    • ✓Shirin's story shows that practice plus healthy home-cooked food made her energetic and a winner.
    • ✓Foods change with seasons and regions: kulfi and coconut water in summer, soups and hot drinks in winter.
    • ✓We eat leaves, fruits, roots, stems and seeds of plants, and foods like milk, curd, ghee, paneer, honey, eggs and meat from animals.
    • ✓Our body needs a lot of water, especially when we sweat — 'water is life'.

    👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

    • →Begin by writing children's favourite foods on the board and let each child speak about one (as the book suggests).
    • →Tell Shirin's story as a role-play: one child is Shirin, one the champion.
    • →Organise a 'Food Mela' with grains, spices, fruits and vegetables, and invite parents to share traditional dishes.
    • →Bring real vegetables to class and let children sort them into leaves, roots, stems, fruits and seeds.
    • →Use the Chhappan bhog box to discuss the six tastes, and let children taste safe examples (sweet jaggery, sour lemon).
    • →Do the fruit chaat activity together to teach sharing and to discuss avoiding food waste.
    • →Ask children to find the two ingredients that come from neither plants nor animals (salt and water).

    📋 Assessment Questions

    1. Can the child explain why we need to eat different kinds of food?
    2. Can the child sort foods by plant part (leaf, fruit, root, stem, seed) and name foods from animals?
    3. Can the child name two summer and two winter foods?
    4. Can the child explain why we drink more water in summer?
    5. Did the child write a recipe and draw three thalis for different meals?

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    Keep learning

    All chapters in Our Wondrous World - Class 3

    1. 1. Family and Friends
    2. 2. Going to the Mela
    3. 3. Celebrating Festivals
    4. 4. Getting to Know Plants
    5. 5. Plants and Animals Live Together
    6. 6. Living in Harmony
    7. 7. Water – A Precious Gift
    8. 8. Food We Eat
    9. 9. Staying Healthy and Happy
    10. 10. This World of Things
    11. 11. Making Things
    12. 12. Taking Charge of Waste