This website provides content designed to align with a variety of educational syllabi, including CBSE, SSC across India, and Common Core curricula from major countries. We aim to serve teachers, parents, students, and educational institutions by offering resources that enhance the quality of education. Our mission is to make learning more engaging and enjoyable, ensuring subjects are not only interesting but also deeply insightful.
Nandu woke up and opened his eyes. For a
few seconds he was not sure where he was. It seemed to him that he was
surrounded by a forest of big grey tree trunks.
He blinked his eyes and looked around.
Oh! There was Amma. The grey forest that he had imagined he was in, was
actually the legs and trunks of his family members.
The sun was over head and it was getting
hot. Nani ma trumpetted – made a loud sound. Nani ma is the oldest in this herd
of elephants. She started moving towards the jungle. The other female elephants
saw her and started to follow her. Nandu also went with them.
When they reached the jungle, the
members of the herd started spreading out. Each member went to eat her
favourite leaves and twigs. After they had eaten, the herd moved towards the river.
The baby elephants enjoyed playing in the water. The mothers laid down in the
water and mud on the river bank.
The elephant is the largest and one of
the most powerful and intelligent animals. Even though blue whales are the
largest animals for they grow up to 30 metres, elephants top the list as far as
land animals are concerned. A fully-grown elephant reaches a height of 4 metres
and a weight of 6 metric tons.
The most remarkable feature of the
elephant is its tusks and trunk. The tusks, in fact, are two of its upper teeth
that have grown on the outside and become enlarged. A tame or trained elephant uses
its tusks to support heavy loads while wild elephants use them as weapons of
attack. Tusks are made of ivory which is highly! valuable.
And it is for tusks that elephants are
hunted down and killed. Even though articles made of ivory are banned in most
countries they are available in the black market, and this leads to elephant
poaching.
The trunk is another interesting feature
of the elephant. It serves as an arm and a hand for picking up twigs and leaves
and pushing them into its mouth. The trunk is actually the elephant’s lengthened
nose and upper lip. It is thick and well-protected on the outside but has a
tender inside.
There are two kinds of elephants - the
Asian elephant and the African elephant. The Asian elephant is relatively
smaller than its African counterpart.
While the Asian elephant is 2.75 metres tall
and weighs 3.5 metric tons, the African is 3.5 metres tall and weighs about 5
metric tons, and is darker than the Asian species.
Moreover, the Asian elephant can be easily
tamed or trained and it sleeps lying down while the African elephant is wild
and sleeps upright.
Fun and Games:
Nandu saw his brothers and sisters
pulling each other’s tails. He thought, “I better not go near them. What if
they fall on me? I am still small.” He quietly went and stood near his mother.
Amma gently pushed Nandu towards the
water, as if she was telling him to go and play. Nandu loved to play in the
water. His cousins were already there. Just as he reached near, a strong fountain
of water fell on his head. He got wet. Oh, this was the work of his naughty
cousins. Nandu joined them in the game.
Before sunset, the herd started back
towards the jungle. By then, Nandu was very tired. He settled himself between
his mother’s front legs and fell asleep as he drank her milk.
You have read about Nandu and the
elephant herd. An elephant herd has only females and baby elephants. The oldest
female is the leader of the herd. A herd may have 10 to 12 female elephants and
young ones. Male elephants live in the herd till they are 14 –15 years old.
Then they leave
their herd and move around alone. Nandu
will also leave his herd when he is that old.
Like elephants, some other animals also
live together in groups. These animal groups are called herds. Animals in herds
usually move around together, searching for food.
The basket is the only home I have. I
have forgotten what it is like in the open jungle and fresh air. For me it is
only the basket and the snake charmer!
You see me in circus – dancing and
jumping They make us dance and dance and dance. Even if we don’t want to or we
are in pain. That too, with anempty stomach!
You have only seen how fast I run. Have
you seen my ‘shoes’? Do you know how much pain I get when they fix the horse
shoes to my hooves?
They make us dance and dance and dance.
Even if we don’t want to or we are in pain. That too, with an empty stomach!
Meow! Meow! Meow! I can just roam around
everywhere. Children love me a lot. They pat me and also give me milk.
Gurtargoo! Gurtargoo! Do you know people
specially call out to me to feed grain.
You know very well that ears help us to
hear. In some animals you can see the ears, in some you can not.
We can not see a bird’s ears. A bird has tiny holes on both sides of its head. Generally, the holes are covered with feathers. If you look carefully, A bird have tiny hole on each side of its head. The hole are generally covered with feathers.They help the bird to hear.
Animals like lizard crocodile etc also
have tiny holes as ears but we cannot see them.
Whose Skin:
Now you know how to recognise animals by
their ears. Let us see if we can recognise animals by their skin. The different
patterns on the animals are due to the hair on their skin.
Have you ever seen an animal without
hair or whose hair have been removed? Imagine how the animal would look if it did
not have any hair on its skin. The different patterns on animals skin are due
the hair on their skin.
So, what did you note? Those animals
whose ears you can see have hair on their body. Then how these animals increase
number.
Those animals that whose ears we can
see,have hair on their body. These animals directly give birth to young ones we
called them as viviparous.
Ex: cow, dog cat….
These animals give birth to the young
ones. Those animals that do not have ears on the outside, do not have hair on
their body. These animals lay eggs. We called as oviparous.
It rains so much where we live. Sometimes
after the rain, there is knee-high water everywhere. But that does not stop us
from getting to school. We hold our books in one hand and bamboo with the
other. We quickly cross the bamboo and rope bridge to reach school.
Everyday we have to cross the river to
get to school. The river is wide and deep. There is a strong iron rope across
the river. On both the sides it is tied tightly with strong trees or rocks. There
is a trolley (an open box made of wood) attached with the rope. Four or five of
us sit in the trolley. A pulley helps the trolley to move across the rope. We
reach the other side of the river in a short time.
We ride our bicycles on the long road to
school. At first, girls here did not go to school, because it was too far. But
now groups of 7-8 girls easily ride even through the difficult roads.
Look at our special transport. It sounds
phut-phut-phut when it runs. Is it not something special! The front looks
like a motorcycle but the carriage at the back is made out of planks of wood.
We have to go through a thick forest to
reach school. At some places, it is so thick that even sunlight does not pass
through. It is also very silent there, you can only hear the sounds of
different birds and other creatures.
We live in the mountains. The paths are
rocky and uneven. The children who live in the plains will find it difficult to
walk on these. But we can easily race up and down.
The elephant is the largest and one of
the most powerful and intelligent animals. Even though blue whales are the
largest animals for they grow up to 30 metres, elephants top the list as far as
land animals are concerned. A fully-grown elephant reaches a height of 4 metres
and a weight of 6 metric tons.
