Chapter 5 — Plants and Animals Live Together

It is about how plants and animals live together. Animals use plants for food, shelter, and rest, and many creatures also live in the soil around plants.

The chapter shows elephants eating grass, moths resting on leaves, caterpillars chewing leaves, earthworms in soil, tailorbirds, woodpeckers, ants, stink bugs, frogs, butterflies, squirrels, barbets, camels, monkeys, owls, sunbirds, bats, leopards, and more.

Soil is the topmost layer of the Earth's surface. It is made from rocks broken into tiny pieces, old leaves, roots, stems, and living and dead animals like insects.

Ants, termites, small beetles, and grasshoppers can be found on the top layer of soil. After rain, earthworms and millipedes also appear in the wet soil.

Animals live near plants because plants provide them with food, shelter, and places to rest. For example, birds nest in tree hollows, caterpillars eat leaves, and butterflies drink nectar from flowers.

Tailorbirds stitch leaves together to make their nests. Squirrels and crows use twigs from plants. Owls and barbets use hollows in tree trunks to bring up their young ones.

Sunbirds and butterflies drink nectar from different flowers.

The chapter tells the story of a caterpillar eating tender leaves on a tagar plant. The caterpillar then forms a cocoon, comes out of the cocoon as a butterfly, and flies away.

No. The chapter asks children to collect soil before and after rain from the same spot and compare its colour, texture, smell, and what they find in it — the soil may feel and look different when wet.

The chapter suggests cupping both ears with your hands and pointing your face in the direction of the bird sound, which helps you hear it more clearly.

Children are asked to stand near a plant, pick up a little soil, feel and smell it, look for insects or leaves in it, observe animals around the plant, and listen to bird sounds.

Animals live in all layers — on leaves and branches, on the ground, and also underground in the soil. Earthworms, ants, and beetles are examples of animals found in the soil.