Chapter 8 — How Things are Made

Chapter 8 of the Class 4 The World Around Us NCERT textbook (Our Wondrous World), "How Things are Made", follows a girl named Pihu as she discovers that paper comes from trees and learns to make recycled paper at home using old newspapers, water, and fenugreek seeds as a binding agent. The chapter also introduces natural dyes, different types of paper and their uses, the Braille system, and the 5Rs of waste management — Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle. Download the PDF and explore chapter summaries and Q&A below.

• How Paper is Made and Recycled — The chapter explains that paper is made from wood pulp, requiring many trees, large amounts of water, and energy. It teaches students a hands-on method to make recycled paper using torn newspaper pieces, water, and fenugreek seeds (methi) as a binding material. The soaked pulp is blended, spread on a flat surface, rolled thin, and left to dry.
• Natural Dyes for Colouring Paper — Students experiment with colouring their recycled paper using natural ingredients such as turmeric, spinach, beetroot, and henna. Natural dyes are made from different parts of plants — leaves, flowers, roots, seeds, and stems — and are safe to use on materials like paper, clothes, and pots.
• Different Types of Paper and Their Uses — The chapter asks students to observe and compare everyday paper types including writing paper, newspaper, art paper, cardboard, and tissue paper. Tissue paper is thin, soft, and absorbent, making it suitable for cleaning, while thick and hard cardboard is used for making packaging boxes. The chapter also highlights the Braille system, which uses raised-bump patterns on special paper to help visually challenged people read and write.
• The 5Rs of Waste Management — The chapter introduces a five-step plan to reduce waste: Refuse (say no to single-use items), Reduce (use both sides of paper), Reuse (use a gift bag again), Repurpose (turn old newspapers into toys or decor), and Recycle (convert old newspapers into handmade paper). Students practise classifying real-life examples — such as Maya refusing a plastic straw and Kabir painting an old bottle as a vase — under the correct R.

1. 01Paper is made from wood pulp; making it requires cutting many trees, large amounts of water, and energy.
2. 02Recycled paper can be made at home using old newspapers, water, and fenugreek seeds as a binding material.
3. 03Natural dyes from turmeric, spinach, beetroot, and henna can be used to colour recycled paper safely.
4. 04In earlier times people used cloth, leaves, wooden boards, and palm leaves (talapatra) instead of paper.
5. 05Banana fibre is an environment-friendly alternative material that can be used to make paper and save trees.
6. 06Cardboard is thick and hard and used for packing boxes; tissue paper is thin, soft, and absorbs water.
7. 07The Braille system uses tiny raised bumps on paper to help visually challenged people read and write.
8. 08The 5Rs of waste management are Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle.