Animals Around Us

Class 1 to 5 EVS studies animals through what children can observe: where they live, what they eat, how they move, what sounds they make, how they care for their young, and how people depend on them. Classification comes from observation, not from definitions.

Grouping animals

Facts CTET repeats

• An animal that eats both plants and animals is an omnivore; the crow, bear and human are examples.
• The frog is an amphibian and lives both on land and in water; the whale and dolphin live in water but are mammals that breathe air and give birth to young.
• The bat flies but is a mammal, not a bird.
• The camel stores fat in its hump, not water, and its long legs, wide feet and thick eyelashes suit desert life.
• Animals that sleep through the winter are said to hibernate; the frog, bear and snake are the usual examples.
• Birds that travel long distances with the season are migratory; the Siberian crane visiting India is the standard case.

Adaptation

Adaptation is the feature that fits an animal to its surroundings. A duck's webbed feet for swimming, a camel's hump for the desert, a polar bear's thick fur for cold, an eagle's sharp claws for gripping prey. Class 4 and 5 EVS asks children to explain the use of a body feature, so the reasoning matters more than the name.

Teaching animals in the classroom

• Start with animals the children actually see: cow, dog, crow, lizard, ant, cockroach.
• Observation of a real ant line or a bird's nest teaches more than a picture chart.
• Use children's own knowledge from home, where many children care for animals daily.
• Include the idea of kindness to animals, and never use classification as an excuse to call an animal useless.

✗ A whale is a fish because it lives in water.  |  ✓ A whale is a mammal; it breathes air through lungs and gives birth to live young.

✗ A camel stores water in its hump.  |  ✓ The hump stores fat, which the body uses when food and water are scarce.

Frequently asked questions

Is a whale a fish or a mammal?

A mammal. It lives in water but breathes air through lungs, is warm-blooded and gives birth to live young that feed on the mother's milk, which are the defining features of a mammal.

Why does a camel have a hump?

The hump stores fat, not water. The body converts this fat into energy when food is scarce, which allows the camel to survive long desert journeys with little to eat or drink.

What is adaptation in animals?

A body feature or habit that suits an animal to its surroundings, such as a duck's webbed feet for swimming, a polar bear's thick fur for the cold, or a camel's wide feet for walking on sand.