CBSE Class 3 Environmental Studies Save the Environment Notes Set 06

What is our environment?

Everything around us is our environment. It includes living things such as plants, animals and people, and non-living things such as air, water, soil, sunlight and buildings. We depend on the environment for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. So we must keep it clean and safe.

Pollution

When harmful things are added to air, water or land, the environment becomes dirty and unsafe. This is called pollution. There are four main kinds.

Air pollution

Air pollution is the mixing of smoke, dust and harmful gases in the air. It is caused by smoke from vehicles and factories, burning of garbage, plastic, dry leaves and wood, and bursting of crackers. It can make us cough and cause breathing trouble. We can reduce it by:

1. growing more trees,

2. walking, cycling or using the bus for short distances,

3. not burning garbage or dry leaves,

4. not bursting crackers.

Water pollution

Water pollution happens when waste and dirt get into ponds, rivers, lakes and seas. It is caused by throwing garbage in water, by factories letting dirty water into rivers, and by washing clothes and animals in water bodies. Dirty water can cause diseases and harm fish and other water animals. We can reduce it by:

1. never throwing waste in water bodies,

2. not washing clothes or utensils in ponds and rivers,

3. not wasting water.

Land pollution

Land pollution is the dirtying of soil by garbage, plastic bags, factory waste and too many chemical fertilisers. Garbage heaps attract flies and rats and spread disease. We can reduce it by:

1. throwing waste only in dustbins,

2. planting more trees,

3. using natural manure instead of chemicals.

Noise pollution

Very loud and unpleasant sound is noise. It can hurt our ears and make us feel tired and angry. Loud music, honking of horns, loudspeakers and crackers cause noise pollution. We can reduce it by keeping the volume of the music and TV low, not honking unnecessarily and planting trees, which absorb some sound.

The three Rs

We can reduce waste by following three Rs.

1. Reduce: use fewer things and do not waste.

2. Reuse: use the same thing again, for example an old jar as a pencil holder or the other side of used paper.

3. Recycle: turn waste into new things, for example old paper into new paper.

It also helps to keep two dustbins at home: green for wet waste such as vegetable peels, which can be made into compost, and blue for dry waste such as paper, plastic and metal, which can be recycled.

Worked examples

Example 1. Is honking of horns an example of air, water, land or noise pollution?
It is noise pollution because it produces loud, unpleasant sound.

Example 2. How can you reuse an empty plastic bottle?
You can grow a small plant in it or use it as a pen stand.

Example 3. A child throws a chip packet on the road. What should he do instead?
He should put it in a dustbin, because litter on the ground causes land pollution.

Quick Check Questions