NCERT Class 4 EVS Our Wondrous World Chapter 08 How Things are Made PDF Download

Chapter 8: How Things are Made

We learnt in Grade 3 that things around us are made of different materials. Are you curious to know how these things are made? As an example, let us learn with Pihu how paper is made.

It was a Sunday and Pihu was busy painting in her drawing book. Her mother was reading a newspaper. When Pihu looked up, she noticed a picture of trees on the front page of the newspaper.

[Figure: Pihu and her mother looking at a newspaper, See in your textbook]

Pihu: Paper is made from trees, Maa.

Mother: Yes, Pihu. Your drawing book, this newspaper, paper napkins and even the chart papers you use for school projects, are all made from trees.

Pihu: Does that mean my drawing book is also made from trees?

Mother: Yes, Pihu.

Pihu: Maa, touch this! The surface of this pot looks like it is made from paper. However, it feels rough unlike my drawing book.

Pihu: Maa! This picture says that if we recycle paper, we can save trees. How are trees and paper related to each other?

Mother: That is because, it is made from recycled paper.

Pihu: Maa, can we make such paper?

Mother: Yes, Pihu. Why not? Let us try.

Activity

Make Recycled Paper

1. Collect materials: Old newspapers, some fenugreek seeds (methi) and water.
2. Prepare the paper pulp: Tear the newspapers into small pieces and soak them in water. Put a small quantity of fenugreek seeds in the water and leave it overnight. The fenugreek seeds are used as a binding material.
3. Using a grinder, blend or mash the soaked paper and fenugreek seeds, to create a wet mixture. Soaked paper can also be mashed using hands or any other available tool.
4. Roll out: Spread the paste on a flat base and roll it out into thin sheets.
5. Leave the rolled sheets of paper to dry. Your recycled paper is ready!

[Figure: Steps of making recycled paper, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

Paper comes from the cellulose in trees. When you recycle paper, you save trees because used paper can be turned into new paper instead of cutting down more trees. The fenugreek seeds act as a binder to hold the paper fibres together, which is why recycled paper feels different from commercial paper made in factories.

Activity 2

Colour and design the paper you have made.

Natural Colour Experiment

Cut the recycled paper into pieces of same size. Colour them using natural ingredients mentioned in the table below. You can use any other natural ingredients as well. Make sure that the quantity of ingredients used is the same for colouring each piece of paper. Write down your observations in the table below.

Teacher's Note

Natural ingredients like turmeric, spinach, beetroot and henna contain pigments that can colour paper. These are the same substances used in traditional dyes. When you experiment with different quantities, you will notice that more ingredient gives a brighter colour, while less gives a duller shade. This shows how ancient people coloured fabrics and papers before artificial dyes were invented.

Key Points

• Paper is made from trees. Most paper products, including drawing books, newspapers and chart papers, come from wood fibres.
• Recycled paper can be made by soaking old paper, mixing it into a pulp with a binding material like fenugreek seeds, and then drying it into new sheets.
• Natural ingredients such as turmeric, spinach, beetroot and henna can be used to colour paper, and these give different shades depending on how much is used.

This is a preview of the first 4 pages. To get the complete chapter, click below.