NCERT Class 5 EVS Our Wondrous World Chapter 03 The Mystery of Food PDF Download

Unit 2: Health and Well-being

About the Unit

This unit at the preparatory stage familiarises students with different types of food, importance of balanced food, healthcare, and maintaining good health with regular exercise and rest. Students also learn how traditional agricultural, and cultural practices supported health and well-being in sync with changes in seasons.

This unit in Grade 5 helps students explore how everyday choices support personal and collective well-being. Students learn how to take care of food and explore various traditional Indian methods of food preservation. They learn about the role of good microbes and cultural practices that help keep the food safe.

This unit also encourages students to take care of their home and surroundings for better health. They learn how to make their school a greener, cleaner and more caring place through actions like waste management, water conservation, and practising kindness.

Note to the Teacher

This unit consists of two chapters. Chapter 3 'The Mystery of Food' and Chapter 4 'Our School - A Happy Place'.

Chapter 3: The Mystery of Food

• 'The Mystery of Food' follows detective Disha as she explores how food spoils due to microbes and why certain foods last longer. It covers the science behind food preservation, various preservation methods and their cultural significance. It also touches on the role of good microbes, the importance of proper food storage, and consumption in promoting health, and hygiene.

Chapter 4: Our School - A Happy Place

• 'Our School - A Happy Place' introduces the idea of green school - a space that is clean, safe and caring for students, teachers, and the environment. Students are encouraged to reflect on improving their school through waste management, water conservation and tree plantation, while learning the importance of kindness, respect and positive behaviour in creating a pleasant school environment.

How to Facilitate

• Encourage active observation and experimentation. Help students record their findings in a 'Food Detective' or 'School Explorer' notebook.
• Guide students in sharing personal stories or small-group discussions based on their family's food habits, or preservation techniques.
• Encourage students to explore and share any local or cultural traditions related to food preservation.
• Use real objects and school areas (like the kitchen, garden or corridors) as learning spaces.
• Arrange for students to interact with elders, kitchen staff, recyclers or local vendors to learn about food preservation, waste management, and community practices.
• Motivate students to think critically about their food habits, the role of microbes in health, and how these concepts relate to environmental sustainability.

Chapter 3: The Mystery of Food

Food Spoilage

The Forgotten Tiffin Box!

It was a sunny Monday morning. Disha was a curious girl, always eager to explore things around her. She found the lunch box she had forgotten in school last Friday. There was one of her favourite foods uttapam left in it three days ago, she remembered. When she opened the box, a foul smell came out of it. Her yummy uttapam had some coloured patches. What happened to my uttapam, she wondered! This was a mystery for Disha.

Disha was eager to find out what had caused it - detective Disha was now ready to solve the mysteries of the world around her. Food is an important part of our world. Disha started her enquiry about the food.

Mystery #1: What made my uttapam spoil?

As soon as she reached home, Disha ran to her Anna (elder brother in Tamil) Aditya, who was in Grade 8.

"Anna, what are these coloured patches on the food? It does not smell good!", Disha asked.

He looked and smiled, "That's mould, Disha. These tiny living things are called microbes, which grew on your food and changed it."

Disha enquired, "Microbes? Are they like little lice?".

"Even smaller!", said Anna. "So tiny, you need an instrument called a microscope to see them; they are everywhere, all around us. They grow on different things and make changes to them. Some microbes help us in making curd and digesting our food. They also change the taste and smell of the uttapam, and other food items. We can see this mould as it is made up of a colony of thousands of microbes."

[Figure: Microscope with microbes visible, showing microorganisms inside a human body, See in your textbook]

India is the largest producer of millets in the world. It is very rich in nutrients.

Disha's eyes lit up with curiosity. She quickly noted it down in her notebook -

Finding #1

Microbes: Found in soil, water, the air around us; in plants, animals, and inside us!

Think

Have you ever had an upset stomach? Do you know what could have caused it? What could happen if spoiled food is eaten by mistake? What did you do to get well? Share your experiences with the class.

Teacher's Note

When Aditya tells Disha about microbes, he explains that they are everywhere and both help us (in curd and digestion) and harm us (by spoiling food). The key idea is that microbes are living things, invisible without a microscope, and their activity on food causes visible changes. When you see mould or smell something off, it is a sign that microbes have been at work.

Mystery #2: Why do some foods spoil faster?

That afternoon, Disha noticed a slice of bread that she had left on the balcony for a cat, that did not come for two days. It had coloured patches on it, but the pickles her Paati (grandmother in Tamil) had made two months ago were still delicious as it was covered with oil!

"Strange!", whispered Disha. "Why does some food spoil fast, and some last for a long time?"

Write

Why do you think food gets spoiled?

Teacher's Note

Disha notices that bread spoils quickly but pickles covered with oil stay fresh for months. Oil protects food by blocking air and moisture, which microbes need to grow. Different foods spoil at different rates depending on how much water they contain and how they are stored. Before you continue reading, think about foods at home: which ones go bad fast, and which last a long time? What do you think makes the difference?

Key Points

• Microbes are tiny living things found everywhere - in soil, water, air, and inside living things. They are so small you need a microscope to see them, but they cause visible changes in food like mould and bad smells.
• Some microbes are helpful, such as those that make curd and help us digest food, while others spoil food by breaking it down and changing its taste and smell.
• Foods spoil at different rates depending on their moisture content and storage methods. Foods covered with oil or stored in certain ways can last much longer than foods exposed to air and moisture.

This is a preview of the first 5 pages. To get the complete chapter, click below.