NCERT Class 5 EVS Our Wondrous World Chapter 07 Energy How Things Work PDF Download

Unit 4: Things Around Us

About the Unit

This unit at the preparatory stage aims to familiarise students with various things around them - how things work and how things are made. In Grades 3 and 4, students have engaged with local toys like (spinners and paper boats) to understand how they work. They have also learned about how things are made by exploring the processes of bricks, paper, etc.

While making things with locally available materials students learn useful methods of sustainable development, including refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle (the 5 Rs) so that they can make responsible decisions. By making things with their own hands, they develop a deeper appreciation for the materials we use in everyday life, and also learn to connect and care for their environment.

In Grade 5, this unit invites students to explore how everyday things, like energy and cloth, are made and used. Through simple activities and local examples, they learn how energy enables movement and light, how threads become fabric, and why reusing things and clean energy matter. It helps them see the unseen processes behind familiar things in their homes and surroundings.

Note to the Teacher

The unit consists of two chapters: Chapter 7 'Energy - How Things Work' and Chapter 8 'Clothes - How Things are Made'.

Chapter 7: Energy - How Things Work

'Energy - How Things Work' introduces students to the concept of energy by connecting it with everyday experiences. They learn about the different forms of energy used at home and society. Through hands-on activities and examples, students explore how energy makes things work, and the importance of using clean and efficient energy. The simple hands-on activities enable students to play and learn about energy, and its possible uses.

Chapter 8: Clothes - How Things are Made

'Clothes - How Things are Made' explores how cloth is made; starting from natural patterns like birds weaving nests, to human methods of spinning, weaving and stitching. Through hands-on activities and stories from across India, students learn how threads become fabric, discover local traditions like handloom and embroidery, and understand the value of reuse, recycling and creativity in everyday materials.

How to Facilitate

• Teachers may use the chapter to help students connect everyday objects, like clothes, fans or stoves to larger ideas of work, energy and making.
• Encourage students to observe and document local practices - how people cook, keep warm or cool, stitch, or reuse cloth in their homes or community.
• Help students see weaving, stitching, and energy use as a part of local knowledge and skills, embedded in their family, neighbourhood and region.
• Explore why people in various regions wear different clothes or use many kinds of fuels - linking local diversity to geography, tradition and availability of resources.
• Encourage students to reflect and take pride in their surroundings, and to recognise how everyday actions and skills in their homes, schools and communities are part of India's encouraging story.

Chapter 7: Energy - How Things Work

What is Energy?

In a kitchen, we can see a variety of activities.

Let us observe a kitchen for some time. Write your observations and the questions that come to your mind in the table given below.

Similarly, we observe different kinds of activities in nature and society. From your observation write down at least three things that you have noticed:

• Moving
• Providing light
• Making a sound
• Making things cool
• Making things hot

Discuss

What makes these things move, shine, make a sound or get warm and cold?

As you know, the Sun gives us light and heat. Around us, things move, light up, make sounds, or get warmer or cooler. Something makes this all happen - we call that energy.

Energy is what makes things move, light up, produce sound, do work and change temperature.

We use energy every day in so many ways, to make things move, produce sounds or do work, sometimes without even noticing. Let us explore how energy works through these simple and fun activities. The Flying Snake, living in Indian forests can glide through the air by flattening its body.

Activity 1

1. Take a balloon and blow into it until it fills up.
2. Hold it tightly.
3. Then, release the mouth of the balloon and observe what happens.

When air rushes out of the balloon, it pushes the balloon forward. This is how the movement of air generates energy.

Extension Activity: Balloon Air Rocket

1. Fill the balloon with air and attach it to a straw with tape.
2. Pass a string through the straw.
3. Hold the ends of string with someone's help.
4. Now, release the balloon and watch it move along the string.

Think

What would you change in the activity to make the toy move faster or slower?

Teacher's Note

Energy is invisible - you cannot see it directly, only its effects. When you see a balloon moving, light shining, or food cooking, you are witnessing what energy does, not energy itself. Think of energy as the cause behind every action you observe in a kitchen or anywhere else.

Teacher's Note

In the balloon activity, the faster the air escapes, the faster the balloon moves. Similarly, the more air you put in the balloon, the more energy is available to make it move. These observations help you understand that more energy produces bigger changes or faster movement.

Key Points

• Energy is what causes things to move, produce light and sound, do work, and change temperature. We use energy constantly in our daily lives without always noticing it.
• Energy comes in many forms - from the Sun as heat and light, from moving air, from burning fuel, and from electricity. Each form can make things happen in different ways.
• Simple activities like releasing a balloon show us how energy works: the moving air has energy that pushes the balloon forward. More energy or faster movement of air produces faster motion.

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