NCERT Class 5 EVS Our Wondrous World Chapter 09 Rhythms of Nature PDF Download

Unit 5: Our Amazing Planet

About the Unit

By the end of the Preparatory Stage students learn about various landforms, lives and a wide range of activities around them. They also know about the Sun, moon, stars and wonders of the world they live in. This unit invites students to explore the deep connection between nature and everyday life.

This unit in Grade 5, helps students explore the natural rhythms and deep connections that shape the life on Earth. Through seasons, stories and journeys of birds, foods and ideas, they discover how nature, people and cultures are linked. With journaling and hands-on activities, they connect to their surroundings and understand that Earth is our shared, living home.

Note to the Teacher

This unit consists of two chapters. Chapter 9 'Rhythms of Nature' and Chapter 10 'Earth: Our Shared Home'.

Chapter 9: Rhythms of Nature

'Rhythms of Nature' helps students observe and understand the natural rhythms of change in the world around them - day and night, seasons, and how plants, animals, people and places transform over time. Through journaling, activities and reflection, it encourages students to connect deeply with their local environment and notice repeating patterns in nature.

Chapter 10: Earth - Our Shared Home

This chapter helps students see the Earth as a connected, living planet where people, animals, plants, and ideas travel, mix and grow together. Through stories, it shows how we share nature, knowledge, and culture across borders. It brings alive the idea of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' fostering care, respect, and a sense of belonging to our shared planet.

How to Facilitate

• Encourage students to observe their surroundings like seasonal changes, the arrival of birds or butterflies, flowers, or changes in weather. Use journals and charts to help them track and reflect on these observation.
• Take students outside the classroom to the school ground, garden, or nearby pond, to explore real-life patterns in nature.
• Ask simple critical thinking questions like, "Where did this come from?" or "Why do we all use it?" to spark curiosity.
• Use mapping, drawing, posters, and globe-based activities to help students trace how things travel across the Earth.
• Compare seasonal experiences from different parts of India (for example, winter in Kashmir vs. Kerala) to deepen their understanding of local diversity.
• Help students see that we all share the same Earth and are part of one big family - 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'.

Chapter 9: Rhythms of Nature

"Oh, how wonderful to see you! It has been a long time", exclaimed Saba as she embraced her friend Aparna. "You are taller than me! And your hair is short now".

Aparna laughed, "Yes! And you have started learning to play the guitar! So much has changed since last year."

The two friends discussed about their old classroom, their favourite games, and the new trees planted near the school gate.

Write

Try to remember the time you were in Grades 3 and 4. Think and write about the changes that you have noticed in yourself and your friends, in your school, and in your environment.

Changes are happening to us and to the world around us all the time. Some changes take years, some happen in just days or minutes! Have you noticed how things keep changing around you? Think about it. You grow taller each year, leaves fall off trees and grow again, flowers bloom, dry up and bloom again, the sky changes colour, the sun appears to rise and set every day.

India celebrates over 1,000 festivals throughout the year, making it one of the most festive countries.

[Figure: A table showing changes across Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5 in categories of "Yourself and your friends", "School", and "Surrounding area", See in your textbook]

Write

1. Can you think of something that takes a really long time to change, maybe over years?
2. What about something that changes within just a few years?
3. Are there changes that happen every year, again and again?
4. Can you name something that changes in just a few minutes or even seconds?

Teacher's Note

When you think about changes, remember that some are slow and some are fast. A tree taking 20 years to grow is a slow change, but a cloud moving across the sky takes just minutes. In exams, you may be asked to sort changes by speed - group them into "fast" (seconds or minutes), "medium" (days or weeks), and "slow" (months or years). Practice sorting the changes you see around you into these three groups.

Changes Around Us in a Day (Day and Night)

Just like we grow and change, the world around us is changing too. The day changes into night and the night becomes day.

What causes day and night?

The Sun seems to be rising in the east moving across the sky and setting in the west. So, is the Sun moving?

Dong in Arunachal Pradesh is known as India's 'First Village of the Sunrise'. It is the very first place where the sun's rays touch Indian land each morning.

Teacher's Note

The Sun appears to move across the sky, but it is actually Earth rotating. Many people think "the sun rises and sets", but what really happens is Earth turns towards the sun (sunrise) and then turns away from it (sunset). This is hard to feel because we are on the turning Earth, but you can understand it by spinning slowly and watching a lamp stay still while you move around it.

Key Points

• Changes happen all around us at different speeds. Some take years (like growing tall), some happen in days (like flowers blooming), and some take just seconds (like clouds moving).
• Day and night happen because Earth spins like a top. When your part of Earth faces the Sun, you have day; when it turns away, you have night.
• Natural rhythms are patterns in nature that repeat - day and night, seasons, and the growth of plants follow the same cycles again and again.

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