Trees

Trees give us cool shade on hot days. We get wood from the trunks and branches of trees.
People use wood to build houses, furniture, tools, etc.
Wood is also used to make paper.
We get food from trees. Apples, jamuns, and mangoes all grow on trees.
We get medicines from the fruits, leaves, flowers, and barks of trees.
Trees are homes for birds, bats, squirrels, and monkeys. Some birds do not build nests in
trees, but use the branches to sleep on.
All trees have roots. The roots soak up water from the ground. The trunk of the tree carries
water to the leaves.
Leaves need sunlight and water to make food for the tree.
Trees also help in fighting soil, air, and water pollution.
To save the planet, we need to plant more trees and prevent them from being cut.

A) Questions
Please answer the following questions.

1. How is wood used? Name three uses of wood.
2. Which part of the tree does the wood to make a table or a chair come from?
3. Which parts of the tree do medicines come from?
4. Name five types of fruit that grow on trees. Three are mentioned in the text above.
5. What do leaves need to make food for the tree?
6. Why should we plant more trees and prevent them from being cut?
7. Why do people sit under trees when it is hot and sunny?

B) Activity
Draw a tree. Name the parts of a tree: root, trunk, branch, leaf, fruit, and flower.

C) Prepositions
Fill in the blanks with “in” or “on”.

1. My birthday is __ July.
2. My birthday is __ the tenth of July.
3. __ Friday, I have a holiday.
4. Gandhiji was born __ 1869.
5. My sister was born __ the fifteenth of September.
6. I often get sleepy __ the afternoon.
7. The train from Amritsar arrives __ the morning.
8. __ winter, I drink hot tea.
9. The extra class is __ Monday.
10. My best friend cut a cake __ her birthday.

D) Discussion

1. Do you have many trees in your neighbourhood?
2. Can you name three or four of these trees?
3. Which of these trees bear fruit?
4. Do you enjoy eating raw mangoes? If so, why?
5. Do you prefer ripe mangoes? If so, why?
6. Go outside and take a good look at a neem tree. Describe the trunk and the leaves.
7. Have you ever seen the flowers of a neem tree?
8. Are the flowers big or small?
9. What colour are the flowers?
10. Why is it important not to cut down trees?

E) Tongue twister
Try to say this fast, two or three times, and see what happens. A woodchuck looks like a large squirrel.
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Audio courtesy Tanu Priya Puri