Look at the pictures and read the words written under them. Have you seen these objects? Where have you seen them? What are they used for? The first of the objects pictured on page 111 telescope The first object pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

A telescope is a long tube with special glass lenses inside. It makes faraway things look big and near. In the picture on page 111 the telescope is a long grey tube standing on a three-legged stand called a tripod, with a small tube on top for aiming it. Where you may have seen it: in a school science lab, in a planetarium or a science centre, on a night-sky programme on television, or in the hands of a sailor in a picture book. What it is used for: to look at the moon, the stars and the planets, and to look at faraway things on land or at sea. Whose tool it is: an astronomer — a scientist who studies the stars and planets.

hammer The hammer pictured on page 111 hammer The hammer pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

A hammer is a tool with a heavy metal head and a wooden handle. It is used to hit things — mainly to drive nails into wood. The hammer in the picture has a curved claw at the back of its head. That claw is for pulling old nails out again. Where you may have seen it: in a carpenter’s shop, in the toolbox at home, or with the man who came to fix a hinge or hang a photo frame. What it is used for: to hammer nails in, to pull nails out, and to knock parts together. Whose tool it is: a carpenter , and also a mason and a cobbler. Be careful: A hammer is heavy. It should always be used by a grown-up, or with a grown-up standing beside you.

camera The camera pictured on page 111 camera The camera pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

A camera is a machine that takes photographs. The picture shows a black camera with a big round lens in front and a small window on top for looking through. Where you may have seen it: at a wedding or a birthday party, at a school function, in a photo studio, and — as a small one — inside a mobile phone. What it is used for: to take pictures and to record videos, so that a moment can be kept and looked at again years later. Whose tool it is: a photographer .

screwdriver The screwdriver pictured on page 111 screwdriver The screwdriver pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

A screwdriver is a tool with a thin metal rod and a fat handle. Its tip fits into the little slot on the head of a screw, so that the screw can be turned. The one in the picture has a blue and grey handle, made fat so that your hand can grip it and twist hard. Where you may have seen it: in a toolbox at home, with the electrician who came to fix a switch, or in a cycle repair shop. What it is used for: to turn screws in (to hold two things together) and to turn them out (to take something apart). Whose tool it is: an electrician , a mechanic and a carpenter. Why a screw and not a nail: A nail is hammered straight in. A screw has a spiral ridge running round it, so it bites into the wood as it turns and holds much more tightly.

sickle The sickle pictured on page 111 sickle The sickle pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

A sickle is a curved blade with a short wooden handle, used for cutting crops and grass. In the picture the blade curves round like a half-moon, and the sharp edge is on the inside of the curve. In Hindi it is called a hansiya or darati . Where you may have seen it: in the fields at harvest time, with someone cutting grass or fodder for cattle, or in a village home hanging on a wall. What it is used for: to cut wheat, paddy and other standing crops, and to cut grass for the animals. Whose tool it is: a farmer and a farm worker. Why it is curved: The curve lets the worker gather a bunch of stalks inside it and cut them all with one pull. A straight blade would cut only what it touched.

stethoscope The stethoscope pictured on page 111 stethoscope The stethoscope pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

A stethoscope is an instrument for listening to the sounds inside a person’s body. It has two earpieces at one end, a long soft tube, and a round metal disc at the other end. The disc is placed on the chest or the back, and the sound travels up the tube to the doctor’s ears. Where you may have seen it: at a clinic or a hospital, at the school health check-up, or round a doctor’s neck. What it is used for: to listen to the heartbeat and to the sound of breathing, so that the doctor can tell whether the heart and the lungs are working well. Whose tool it is: a doctor and a nurse .

grater The grater pictured on page 111 grater The grater pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

A grater is a flat metal sheet covered with small sharp holes. Rubbing food against it shreds the food into tiny bits. The grater in the picture has a red and yellow rim round a rough metal face full of tiny raised holes. Where you may have seen it: in your own kitchen at home. What it is used for: to grate coconut, carrot, radish, ginger, cheese or a lemon rind. Whose tool it is: a cook or a chef — and anybody who cooks at home. Be careful: The little holes are sharp. Hold the food from the top and stop grating while a good piece is still left, so that your knuckles stay safe.

tongs The tongs pictured on page 111 tongs The tongs pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Tongs are two long arms joined at one end. You squeeze them together to pick something up without touching it with your fingers. The pair in the picture has blue grips at the joined end and two flat, ridged tips for holding. Where you may have seen it: in the kitchen at home. The Indian kitchen tongs used to lift a hot roti or a hot vessel is called a chimta . What it is used for: to pick up hot things — a roti off the flame, a hot pan, coals in an angeethi — and also to serve salad or ice. Whose tool it is: a cook , and also a blacksmith, who uses big iron tongs to hold red-hot metal. Why we say “a pair of tongs”: Tongs are one tool, but they are made of two arms working together — just like a pair of scissors and a pair of spectacles.

compass The geometry compass pictured on page 111 compass The compass pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

The compass in this picture is the geometry compass — two arms joined at the top, one ending in a sharp point and the other holding a pencil. It is used to draw circles. You press the sharp point on the paper, open the arms as wide as you want the circle to be, and turn the pencil arm all the way round. Where you have seen it: in your own geometry box, in the maths class, and on the blackboard as a big wooden one. What it is used for: to draw a circle, to draw an arc, and to measure off equal lengths. Whose tool it is: a student , a draughtsman and an engineer . Two different compasses: There is another instrument also called a compass — a small box with a magnetic needle that always points north. That one is used to find direction. The picture on page 111 is not that one; it is the drawing compass from your geometry box.

mouse The computer mouse pictured on page 111 mouse The computer mouse pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

This is a computer mouse — a small hand-held device with buttons and a wire, used to control a computer. You slide it on the table and a pointer moves on the screen. Then you press a button to “click”. Where you may have seen it: in the school computer room, at a cyber café or a Common Service Centre, at a railway booking counter, or beside a computer at home. What it is used for: to move the pointer on the screen, to click and open things, and to drag things from one place to another. Whose tool it is: anybody who works on a computer — a typist , a data-entry operator , a designer , a programmer . Why it is called a mouse: Look at it. It is small, it sits under your palm, and the wire coming out of the back looks just like a tail.

saw The saw pictured on page 111 saw The saw pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

A saw is a long flat metal blade with sharp teeth along one edge. It is used to cut wood. The saw in the picture has a green handle at one end, shaped so that four fingers can go through it. Where you may have seen it: in a carpenter’s workshop, at a timber shop, or with a gardener cutting a thick branch. What it is used for: to cut a plank of wood into pieces, and to cut branches off a tree. Whose tool it is: a carpenter , and also a gardener. How the teeth work: Each little tooth scrapes away a small bit of wood. You push and pull, and hundreds of tiny scrapes together make one clean cut. Look at all eleven together: Each tool belongs to somebody’s vocation — the telescope to an astronomer, the sickle to a farmer, the stethoscope to a doctor, the saw and hammer to a carpenter, the camera to a photographer. That is why this exercise comes inside a chapter called Vocation .

NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 9 C. Look at the pictures. Have you seen these objects? Where have you seen them? What are they used for? — Let us Learn

Book page 111 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

Look at the pictures and read the words written under them. Have you seen these objects? Where have you seen them? What are they used for?

The first object pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

A telescope is a long tube with special glass lenses inside. It makes faraway things look big and near.

In the picture on page 111 the telescope is a long grey tube standing on a three-legged stand called a tripod, with a small tube on top for aiming it.

Where you may have seen it: in a school science lab, in a planetarium or a science centre, on a night-sky programme on television, or in the hands of a sailor in a picture book.
What it is used for: to look at the moon, the stars and the planets, and to look at faraway things on land or at sea.
Whose tool it is: an astronomer — a scientist who studies the stars and planets.

Q2.

hammer

The hammer pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

A hammer is a tool with a heavy metal head and a wooden handle. It is used to hit things — mainly to drive nails into wood.

The hammer in the picture has a curved claw at the back of its head. That claw is for pulling old nails out again.

Where you may have seen it: in a carpenter’s shop, in the toolbox at home, or with the man who came to fix a hinge or hang a photo frame.
What it is used for: to hammer nails in, to pull nails out, and to knock parts together.
Whose tool it is: a carpenter, and also a mason and a cobbler.

Be careful: A hammer is heavy. It should always be used by a grown-up, or with a grown-up standing beside you.

Q3.

camera

The camera pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

A camera is a machine that takes photographs.

The picture shows a black camera with a big round lens in front and a small window on top for looking through.

Where you may have seen it: at a wedding or a birthday party, at a school function, in a photo studio, and — as a small one — inside a mobile phone.
What it is used for: to take pictures and to record videos, so that a moment can be kept and looked at again years later.
Whose tool it is: a photographer.

Q4.

screwdriver

The screwdriver pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

A screwdriver is a tool with a thin metal rod and a fat handle. Its tip fits into the little slot on the head of a screw, so that the screw can be turned.

The one in the picture has a blue and grey handle, made fat so that your hand can grip it and twist hard.

Where you may have seen it: in a toolbox at home, with the electrician who came to fix a switch, or in a cycle repair shop.
What it is used for: to turn screws in (to hold two things together) and to turn them out (to take something apart).
Whose tool it is: an electrician, a mechanic and a carpenter.

Why a screw and not a nail: A nail is hammered straight in. A screw has a spiral ridge running round it, so it bites into the wood as it turns and holds much more tightly.

Q5.

sickle

The sickle pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

A sickle is a curved blade with a short wooden handle, used for cutting crops and grass.

In the picture the blade curves round like a half-moon, and the sharp edge is on the inside of the curve. In Hindi it is called a hansiya or darati.

Where you may have seen it: in the fields at harvest time, with someone cutting grass or fodder for cattle, or in a village home hanging on a wall.
What it is used for: to cut wheat, paddy and other standing crops, and to cut grass for the animals.
Whose tool it is: a farmer and a farm worker.

Why it is curved: The curve lets the worker gather a bunch of stalks inside it and cut them all with one pull. A straight blade would cut only what it touched.

Q6.

stethoscope

The stethoscope pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

A stethoscope is an instrument for listening to the sounds inside a person’s body.

It has two earpieces at one end, a long soft tube, and a round metal disc at the other end. The disc is placed on the chest or the back, and the sound travels up the tube to the doctor’s ears.

Where you may have seen it: at a clinic or a hospital, at the school health check-up, or round a doctor’s neck.
What it is used for: to listen to the heartbeat and to the sound of breathing, so that the doctor can tell whether the heart and the lungs are working well.
Whose tool it is: a doctor and a nurse.

Q7.

grater

The grater pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

A grater is a flat metal sheet covered with small sharp holes. Rubbing food against it shreds the food into tiny bits.

The grater in the picture has a red and yellow rim round a rough metal face full of tiny raised holes.

Where you may have seen it: in your own kitchen at home.
What it is used for: to grate coconut, carrot, radish, ginger, cheese or a lemon rind.
Whose tool it is: a cook or a chef — and anybody who cooks at home.

Be careful: The little holes are sharp. Hold the food from the top and stop grating while a good piece is still left, so that your knuckles stay safe.

Q8.

tongs

The tongs pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

Tongs are two long arms joined at one end. You squeeze them together to pick something up without touching it with your fingers.

The pair in the picture has blue grips at the joined end and two flat, ridged tips for holding.

Where you may have seen it: in the kitchen at home. The Indian kitchen tongs used to lift a hot roti or a hot vessel is called a chimta.
What it is used for: to pick up hot things — a roti off the flame, a hot pan, coals in an angeethi — and also to serve salad or ice.
Whose tool it is: a cook, and also a blacksmith, who uses big iron tongs to hold red-hot metal.

Why we say “a pair of tongs”: Tongs are one tool, but they are made of two arms working together — just like a pair of scissors and a pair of spectacles.

Q9.

compass

The compass pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

The compass in this picture is the geometry compass — two arms joined at the top, one ending in a sharp point and the other holding a pencil. It is used to draw circles.

You press the sharp point on the paper, open the arms as wide as you want the circle to be, and turn the pencil arm all the way round.

Where you have seen it: in your own geometry box, in the maths class, and on the blackboard as a big wooden one.
What it is used for: to draw a circle, to draw an arc, and to measure off equal lengths.
Whose tool it is: a student, a draughtsman and an engineer.

Two different compasses: There is another instrument also called a compass — a small box with a magnetic needle that always points north. That one is used to find direction. The picture on page 111 is not that one; it is the drawing compass from your geometry box.

Q10.

mouse

The computer mouse pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

This is a computer mouse — a small hand-held device with buttons and a wire, used to control a computer.

You slide it on the table and a pointer moves on the screen. Then you press a button to “click”.

Where you may have seen it: in the school computer room, at a cyber café or a Common Service Centre, at a railway booking counter, or beside a computer at home.
What it is used for: to move the pointer on the screen, to click and open things, and to drag things from one place to another.
Whose tool it is: anybody who works on a computer — a typist, a data-entry operator, a designer, a programmer.

Why it is called a mouse: Look at it. It is small, it sits under your palm, and the wire coming out of the back looks just like a tail.

Q11.

saw

The saw pictured on page 111, with the word printed under it.

Answer

A saw is a long flat metal blade with sharp teeth along one edge. It is used to cut wood.

The saw in the picture has a green handle at one end, shaped so that four fingers can go through it.

Where you may have seen it: in a carpenter’s workshop, at a timber shop, or with a gardener cutting a thick branch.
What it is used for: to cut a plank of wood into pieces, and to cut branches off a tree.
Whose tool it is: a carpenter, and also a gardener.

How the teeth work: Each little tooth scrapes away a small bit of wood. You push and pull, and hundreds of tiny scrapes together make one clean cut.

Look at all eleven together: Each tool belongs to somebody’s vocation — the telescope to an astronomer, the sickle to a farmer, the stethoscope to a doctor, the saw and hammer to a carpenter, the camera to a photographer. That is why this exercise comes inside a chapter called Vocation.

Was this helpful?