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NCERT Solutions for Class 5th The World Around Us Chapter 3 The Mystery of Food

Updated on 2026-09-19

About this chapter

Food spoils because tiny living things grow on it. Disha's uttapam sat in a closed tiffin box for three days. When she opened it, it smelt bad and had coloured patches. Her brother Aditya told her the patches were mould . Mould is made of thousands of microbes living together. Microbes are living things so small that you need a microscope — a special instrument that makes tiny things look big — to see even one of them. Microbes are everywhere. They live in the soil, in water, in the air around us, on plants, on animals, and inside our own bodies. That is Finding #1 in Disha's notebook. Not all of them are harmful. Some spoil our food. Others are good microbes — they turn milk into curd, make idli batter fluffy, and help our stomach digest what we eat. Microbes need three things to grow: mo

  • Food Spoilage
  • An upset stomach
  • Why do some foods spoil faster?
  • Why food gets spoiled
  • What do microbes need to grow?
  • Food Preservation
  • Other things that are dried
  • Items made from mangoes
  • Drying tomato slices in sunlight
  • Pickling and Oiling

Exercises

  1. Food Spoilage — Mystery #1 Page 41
  2. An upset stomach — Think Page 42
  3. Why do some foods spoil faster? — Mystery #2 Page 42
  4. Why food gets spoiled — Write Page 42
  5. What do microbes need to grow? — In-text Question Page 43
  6. Food Preservation — Mystery #3 Page 43
  7. Other things that are dried — Write Page 44
  8. Items made from mangoes — Activity 1 Page 44
  9. Drying tomato slices in sunlight — Activity 2 Page 45
  10. Pickling and Oiling — In-text Question Page 45
  11. Pickle without oil — Discuss Page 45
  12. Refrigeration and Freezing — In-text Question Page 46
  13. Food preservation in your family — Activity 3 Page 46
  14. How are Idlis made? — In-text Question Page 47
  15. Indigestion and Home Remedies — Think Page 48
  16. A Visit to the Vegetable Market — Activity 4 Page 49
  17. Seasonal fruits and vegetables of your region — Write Page 50
  18. Chew Right! — In-text Question Page 50
  19. Chewing, and naming the types of teeth — Activity 5 Page 50–51
  20. Teeth and Chewing — In-text Question Page 51
  21. The Danger of Choking — Write Page 53
  22. Closing questions — Let us reflect Page 53–54
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