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NCERT Solutions for Class 5th The World Around Us Chapter 3 Drying tomato slices in sunlight — Activity 2

Book page 45 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
Activity 2: 1. Take a tomato and cut it into slices. 2. Put the slices of tomatoes on a tray and place it on the window where the sunlight comes through. 3. What changes did you observe in the fruit?
Answer

What you will see: the tomato slices slowly lose their water. They shrink, become wrinkled and leathery, turn a darker red, and after several days they are dry, light and hard. They stop looking juicy at all.

How to do it, step by step:

  1. Wash one ripe tomato and wipe it dry.
  2. Ask an elder to cut it into thin round slices — thin slices dry faster.
  3. Spread the slices on a clean plate or tray in a single layer, so that no slice sits on another.
  4. Put the tray on a sunny windowsill where sunlight falls on it for most of the day.
  5. Bring the tray inside in the evening, and put it back in the Sun the next morning.
  6. Look at the slices each day and write down what has changed.
DayWhat you observeWhat is happening
Day 1Slices are red, wet and shiny. The plate becomes damp.Water is starting to leave the slices
Day 2Edges begin to curl. Slices are smaller and no longer shiny.The Sun's heat is evaporating the water
Day 3–4Slices are wrinkled, darker red, soft and leathery to touch.Most of the water has gone
Day 5–7Slices are small, hard, thin and very light. They do not feel wet at all.Almost no moisture is left — microbes cannot grow now

How many days it takes depends on the weather. In strong summer sunlight it may take three days; in a cool or cloudy week it can take longer.

Why it happens: A tomato is mostly water. The Sun's heat turns that water into water vapour, which mixes into the air. What is left behind is the solid part of the tomato — the skin, the pulp and the taste, packed into a much smaller piece. Since microbes need moisture to grow, the dried slice keeps for a long time while a fresh tomato spoils in a few days.
Watch out for one thing: if a slice is left out on a damp or rainy day, it may grow mould instead of drying. Mould means the slice took in moisture instead of losing it. Throw such a slice away and start again on a sunny day.
Q2.
Can you think of a way to preserve items like tomato?
Answer

Yes — there are several ways, and each one takes away moisture, air or warmth.

Way to preserve tomatoesHow it is doneWhich of the three it takes away
Sun-dryingSlice and dry in the Sun until leathery; store in a dry jarMoisture
Keeping in the fridgeStore whole tomatoes in the vegetable tray of a fridgeWarmth
FreezingMake a purée and freeze it in a boxWarmth (much more of it)
Tomato purée or sauce in a bottleCook the pulp, fill it hot into a clean bottle and seal it tightlyAir
Tomato ketchupCooked with salt, sugar and vinegar, then bottledAir, plus salt and sugar that microbes cannot grow in
Tomato pickle or chutneyCooked with salt, spices and oil, kept under a layer of oilAir, plus salt
Canned tomatoesSealed in airtight cans in a factoryAir
Dried slices kept in oilSun-dried slices packed in a jar of oilMoisture and air together
Why so many ways work: There is nothing magic about any one method. Each of them simply removes something the microbes need. That is why you can choose whichever suits your home — a fridge if you have one, the Sun if you do not.
Simplest at home: make tomato purée. Boil the tomatoes, peel them, mash them, cook the pulp for a few minutes with a little salt, pour it hot into a clean dry glass bottle, and close the lid at once. Keep it in the fridge and use it within a week.
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