Q1.
Look around yourself. Do you see any living thing that has something special to help it live there? What is it?
Answer
Yes — almost every living thing has one. Look for the part of its body that suits exactly the place it lives in. Once you start looking you will find them everywhere.
How to do it, step by step.
- Choose a spot — your yard, the school wall, a pond edge, a field, a tree.
- Watch one living thing quietly for five minutes.
- Ask: what is hard about living here? Too hot? Too wet? Enemies about? Not much water?
- Now look for the body part or the habit that answers that difficulty.
- Write it in two columns: where it lives and what helps it live there.
| Living thing | Where it lives | The special thing that helps it |
|---|---|---|
| Mangrove tree | Salty mud with no air in it | Breathing roots that stick up above the water; it also pushes salt out through its leaves |
| House lizard | On walls and ceilings | Sticky pads under its toes, so it can hang upside down |
| Cactus | Dry, hot places | A thick stem that stores water, and spines instead of leaves so little water is lost |
| Camel | Hot sandy desert | Wide flat feet that do not sink in sand, and a hump storing fat |
| Water hyacinth | Floating on a pond | A swollen, air-filled stalk that keeps it afloat |
| Duck | In and out of water | Webbed feet for pushing water, and oily feathers that stay dry |
| Earthworm | Under the soil | A long soft body with tiny bristles to grip and push through the earth |
| Banyan tree | Very large and heavy | Hanging roots that reach the ground and become extra props |
| Grasshopper | In grass and crops | A green body the colour of the leaves, so it is hard to see |
| Pigeon on a ledge | On buildings in a town | It nests on ledges just as its ancestors nested on cliffs |
Sample answer: I looked at the house lizard on our verandah wall. It walks straight up the wall and even across the ceiling without falling. It can do this because the underside of each toe has rows of very fine pads that stick to the surface. Living high on the wall keeps it away from cats, and it sits near the tube light because insects come to the light — so its food comes to it.
The idea behind all of these: A living thing does not choose its body. Over a very long time, the ones whose bodies happened to suit that place lived longer and had more young, and slowly the whole kind came to look like that. So when you find a strange body part, ask what problem it solves. There is almost always an answer.