Current Affairs 2nd Class

Category : 2nd Class

                                                   Plants and Animals Around Us

Plants

Plants are the living things it can make their own food but cannot move. Plants grow in the soil. They need water, air and sunlight for preparing their food.

Classification of Plants on the Basis of Their Length

Plants are divided into the following categories:

Trees

Trees are big plants. They have hard and strong stems. For example, banyan and mango tree.

                        Banyan tree                                                          Mango tree

Shrubs

Shrubs are small plants. They have many hard branches which grow close to the ground. For example, rose and hibiscus plant.

                        Rose Plant                                 Hibiscus Plant

Herbs

Herbs are very small plants. They have soft stems. For example, mint, basil.

            Mint Plant                                      Basil Plant

Climbers

Climbers are the plants with weak stems. They need some support to stand straight. For example, grapevine and pea plant.

                  Grapevine Plant                                                               Pea Plant

Creepers

Creepers are the plants which have week stem and grow along the ground.

            Pumpkin                                                            Watermelon

Classification of Plants on the Basis of Their Location

Water Plants

There are some plants that grow in water only.

            Lotus Plant                                                        Water lily plant

Desert plants

There are some plants that grow in deserts.

            Cactus Plant                                                      Opuntia Plant

Plants as Our Friends

Plants give us food

Most of our food is given by plants. We eat different parts of plants.

Seeds: Rice, wheat, corn, etc.

Roots: Carrot, turnip, radish and sweet potato.

Stems: Sugarcane grows above the ground but potato and ginger grow under the ground.

Leaves: Coriander, mint, lettuce, spinach and cabbage.

Fruits: Mango, pear, banana, apple, etc.

Flowers: Cauliflower, rose. Jasmine, broccoli, etc.

Plants give us wood

Plants give us fibre

Fibre from the cotton plant is used to make cloth. Fibre from the jute plant is used to make cloth, sacks, ropes and mats.

Plants give us medicine

We make medicines like penicillin and quinine from plants. Tulsi leaves are used to treat common cold and cough.

Sweet-smelling flowers like jasmine and rose are used to make perfumes.

Plants give us other things

Paper is made from bamboo.

Gum is made from the keekar tree.

Rubber is made from the rubber tree.

Animals

Animals are the living things that can move, breathe, eat food and grow. Animals are broadly divided into following categories:

Domestic Animals

Some people keep animals at home. Animals are called pets.

Some animals are kept in a farm. They are called farm animals. For example, cows, buffaloes, sheep’s, hens and ducks.

Pet animals and farm animals together are called domestic animals.

Wild Animals

Some animals live in the jungle. They are called wild animals. For example, lions, elephants, tigers, zebras, giraffe, etc.

Animals help us

Animals help us in many ways. We get many things from them. Some animals give us food. For example, cow and goat give us milk. Some gives us fibre for our clothes. For example, sheep gives us wool.

Some animals make our work easy. Bullocks plough our fields. Elephants, camels, horses and donkeys carry loads for us.

Food of Animals

Some animals are plant-eaters. Cows, goats, deer and camels eat grass, leaves and green plants.

Some animals are flesh-eaters. Lions, tigers and leopards eat the flesh of other animals.

Some animals eat both plants and other animals. Bear, crow eat both plants and other animals.

Some animals eat the flesh of dead animals. Vultures, wild dogs and hyenas are such animals. This way they help to keep the jungle clean.