NCERT Solutions Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things Are Made

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 4 · THE WORLD AROUND US

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 8: How Things are Made

NCERT Textbook — Our Wondrous World

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

117 – 127 8 15 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 21 pages

Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 4 · THE WORLD AROUND US · OUR WONDROUS WORLD

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 8: How Things are Made
Pihu learns from her mother that paper comes from trees. Together they make recycled paper at home
from old newspapers, colour it with natural dyes, and learn the 5Rs of waste management.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Our Wondrous World (Class 4) 117 – 127

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

8 15

MEDIUM

English

In-text Questions — Pages 118–119
Pihu and Maa talk about paper

Q1 Maa! This picture says that if we recycle paper, we can save trees. How are trees and
paper related to each other?

The newspaper open on the table. The picture printed on it shows a tree; described here
in a simple drawing, see the textbook for the full illustration.

Paper is made from trees. That is how the two are related.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The newspaper open on the table. The picture printed on it shows a tree; described here in a simple
drawing, see the textbook for the full illustration.

A tree is cut down for its wood. The wood is broken into tiny bits and made into a wet wood
pulp. The pulp is then rolled out into thin sheets, and those sheets are paper. So every sheet of
paper began as a part of a tree.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A tree is cut for its wood

The wood is cut into tiny bits

Wet wood pulp is made

Pulp is rolled into paper

How the paper in our books comes from a tree.

Why it happens: Making paper needs many trees, a lot of water and a lot of
energy. When we recycle old paper into new paper, we do not need to cut so many
trees. That is how recycling paper saves trees.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made
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Does that mean my drawing book is also made from trees?
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Maa tells her that many things she uses every day are also made from trees:

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the chart papers used for school projects

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Why it happens: All of these are paper, and paper is made from the wood of trees.
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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q3 Maa, touch this! The surface of this pot looks like it is made from paper. However, it
feels rough unlike my drawing book.

The pot Pihu asks her mother to touch.

Maa answers that the pot feels rough because it is made from recycled paper.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The pot Pihu asks her mother to touch.

Recycled paper is made by mashing old paper into a pulp and rolling it out by hand. The tiny bits
of paper do not spread out evenly, so the surface stays a little bumpy.
The pages of a drawing book are made in a mill from fresh wood pulp. The pulp there is spread
very evenly, so the paper comes out smooth.

Why it happens: The way a thing is made decides how it feels. Hand-made pulp
gives a rough surface; machine-made pulp gives a smooth one.

Q4 Maa, can we make such paper?

Yes, we can. Maa says, “Why not? Let us try.”
Recycled paper can be made at home. You only need three things:

old newspapers
a few fenugreek (methi) seeds
water

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Activity 1 on page 119 gives the five steps to follow.

Tip: No machine is needed. If there is no grinder at home, the soaked paper can be
mashed with your hands or with any other tool you have.

Activity 1 — Page 119
Make Recycled Paper

ACTIVITY

Q1 Make Recycled Paper. 1. Collect materials: Old newspapers, some fenugreek seeds
(methi) and water. 2. Prepare the paper pulp: Tear the newspapers into small pieces
and soak them in water. Put a small quantity of fenugreek seeds in the water and
leave it overnight. The fenugreek seeds are used as a binding material. 3. Using a
grinder, blend or mash the soaked paper and fenugreek seeds, to create a wet
mixture. Soaked paper can also be mashed using hands or any other available tool.
4. Roll out: Spread the paste on a flat base and roll it out into thin sheets. 5. Leave
the rolled sheets of paper to dry. Your recycled paper is ready!

What to do:

1. Collect old newspapers, a few methi seeds and water.
2. Soak. Tear the newspaper into small pieces. Put them in water with a few methi seeds. Leave
it overnight.
3. Mash. Next day, grind or mash the soaked paper and seeds into a wet paste.
4. Roll out. Spread the paste on a flat base. Roll it into thin sheets.
5. Dry. Leave the sheets to dry. Your recycled paper is ready.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

1. Tear old newspapers and soak
them in water with methi seeds

2. Next day, grind or mash it
into a wet paper pulp

3. Spread the paste on a flat base
and roll it into thin sheets

4. Leave the sheets to dry

5. Recycled paper is ready!

The five steps of Activity 1, from old newspaper to new paper.

What a correct result looks like: a dry sheet that is a little grey, a little thick and rough to
touch. You can write on it and cut it. It will not be as white or as smooth as a notebook page,
and that is fine.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made
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Why the methi seeds are added: they are the binding material. Soaked methi

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seeds turn slippery and sticky. They hold the tiny bits of paper together, so the sheet
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soaked for only a few minutes will not mash into a smooth paste.
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Activity 2 — Page 120
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Natural Colour Experiment

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ACTIVITY
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What to do:
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1. Make sure the sheet you made is fully dry.
2. Colour it with a natural colour — turmeric water, spinach paste, beetroot juice or henna.
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3. Let the colour dry. Then draw a design on it with a brush or a finger.
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4. Simple designs work best: dots, stripes, leaves, flowers or a rangoli pattern.
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Sample

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Tip: Put an old newspaper under your sheet. Natural colours spread, and they can
stain the table.
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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 Cut the recycled paper into pieces of same size. Colour them using natural
ingredients mentioned in the table below. You can use any other natural
ingredients as well. Make sure that the quantity of ingredients used is the same for
colouring each piece of paper. Write down your observations in the table below.

NATURAL PASTE A SAMPLE OF COLOUR AND BRIGHTNESS
INGREDIENT USED YOUR PAPER HERE (DULL/BRIGHT)

Turmeric Yellow, dull

Spinach

Beetroot

Henna

What to do:

1. Cut your recycled paper into four pieces of the same size.
2. Crush or grind each ingredient with a little water to make a paste.
3. Use the same quantity of each ingredient — one small spoon each is enough.
4. Colour one piece with each paste. Let all four dry side by side.
5. Look at them together and write the colour, and whether it is dull or bright.

Sample answer (your colours may look a little different):

NATURAL INGREDIENT PART OF THE COLOUR AND BRIGHTNESS
USED PLANT (DULL/BRIGHT)

Turmeric Root Yellow, dull

Spinach Leaf Light green, dull

Beetroot Root Pink, bright

Henna Leaf Reddish brown, bright

Why the sizes and quantities must be the same: we are comparing the four
colours. If one piece is bigger, or gets more paste, it will look darker for the wrong
reason. Keeping everything else the same makes it a fair test.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

What you should learn from it: colour can be made from different parts of a plant
— turmeric and beetroot are roots, spinach and henna are leaves. These are called
natural dyes, and they are safe to use.

Activity 3 — Page 121
A Special Gift

ACTIVITY

Q1 Make a greeting card, a paper mask or any such item made of recycled paper.

To make a greeting card:

1. Take a dry sheet of your recycled paper.
2. Fold it once in the middle, like a book.
3. On the front, paint a flower, a bird or a design with natural colours.
4. Inside, write a short message and your name.

Thank You

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A simple greeting card folded from a sheet of recycled paper.

To make a paper mask: cut two holes for the eyes and one for the mouth in a thick piece of
recycled paper. Colour it, and tie a thread on both sides to hold it on your face.
Sample answer: I made a card for my grandmother. On the front I painted a yellow flower with
turmeric. Inside I wrote, “Happy birthday, Dadi. I made this paper myself.”

Why this matters: Pihu gave her mother a card made from recycled paper, and Maa
called it a special gift. A gift you have made yourself costs nothing and saves paper
too.

Discuss — Page 122
The effort that goes into making paper

DISCUSS

Q1 Do you think that we waste paper?

Yes, we waste a lot of paper every day, often without noticing it.
Here is how paper gets wasted:

We write on only one side of a page.
We tear out a fresh page for rough work.
We throw away notebooks that are still half empty.
We take paper cups, paper plates and paper napkins and use them once.
We throw away old newspapers and greeting cards instead of using them again.

Why it matters: making paper needs many trees, a lot of water and a lot of
energy. Every wasted page means a part of a tree was cut for nothing.

Try this: for one week, keep every sheet of paper you would have thrown away. At
the end of the week, look at the pile. That is the paper your class wasted.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 How can we reduce wastage of paper?

We can reduce paper wastage by using paper only when it is needed, and then using it again.

Write on both sides of every page.
Keep the blank pages of old notebooks for rough work.
Say no to paper cups and paper napkins. Carry a steel glass and a cloth napkin.
Use a slate or a small board for rough sums instead of paper.
Use old newspapers again — to wrap books, to make paper bags, toys and decorations.
Give old newspapers and books for recycling, so new paper can be made from them.
Pass your old books on to younger students.

Why it works: these are the 5Rs of waste management — Refuse, Reduce, Reuse,
Repurpose and Recycle. Each one keeps paper out of the dustbin, so fewer trees
have to be cut.

Activity 4 — Page 123
Different Types of Paper and their Uses

ACTIVITY

Q1 Observe the different types of paper that we use in our daily life, such as writing
paper, newspaper, art paper, cardboard and tissue paper. Paste small pieces of
different types of paper in the space given below and write their uses.

TYPES OF PAPER USES

Paste here

Paste here

Paste here

Paste here

Paste here

What to do:

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made
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1. Collect one small piece each of writing paper, newspaper, art paper, cardboard and tissue
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2. Feel each piece. Is it thin or thick? Soft or hard? Smooth or rough?

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3. Paste one piece in each row of the table.
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4. Beside it, write where that paper is used.

Sample answer:

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TYPES OF PAPER USES

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Writing paper For writing in notebooks, letters and answer sheets.

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Newspaper To read the day’s news; later used to wrap and pack things.

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Art paper For drawing, painting and making charts.
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Cardboard It is thick and hard, so it is used to make boxes for packing objects.

a Tissue paper It is very thin, soft and absorbs water, so it is used for cleaning.

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aglup water, so it cleans well. Cardboard is thick and
Why each paper has its own use: the paper is chosen to match the job. Tissue
paper is thin, soft and soaks
hard, so a box made of it does not bend and can hold heavy things.

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Tip: use only small pieces of used paper for this activity. Do not tear a fresh sheet —
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that waste paper in a chapter about saving it.

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Activity 5 — Page 125
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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Making Responsible Choices

ACTIVITY

Q1 Discuss the following situations with your classmates and write down which of the
5Rs it belongs to:

EXAMPLE 5RS OF WASTE
MANAGEMENT

A family brings their own cloth bags to the grocery store instead of Reuse
using plastic ones.

Maya does not use a plastic straw to drink coconut water.

Rohan uses blank pages of his old notebooks to avoid wastage of
paper.

Sara gives her old books to younger students for their use.

Kabir paints an old bottle to use as a flower vase.

Priya cuts old clothes to make a fun bag for carrying her books.

A shopkeeper turns old newspapers into paper envelopes.

Here is the completed table, with the reason for each one:

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

EXAMPLE 5RS OF WASTE WHY
MANAGEMENT

A family brings their own cloth bags to the Reuse The same cloth bags are used
grocery store instead of using plastic ones. again and again.

Maya does not use a plastic straw to drink Refuse She says ‘no’ to a thing that
coconut water. makes waste.

Rohan uses blank pages of his old notebooks Reduce He uses paper carefully, so he
to avoid wastage of paper. makes less waste.

Sara gives her old books to younger students Reuse The same books are used
for their use. many more times.

Kabir paints an old bottle to use as a flower Repurpose The bottle is given a new and
vase. different use.

Priya cuts old clothes to make a fun bag for Repurpose Old cloth is turned into
carrying her books. something new to use.

A shopkeeper turns old newspapers into paper Recycle Steps are followed to turn old
envelopes. paper into a new thing.

How to decide which R it is: ask yourself one question about the thing.
Did I say no to it? — Refuse.
Did I use less of it? — Reduce.
Did I use the same thing again in the same way? — Reuse.
Did I give it a new and different use? — Repurpose.
Did I follow steps to turn it into something new? — Recycle.

Note: the last two rows sit close together. Priya’s cloth bag and the shopkeeper’s
envelopes are both old things made into new ones, so a classmate who writes
Recycle for Priya, or Repurpose for the envelopes, is not really wrong. Say why you
chose your answer — that is what the activity is for.

Let us reflect — Page 127

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

End-of-chapter questions

LET US REFLECT

Q1 What are some objects that you can make using paper pulp? Ask your teachers and
elders for more ideas.

Many useful and pretty things can be made from paper pulp:

bowls, plates and small pots
a pen stand
a flower vase
a face mask for a school play
dolls, puppets, birds and animals
beads for a necklace
photo frames and wall hangings
new sheets of handmade paper for cards

How to shape the pulp: mash wet paper into a thick paste with methi seeds. Press the paste
over a bowl, a bottle or a balloon. Let it dry hard, take the shape off, and paint it.

What the picture on page 126 shows: three things made from old newspapers,
side by side on an orange background — a dancing doll whose wide skirt is a fan
of rolled newspaper cones, two butterflies with folded newspaper wings and
thin wire feelers, and a plump bird pasted all over with newspaper, with a folded
paper beak, two round black eyes and legs made of rolled paper straws.

The newspaper toys and decorations printed under “Let Us Get Creative with Paper”.

Tip: the book asks you to ask your teachers and elders too. Grandparents often
remember old ideas — paper boats, paper fans, kite tails and paper bags for the
shop.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 Write down one step you can take for each of the 5Rs in the boxes given below.

Refuse

Reduce

5Rs
of Waste Reuse
Management

Repurpose

Recycle

The 5Rs of waste management, with one empty box for each R.

Write one small step you will really take — not a big promise.

I will say no to single-use
Refuse
paper cups and paper plates.

I will write on both sides
Reduce
of every page.

5Rs I will use the blank pages of
of Waste Reuse
last year’s notebooks.
Management

I will make a pen stand from
Repurpose
an old cardboard box.

I will give old newspapers for
Recycle
making handmade paper.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made
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One step written in each box — a sample answer.
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Discuss the changes you can bring in your daily life by using 5Rs rule to avoid
wastage of paper. Complete the table with your ideas for creating these changes.

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Sample answer — write your own ideas in the same way:
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Refuse I will not take paper cups, paper plates or paper napkins at a party. I will carry my own steel glass

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Reduce I will write on both sides of every page. I will not tear out a fresh page for rough work.

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Reuse I will keep the blank pages of last year’s notebooks for rough work. I will use the same gift wrapper

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Repurpose I will make paper bags, toys and wall decorations from old newspapers.

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Recycle I will collect old newspapers at home and give them for recycling, or make handmade paper from

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them.

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trees, saves our resources and reduces the pollution caused by waste.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Try this: put your table up on the class wall. Tick a row each time you actually do it.
In a month you will see which R is easiest for you.

Chapter at a glance
Paper is made from trees. Wood is turned into wood pulp and rolled into thin sheets.
Old paper can be recycled at home: soak it with methi seeds, mash it, roll it and dry it.
Recycled paper feels rough. The paper in our books is smooth because it is made from fresh
wood pulp.
Natural dyes come from parts of a plant — leaf, flower, root, seed and stem — and are safe
to use.
Different types of paper have different uses: tissue paper cleans, cardboard makes strong
boxes.
The 5Rs of waste management are Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle.

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Class 4 The World Around Us Chapter 8 How Things are Made AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Quick revision

TERM WHAT IT MEANS EXAMPLE IN THE CHAPTER PAGE

Recycled paper New paper made again from old paper Pihu makes it from old newspapers 119

Paper pulp Wet, mashed paper used to make new Soaked paper ground with methi 119
paper seeds

Binding Something that holds the pulp together Fenugreek (methi) seeds 119
material

Wood pulp Pulp made from the wood of trees The paper we see in books 122

Natural dye Colour made from a part of a plant Turmeric, spinach, beetroot, henna 120–
121

Artificial dye Colour that is not made from plants Also used to paint paper 121

Talapatra Palm leaves people once wrote on Used in India before paper 122

Banana fibre A plant fibre that can be made into paper An environment-friendly choice 122

Braille paper Paper with tiny bumps that can be felt Helps visually challenged people read 124

Cardboard Thick and hard paper Used to make packing boxes 124

Tissue paper Very thin, soft paper that absorbs water Used for cleaning 124

5Rs Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, A 5-step plan to reduce waste 124–
Recycle 125

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