NCERT Solutions Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank

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 5 · ENGLISH

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 6: What a Tank!

NCERT Textbook — Santoor

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

65 – 78 13 38 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 42 pages

Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 5 · ENGLISH · SANTOOR

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 6: What a Tank!
Chapter 6 of Santoor comes in Unit 3, Water. What a Tank! is a short prose piece — a piece of writing about
real things, not a story and not a poem. The book does not name a writer. It tells us how India has stored
water for hundreds of years, and how the villages of Punjab today build overhead water tanks shaped like a
football, a rooster, a tractor or even an aeroplane. The chapter carries these banners: Let us Read, New
Words, Let us Think (A and B), Let us Learn (A–F), Let us Speak (A–C), Let us Listen, Let us Write (A and B)
and Let us Explore (A and B).

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Santoor (Class 5) 65 – 78

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

13 38

MEDIUM

English

Let us Read — Pages 65–67
What a Tank! (prose)

LET US READ

Reading Let us Read — What a Tank! Read the passage and enjoy it.

Here is the whole passage, in the order in which you read it on pages 65, 66 and 67.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Water conservation is a practice that has existed for centuries. Even hundreds of years ago,

there were huge water storage structures. These did not just store water but also protected

cities from floods, provided drinking water, and brought people together.

Today in many parts of India, many communities still practice the traditional water

management methods. In Tamil Nadu, Ooranis store rainwater for drinking and farming. In

Kerala, Panam Keni wells are known for not drying up even in the hottest months. Similarly,

Tankas as shown below are quite common in Rajasthan’s Thar region. They are underground

tanks that can store enough water for six to seven months.

Nowadays most people have water tanks to store water in their homes. These tanks store
hundreds and even thousands of litres of water. Usually, they are kept or built on the roofs.

Such water tanks are called overhead water tanks.

Most of us are familiar with water tanks but there is something different about the overhead

tanks of Punjab.

Punjab is a state in the northwestern part of India. Rich in culture and heritage, Punjab is also

known for the unique designs of water tanks in its rural areas. You may see tanks shaped like

a giant flower, a large football, a brown rooster, a statue or even an aeroplane.

People carefully plan the design of their water tanks. Every tank tells us something about the

people of the house. For example, if the owner of the house is a farmer, the water tank may

be in the shape of a tractor or a bullock cart or even a rooster. If the owner likes football, the

water tank of the house may be shaped like a football.

All these tanks are made of cement. The frame of the water tank is made using steel rods.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Later, concrete is used to give it final shape. Then it is installed on the roof of the house. The

final product is a unique tank that can hold hundreds of litres of water. These unique water

tanks are the heart of the communities in rural Punjab.

The passage in four parts:

1. Long ago. People stored water hundreds of years ago too. Their big structures stored water,
stopped floods, gave drinking water and brought people together.
2. Old ways still alive. Ooranis in Tamil Nadu, Panam Keni wells in Kerala, and Tankas in the
Thar region of Rajasthan.
3. Tanks today. Most homes keep a tank on the roof. A tank kept up high like that is an
overhead water tank.
4. The tanks of Punjab. In the villages of Punjab the tanks are shaped like a football, a rooster,
a tractor, a flower, a statue, even an aeroplane — and each shape says something about the
family living there.

What you can see in the pictures: On page 65 there is a Tanka — a round tank of orange brick
with a flat white top, and steps going down to it. On page 66 there is a tank shaped like a giant
football and another shaped like a brown rooster with a bow tie. On page 67 there is a bright
blue tractor sitting on a roof — that whole tractor is the water tank.

Why the chapter is called “What a Tank!”: It is what you would say out loud if you
turned a corner in a Punjab village and saw a tractor sitting on top of a house. It is a
sentence of surprise and delight — an exclamatory sentence. The chapter teaches
you exactly that kind of sentence later, in Let us Learn.

Tip for reading aloud: Read the first two paragraphs slowly and plainly — they give
facts. Then lift your voice at “there is something different about the overhead tanks
of Punjab.” That line is the turn in the passage, where the surprise begins.

Let us Think — Page 68
A. Answer the following questions

LET US THINK

A.1 What do we use a water tank for?

We use a water tank to store water, so that we have water ready when we need it.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank!
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

c om
The passage shows this in three places:
.
m a s emfloods,
1. The huge old structures “did not just store water but also protected cities from

. co water, and brought people together.”
provided drinking
a gl
2. The s
a em of Rajasthan “are underground tanks that can store enough water for six to seven
l
Tankas

agmonths.”
3. The tanks in our homes today “store hundreds and even thousands of litres of water.”

co m
m .
So a water tank has more than one use. It keeps drinking water. It keeps water for cooking,
ag
l a se
bathing and washing. It keeps water for farming. And a big old tank even saved a city from
g into it instead of into the streets.
floods, because the extra rainwateraran

. c om
Why we need to store water at all: Rain does not fall all through the year. In the

s
Thar region it may rain for only a few days. If that water is not caught
m a emand kept, it
.
flows away
a gl when there is
co or dries up. A tank catches it and holds it for the months
s m
erain.
gl a
no
a
a s
. com agl
e m
Where is Punjab located on the map of India?

as
A.2

a g l

Punjab is in the north-western part of India.
. c om
The passage says it plainly: “Punjab is a state in the northwestern part of m
s e India.”
Look .atcothe a glais north. Now move a little
m map of India in your class. Find the top of the map — that
s m left — that is west. Punjab sits in that top-left corner of our country.
ethe
gl ato
a
Did you know? The passage also tells us Punjab is “rich in culture and heritage”.
se m
com g l a
.
Culture means the way its people live — their food, songs and festivals. Heritage
m a
ase
means what has been handed down to them from long ago.

agl

co m
How are the water tanks in Punjab made?
m .
e
A.3

m l as
.co
mANSWER a g
s e
agla They are made of cement, in three steps. The passage gives the steps one after another:
.c
s e m
m a
1. Step 1 — the frame. “The frame of the water tank is made using steel rods.” The steel rods

. co
are bent into the shape the family wants — a football, a rooster, a tractor.
a gl
s m
econcrete is used to give it final shape.” Concrete is a hard mixture
a
a l and water. It is poured over the steel frame and left to harden.
2. Step 2 — the shape. “Later,
of cement, sand, smallgstones

com
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

3. Step 3 — the fixing. “Then it is installed on the roof of the house.” Installed means put in its
place and fixed there.

The finished tank is unique — no other house has one exactly like it — and it can hold hundreds
of litres of water.

Why steel first and concrete after: Concrete alone would crack and break. The
steel rods inside hold it together, just as the bones inside your body hold you up. So
the steel gives strength and the concrete gives shape.

A.4 How do the unique shapes of water tanks reflect the identity of the house owners?

The shape of the tank tells you what the family does or what they love. The passage says it
in one line: “Every tank tells us something about the people of the house.”
The passage gives two clear examples:

If the owner of the house is a farmer, his water tank may be shaped like a tractor, a bullock
cart or even a rooster — the things of his farm.
If the owner likes football, his water tank may be shaped like a football.

So the tank works like a signboard on the roof. A person walking down the village lane can look
up and guess something true about the family living below — without knocking on the door.

What “identity” means here: Your identity is what makes you you — your work,
your family, the things you care about. These tanks put that up on the roof for
everyone to see. That is why the chapter calls them “the heart of the communities in
rural Punjab.”

Think about it: If your own family put a tank like this on your roof, what shape
would it be? Whatever you choose will say something about you.

Let us Think — Page 68

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B. Think and answer

THINK AND ANSWER

B.1 An overhead water tank is a way to store water. Do you know any other ways of
storing water?

Yes — there are many other ways, and the chapter itself names three of them.
From the chapter:

1. Tanka — an underground tank in the Thar region of Rajasthan. It holds enough water for six
to seven months.
2. Oorani — a pond in Tamil Nadu that stores rainwater for drinking and farming.
3. Panam Keni — a well in Kerala that does not dry up even in the hottest months.

Other ways you may have seen yourself:

WAY OF STORING WHERE YOU SEE IT HOW MUCH IT HOLDS
WATER

Matka or ghara (clay pot) Almost every Indian kitchen A few litres — and it keeps the water cool

Bucket, drum and steel In the house and the bathroom Ten to two hundred litres
containers

Underground sump Below the floor or the courtyard Thousands of litres
of a house

Well In villages and old town squares Water from under the ground

Stepwell — baoli or vav Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi Very large; steps go down to the water

Village pond — talab, All over rural India Enough for cattle and for farming
johad, kund

Check dam on a small Hilly and dry areas Holds back the rain water so it soaks into
stream the ground

Rainwater harvesting tank New houses, schools, offices Catches the rain that falls on the roof

Sample answer: Yes, I know several other ways. My grandmother keeps drinking water in a clay
matka, which also keeps it cool. Our house has an underground sump below the courtyard, and
a pump lifts the water from there to the tank on the roof. In my village there is an old well and a
big pond where the cattle drink. My school has a rainwater harvesting pipe that takes rain from
the roof down into a tank. All of these do the same job as an overhead tank — they catch water
and keep it for later.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

What all of them have in common: Every one of them does two things — it catches
water when there is plenty, and it holds it for the days when there is none. Only the
size and the shape change.

B.2 If you had to build a water tank, what would you make it look like? Why?

This is your own answer, so nobody else’s will be the same. Think of the thing you love most, or
the work your family does — that is what the people of Punjab do.

What a good answer needs: (1) the shape you have chosen, (2) a clear reason why
you chose it, and (3) one line saying what it would tell people about you. Write in full
sentences.

Sample answer 1: If I had to build a water tank, I would make it look like a big open book. I
would paint the pages white and the cover dark blue. I chose a book because I love reading, and
our house is full of books. Anyone walking past would look up and know at once that a reader
lives here.
Sample answer 2: I would build my water tank in the shape of a cricket ball, bright red with
white stitches. My brother and I play cricket every evening on the ground behind our house. A
red ball sitting on the roof would tell the whole street that this is a cricket family.
Sample answer 3: My father is a potter, so I would shape our tank like a huge clay matka with a
narrow neck. It would look beautiful, and it would show people the work my father does with his
hands. It would also suit the tank, because a matka is itself a thing for holding water.

IF YOUR FAMILY… A SHAPE YOU COULD CHOOSE

farms the land a tractor, a bullock cart, a bundle of wheat

keeps a dairy a cow, a milk can

runs a sweet shop a giant laddoo, a kettle

loves music a dholak, a santoor, a flute

loves birds a peacock, a rooster, an owl

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why the reason matters more than the shape: A tank shaped like a football is only
funny until you know that a footballer lives there. Then it becomes a story. The
chapter says every tank “tells us something about the people of the house” — so
your answer must say what your tank tells about you.

Let us Learn — Pages 68–69
A. Write the contractions for the following words

LET US LEARN

A — the rule Short forms (or contractions) are when two words are combined and some
letters are left out. An apostrophe (’) takes the place of the missing letters.
For example: aren’t = are not, wouldn’t = would not.

A contraction is two words squeezed into one, with an apostrophe standing in for the
letters we dropped.
Do it in three easy steps:

1. Step 1. Write the two words side by side: are not.
2. Step 2. Push them together and throw away one or two letters. Here we throw away the o of
not: are n_t.
3. Step 3. Put an apostrophe (’) exactly where the missing letter was: aren’t.

The book’s two examples work in the same way:

TWO WORDS LETTER THROWN AWAY SHORT FORM

are not o aren’t

would not o wouldn’t

Why we use short forms: They are how we really speak. Nobody says “I am not
going” at home; we say “I’m not going.” Short forms make writing sound friendly and
natural. In a very formal letter or a school notice we still write the full words.

Careful: The apostrophe goes where the letter was taken out, not just anywhere. It
is can’t, never ca’nt.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank!
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
Write the contraction for: 1. do not
e
A.1

m l as
.co a g
a s em
do g l = don’t
a not
The o of not is thrown away, and the apostrophe takes its place.

co m
e m . ag
do + not → do + n’t → don’t
g l as
a
m
Your own sentence: I don’t waste water when I brush my teeth.

co
em.
m l as
.co a g
a
A.2
s em 2. is not

ag l
s

m a
.co agl
is not = isn’t

se m
Again the o of not goes away.
g l a
a
m
is + not → is + n’t → isn’t
. co
e m
m l as
.co g
Your own sentence: The tank isn’t full today.

m a
l a se
ag
A.3 3. are not
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
agl

are not = aren’t

m
This one is already given as an example in the book. The o of not is dropped.

. co
em
m l as
.co g
are + not → aren’t

em a
a s
agl Your own sentence: The taps aren’t running because there is no water.
.c
s e m
m a
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A.4 4. cannot

cannot = can’t
This one is a little different, so look at it carefully. Cannot is written as one word, not two. To
make the short form we throw away two letters — the n and the o in the middle.

cannot → can + ’t → can’t

Careful: One apostrophe does the work of both missing letters. We never write
ca’n’t.

Your own sentence: I can’t reach the tap on my own.

A.5 5. could not

could not = couldn’t

could + not → couldn’t

Notice that the word could does not change at all. Only not loses its o. The same thing happens
in would not → wouldn’t and should not → shouldn’t.
Your own sentence: Suma couldn’t brush her teeth because there was no water.

A.6 6. did not

did not = didn’t

did + not → didn’t

Your own sentence: We didn’t know that a water tank could be shaped like a tractor.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

All six together: don’t · isn’t · aren’t · can’t · couldn’t · didn’t. In five of them we
dropped just the o of not. Only can’t was different, because cannot is one word to
start with.

Let us Learn — Page 69
B. Rewrite the underlined words using contracted forms

LET US LEARN

B.1 Partho is not feeling well today. His parents have decided that he will stay at home
till he gets better. Partho is bored and cannot stay at home anymore. He decides to
ask his grandmother if he can go outside, but he thinks she, too, would not agree.
(Underlined: is not · he will · Partho is · cannot · would not)

Here is the paragraph rewritten, with the five short forms in bold.

Partho isn’t feeling well today. His parents have decided that he’ll stay at home till he gets

better. Partho’s bored and can’t stay at home anymore. He decides to ask his grandmother if

he can go outside, but he thinks she, too, wouldn’t agree.

UNDERLINED WORDS SHORT FORM WHAT THE APOSTROPHE STANDS FOR

is not isn’t the o of not

he will he’ll the letters wi of will

Partho is Partho’s the i of is

cannot can’t the letters n and o in the middle

would not wouldn’t the o of not

The one to look at twice — Partho’s. A name can take a short form too. Partho is
becomes Partho’s, exactly as he is becomes he’s. Here ’s means is. (The same ’s can
also mean “belonging to”, as in Partho’s book. The rest of the sentence tells you
which one it is.)

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Check yourself: Read your new paragraph aloud. If it sounds like the way you talk to
a friend, you have done it right.

B.2 It is a rainy day, and Tina is not happy. She cannot go out to play with her friends.
Her brother does not want to play indoors either. They have decided to watch a
movie instead. Their mother says she will make popcorn for them. (Underlined: It is
· is not · cannot · does not · They have · she will)

Here is the paragraph rewritten, with the six short forms in bold.

It’s a rainy day, and Tina isn’t happy. She can’t go out to play with her friends. Her brother

doesn’t want to play indoors either. They’ve decided to watch a movie instead. Their mother

says she’ll make popcorn for them.

UNDERLINED WORDS SHORT FORM WHAT THE APOSTROPHE STANDS FOR

It is It’s the i of is

is not isn’t the o of not

cannot can’t the letters n and o

does not doesn’t the o of not

They have They’ve the letters ha of have

she will she’ll the letters wi of will

Do not mix these up: It’s (with an apostrophe) means it is. Its (without one) means
belonging to it — “The crow used its beak.” Say the sentence with “it is” inside it. If it
still makes sense, you need the apostrophe.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Three families of short forms you now know:
n’t family — isn’t, aren’t, can’t, don’t, doesn’t, didn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t (the not
family).
’ll family — he’ll, she’ll, I’ll, we’ll, they’ll (the will family).
’ve / ’s family — they’ve, I’ve, we’ve; it’s, he’s, Partho’s (the have and is families).

Let us Learn — Pages 69–70
C. Read the following · exclamatory sentences

LET US LEARN

C.1 Read the following: 1. That’s so creative!

This is an exclamatory sentence. It shows amazement and praise.
Read it aloud the way you would really say it — with your voice going up and stopping short.
That is what the exclamation mark (!) is telling you to do.

The feeling: amazement or wonder. You say this when someone has made something clever
that you did not expect.
The clue: the exclamation mark at the end.
A short form hiding inside: That’s = That is. You learnt this in part A.

Someone might say exactly this on seeing a water tank shaped like a rooster: That’s so creative!

C.2 2. He saw a rooster, a tractor, and a giant football, all made of cement!

This is an exclamatory sentence too. It shows surprise.
Look at what makes it surprising. Three ordinary things — a rooster, a tractor, a football — but
all of them made of cement, and all of them sitting on roofs. That is not what anyone expects, so
the sentence ends with an exclamation mark.

The feeling: surprise, and a little bit of delight.
The clue: the exclamation mark. There is no word like “Wow” here — the mark alone does
the work.

Page 13 of 42

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank!
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
Notice: The same words with a full stop — “He saw a rooster, a tractor, and a giant

m as e
l
football, all made of cement.” — would be a plain statement. One little mark changes
a fact into.caofeeling. a g
a s em
agl

co m
ag
3. Hurrah! India has won the match.
.
C.3

e m
g l as
a
This one shows joy and excitement, and the exclamatory word is “Hurrah”.

co m
m.
The feeling: joy, excitement, celebration.

m as e
.co
The clue: the word Hurrah, and the exclamation mark straight after it.
a g l
a s em
Look carefully at where the exclamation mark sits. It comes after Hurrah! — not at the end of
l whole line. The second part, “India has won the match,” is a plain statement, so it ends with
gthe
a a full stop.
a s
comthat one word Hurrah. Words like this —
Why: The strong feeling is all packed.into agl
a s em
agl
Wow, Hurrah, Oh, Alas, Bravo — are little bursts of feeling, and each one takes its
own exclamation mark.

. c om
s em emotion. You
The rule in one line: An exclamatory sentence expresses a strong
m a
cancspot
. l exclamation mark (!),
o it by an exclamatory word (Wow, Hurrah, Oh) or abygan
s m both.
eor
a
agl
se m
Can you name any four .emotions? com g l a
em a
s
C — blank

a
agl
...............................................................................................

m

. co
Four emotions are: joy (happiness), sadness, anger and fear.
e m
c o m g l as
.
An emotion is a feeling inside you. Here are eight of them, with the kind of exclamatory sentence
a
sem
each one makes:
a
agl c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m as e
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

EMOTION WHAT IT FEELS LIKE AN EXCLAMATORY SENTENCE FOR IT

joy / happiness light and glad Hurrah! We have won the match!

sadness heavy and low Alas! The little bird is hurt!

anger hot and cross How dare you break my kite!

fear shaky and afraid Oh no! There is a snake in the grass!

surprise caught unready What a tank!

amazement / wonder full of admiration That’s so creative!

disgust you want to turn away Yuck! The water smells bad!

excitement you cannot sit still Wow! The tank is shaped like an aeroplane!

If the blank is a small one, write just four: happiness, sadness, anger, surprise.

Try this: Say “Oh!” four times — once happily, once sadly, once angrily and once in
fear. The word never changes, but your voice does. That is what an exclamation mark
asks your voice to do.

Let us Learn — Page 70
D. Five exclamatory sentences and the feelings they show

LET US LEARN

D Find at least five exclamatory sentences from your Grade 4 English textbook and
identify the emotions or feelings expressed in them. Sentence | Feeling/Emotion
That’s so creative! | amazement/wonder

This one you must do from your own Grade 4 English book, because every school’s book is at
hand in the class. Here is exactly how to do it, and a filled table you can use as a model.
How to hunt for exclamatory sentences:

1. Step 1. Open your Grade 4 English book and turn the pages slowly.
2. Step 2. Your eyes are looking for one mark only — the exclamation mark (!). It is easy to
spot at the end of a line.
3. Step 3. When you find one, copy the whole sentence into the left column, exactly as it is
printed.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

4. Step 4. Now read the lines just before and just after it. They tell you what was happening —
and that tells you the feeling.
5. Step 5. Write that feeling in the right column: joy, fear, surprise, anger, sadness, wonder,
excitement, relief.

What a good answer needs: five sentences copied word for word from your book,
each with its exclamation mark, and a feeling word beside each one. Different
feelings are better than the same feeling five times.

Sample answer — a filled table:

SENTENCE FEELING/EMOTION

That’s so creative! amazement/wonder (given in the book)

Wow! What a beautiful garden! delight and wonder

Hurrah! We have won the match! joy and excitement

Oh no! I have lost my new pencil box! worry and dismay

Alas! The poor bird could not fly! sadness and pity

Look out! The bus is coming! fear and warning

How the feeling is decided: The exclamation mark only tells you the feeling is
strong. It does not tell you which feeling. For that you need the words themselves
and the story around them. “Oh!” beside a lost pencil box is worry; “Oh!” beside a
surprise gift is delight.

Word bank for the second column: joy · excitement · surprise · wonder ·
amazement · relief · pride · anger · fear · worry · sadness · pity · disgust.

Let us Learn — Pages 71–72

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

E. Animal families

LET US LEARN

E Look at the pictures of the animal families and read the words given below each of
them.

lion lioness lion cub

tiger tigress tiger cub

rooster hen chick

bull cow calf

stallion mare foal

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The animal families printed on pages 71 and 72, with the word given under each picture.
The book draws each animal in full colour.

Each row on these two pages is one animal family: the father, the mother and the young
one. Here is what is printed, set out so you can see the pattern.

ANIMAL FAMILY MALE (FATHER) FEMALE (MOTHER) YOUNG ONE

Lion lion lioness lion cub

Tiger tiger tigress tiger cub

Chicken rooster hen chick

Cattle bull cow calf

Horse stallion mare foal

What the pictures show: On page 71 the lion has a big dark mane and the lioness has none.
The tiger is larger than the tigress, and the tiger cub is tiny. The rooster has a tall coloured tail
and a red comb, the hen is plain brown, and the chick is a small yellow ball. The bull is dark
brown with curved horns, the cow is white with a bell, and the calf is small. On page 72 the
stallion is dark brown, the mare is white with a black mane, and the foal is a light brown baby
horse with long thin legs.
Two patterns worth learning:

1. The -ess pattern. Add -ess to the male word and you get the female: lion → lioness, tiger →
tigress. (In tigress the e of tiger is dropped first.) This works for many words —
prince/princess, host/hostess.
2. Some families use a different word for each one. There is nothing of “rooster” inside
“hen”, and nothing of “bull” inside “cow”. These words simply have to be learnt.

Page 18 of 42

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank!
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co m
m.
More animal families to add to your notebook:

m l a se
FAMILY .co
em
MALE FEMALE
ag ONE
YOUNG

a s
aglDog dog bitch puppy

com
Duck drake duck duckling

e m .ewe ag
as
Sheep ram lamb

Goat billy goat agl nanny goat kid

co m
m.
Elephant bull elephant cow elephant calf

m as e
Cat
.co
tom cat queen
a g l
kitten

se m
g l a
a
s
Why this activity sits in this chapter: Look back at page 67. A farmer in Punjab
m a
.co agl
may build his water tank in the shape of a rooster or a bullock cart. Those are the

a s em
very animals in this exercise — the animals of an Indian farm. So the words you learn

aglto talk about those tanks.
here are the words you need

co m
m .
m — Page 72 as e
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Let us Learn
a g l
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a
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m a s e
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g l as
a

co m
m .
m ase
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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

F. Add to the picture

LET US LEARN

F Look at the picture below. Would you like to add anything to this picture? Use your
crayons and colour pencils to add to the picture.

The picture printed on page 72. The left side of the page is left empty — that is the space
for your own drawing.

First, look carefully at what is already drawn on page 72.

A tall tree with a thick brown trunk and light green leaves. A thin green creeper winds up the
trunk.
A girl sitting on the grass at the foot of the tree. She wears a pink top and a blue-and-yellow
skirt, her hair is tied in a ponytail, and she is reading an open book.
A brown squirrel with a bushy tail sitting on the grass a little away from her, with a small red
berry in front of it.
Green grass, a pale blue sky with a wisp of cloud — and a big empty white space on the
left half of the page. That empty space is where your drawing goes.

How to do it, step by step:

1. Step 1. Decide what kind of place this is. A park? A school ground? The edge of a village?
2. Step 2. Draw the far things first, at the top — sky, sun, clouds, birds, distant houses.
3. Step 3. Draw the near things next, at the bottom — flowers, a path, a bag, more animals.

Page 20 of 42

Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

4. Step 4. Colour with your crayons. Press lightly for the sky and firmly for the grass and the
tree.
5. Step 5. Do not scribble over the girl, the squirrel or the tree. You are adding to the picture,
not covering it.

What a good answer needs: your additions should belong to this scene, and at
least one of them should connect with the chapter — this is the Water unit, after all.

Sample answer — what I added, and why:

WHAT I ADDED WHERE I PUT IT WHY

A house with an overhead water Far away on the left, It links my picture to the chapter we just
tank shaped like a rooster behind the grass read.

The sun and two small white clouds Top left of the empty The sky was empty, and every outdoor scene
space needs light.

Three birds flying in a V Between the clouds and Birds make the sky look alive.
the tree

A bird’s nest with two eggs In a fork of the tree The tree looked bare at the top.
branches

A clay bowl of water for the birds On the grass, near the In summer we keep water out for birds — a
tree root small way of sharing water.

Yellow and orange flowers, and two Along the bottom of the They fill the empty foreground with colour.
butterflies grass

A school bag and a water bottle Beside the girl It shows she has come from school and is
reading before going home.

A friend sitting beside her with To the left of the girl Reading together is more fun than reading
another book alone.

Sample answer — describing my finished picture in words: In my picture the girl is not alone
any more. Her friend sits beside her with another book, and their school bags and water bottles
lie on the grass. High in the tree I have drawn a nest with two eggs, and three birds are flying
across the sky towards it. Under the tree there is a small clay bowl of water that the girl has put
out for the birds. Far behind them, a village house has a water tank on its roof, shaped like a
rooster — just like the tanks of Punjab.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why this task is in an English book: The picture is only half told. Adding to it makes
you notice what a scene needs, and that is the same skill you use when you write. A
good description, like a good picture, has something far away, something near, and
someone doing something.

Let us Speak — Page 73
A. Group discussion · B. Three examples · C. Say it aloud

LET US SPEAK

A There are many ways in which we can save water. The simplest way is to stop the
wastage of water. Sit in groups of three and discuss: • How do we waste water in our
daily lives? • What can we do to stop this wastage? For example: Using running
water to brush teeth wastes a lot of water. We can use a tumbler or a mug to save
water.

How to hold the discussion:

1. Step 1. Sit in a group of three. Choose one person to write and one to speak for the group.
2. Step 2. Each person thinks of the water used in their own house from morning to night —
brushing, bathing, washing, cooking, cleaning, the garden.
3. Step 3. For every way of wasting water, at once say how to stop it. Never leave a problem
without its answer.
4. Step 4. Speak in full sentences: “We waste water when … We can save it by …”

Sample answer — what our group discussed:

Page 22 of 42

Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

HOW WE WASTE WATER WHAT WE CAN DO TO STOP IT

Leaving the tap running while brushing our Fill a mug or tumbler once and use only that. (the book’s own
teeth example)

A tap that drips all day and night Tell an elder at once and get the washer changed. A dripping tap
can waste buckets in a day.

Letting the overhead tank overflow Switch the pump off in time, or ask for a float valve to be fitted.

Bathing under a running shower for a long time Use a bucket and mug. Two buckets are enough for a good bath.

Washing the courtyard or the scooter with a Use a bucket and a cloth. Even better, use the water left over from
running hose washing clothes.

Throwing away the water left in our bottles at Pour it into a plant pot or the bird bowl.
the end of the day

Washing vegetables under a running tap Wash them in a bowl, then pour that water on the tulsi plant.

Running the tap while soaping the dishes Soap all the dishes first, then open the tap once to rinse them
together.

Watering the garden in the hot afternoon Water early in the morning or in the evening, when less of it dries
away.

Why stopping wastage is the simplest way: To store more water you need a tank,
a pump and money. To stop wasting water you need nothing at all — only a mug
and a little care. Every drop you do not waste is a drop you have saved, today, for
free.

B Write at least three such examples and share with the class.

Choose three from your group’s list — the three you have really seen happening at home — and
write each one as a pair of sentences.

What a good answer needs: each example must say (1) exactly how the water is
wasted, and (2) exactly what you will do instead. Write in full sentences, not in single
words.

Sample answer — my three examples:

Page 23 of 42

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank!
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1. The dripping tap. The tap in our courtyard drips all night and the water runs into the drain. I
co m
se
have put a bucket under it, and I have asked my father to get the washer changed this
m.
o m l a
g because we
.c
Sunday.

m a
seto switch the pump off. Now I set an alarm on my mother’s phone for fifteen minutes,
2. The overflowing tank. Our overhead tank overflows almost every morning
l a
agand whoever hears it runs up and switches the pump off.
forget

m
3. The washing-up tap. At home the tap used to run the whole time the dishes were being
. co ag
m
soaped. Now we soap all the dishes first and open the tap only once, to rinse them together.

as e
l
We fill half a bucket less than before.
a g
Two more you could use: using a bucket instead of a shower; watering the plants with the

m
water in which the rice was washed.
co
se m.
o m l a
Tip for sharing with the class: Speak slowly and look up at the class, not down at
g it is easier for others
m .c Say the problem first and the answer seconda—
sefollow.
your notebook.

g l a
to
a
om a s
. c
em tank’. • Do both phrases use the word ‘tank’? agl
a s
Say aloud, ‘What a tank!’ and ‘Water

agl same thing? Yes/No
C.1
Yes/No • Do they mean the

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.

e m
as
• Do both phrases use the word ‘tank’? — YES.
m l
.co
• Do they mean the same thing? — NO.
a g
a s emthem aloud and listen to your own voice. They come out quite differently.
gl
Say
a
PHRASE WHAT IT DOES HOW YOU SAY IT
se m
comand admiration at g l a
m . a
one particular tank. se
What a It shows a strong feeling — surprise Loudly, with your voice rising and
tank!
gl a stopping short.

Water tank
a
It only names a thing — the kind of tank that holds Flatly and calmly, like any ordinary
water. name.
co m
m .
o m l a se
.c g
So the same little word tank is doing two different jobs. In What a tank! it is part of an

m a
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exclamation. In water tank it is part of the plain name of an object.
a
agl c
Why this matters: A word does not carry its whole meaning by itself. The words
m .
m a s e
agl
around it, and the way you say it, finish the meaning. That is why the chapter is
. co
m
called What a Tank! and not Water Tank — the title is meant to sound surprised.
ase
a g l

co m
m .
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.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Try this with another word: Say “What a day!” and then “Sunday”. Both have day in
them. Only one of them is a shout of feeling.

C.2 Now, say aloud, ‘I scream’ and ‘Ice cream’. • Do both phrases sound the same?
Yes/No • Do they mean the same thing? Yes/No

• Do both phrases sound the same? — YES.
• Do they mean the same thing? — NO.
Say them one after the other, quickly: I scream … ice cream … I scream … ice cream. Your mouth
makes almost exactly the same sounds both times.

PHRASE WHAT IT MEANS WHERE THE BREAK COMES

I scream A sentence. It means “I shout loudly.” I | scream

Ice cream The name of a thing — the cold sweet we eat. Ice | cream

Why they sound the same: When we speak, we do not leave gaps between words.
The sounds run into one another. The string of sounds is the same in both — ai-s-k-r-
ee-m. Only the place where we break it changes: after I, or after ice. Move the break
and you move the meaning.

More pairs to try aloud: an ice man / a nice man · grade A / grey day · some more /
some ore · a name / an aim. Say each pair to a friend and ask which one they heard.

Both questions together: With What a tank! / Water tank the words are shared but
the meaning is different. With I scream / Ice cream the sounds are shared but the
words themselves are different. English plays both these tricks.

Let us Listen — Pages 74–76

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A Day without Water — listen and choose the correct option

LET US LISTEN

Passage Listen to your teacher read out the following passage and choose the correct
option. — A Day without Water

How this task works: your teacher reads the passage aloud while you listen. Your ears do the
work, not your eyes. Then you answer the five questions.
Here is the passage that is printed on pages 74 and 75, so you can check yourself afterwards.

Page 26 of 42

Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A Day without Water

One hot summer morning, Suma woke up and went to brush her teeth. But when she turned

on the tap, no water came out! She was surprised. Her mother said, “There’s no water in the

tank. The whole area has no water today.”

Suma quickly realised how difficult it was to live without water. She couldn’t brush her

teeth, wash her face, or take a bath. In the kitchen, there was no water to cook food or clean

the dishes. At school, the toilets were closed, very little drinking water was available, and the

children were told to bring water bottles from home.

Suma saw that people in her neighbourhood were upset. Some ran to the nearby shop to buy
water bottles, while others waited near a water tanker that came from another place.

Everyone looked worried.

That evening, the water was finally restored. Suma felt very happy and promised herself that

she would never waste water again. She decided to tell her friends how precious water is.

Suma’s school also announced a Water Conservation Week. They planned activities like

poster-making, planting trees, and even a water-saving competition. Suma and her friends

made posters with slogans like ‘Save Every Drop’ and ‘No Water, No Life.’

After this experience, Suma understood how important water tanks and water-saving habits

are. She asked her parents to set up a rainwater harvesting system at home. Her parents

agreed happily.

How to listen well — four things to do:

1. Before the teacher begins, read the five questions once. Then you know what to listen for.
2. While listening, keep your pencil down and just listen. Look at the teacher, not at the page.
3. Catch the order of events. This passage moves through one day: morning at home → the
day at school → the neighbourhood → evening → afterwards.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

4. Listen for the words that carry the answer — surprised, bottles, tanker, promised, poster-
making, rainwater harvesting.

Two words from the passage: restored means brought back — the water started
coming again. Rainwater harvesting means catching the rain that falls on the roof
and storing it instead of letting it run away.

What the passage is really saying: Suma only learns how precious water is on the
day she has none. Nobody thinks about the tank on the roof until the tap runs dry.
That is the whole lesson of this unit, told as one girl’s day.

1 Why was Suma surprised in the morning? a. Her friends came to visit. b. There was
no water in the tap. c. She saw a rainbow. d. She had a holiday.

Option (b) — There was no water in the tap.
The passage says: “when she turned on the tap, no water came out! She was surprised.” Her
mother then explained, “There’s no water in the tank. The whole area has no water today.”

Why the others are wrong: (a) No friends come in the passage. (c) A rainbow is
never mentioned. (d) It was a school day — she went to school, where the toilets
were closed.

2 How did people manage without water? a. They didn’t need water. b. They bought
bottles and waited for tankers. c. They drank juice instead. d. They went swimming.

Option (b) — They bought bottles and waited for tankers.
The passage says: “Some ran to the nearby shop to buy water bottles, while others waited near
a water tanker that came from another place.”
A water tanker is a big tank on wheels that brings water into an area from somewhere else.
When the taps fail, a tanker is often the only water a colony gets.

Why the others are wrong: (a) They needed water badly — the passage says
everyone “looked worried”. (c) Juice is not mentioned, and juice is made with water
anyway. (d) Nobody could even bathe, so swimming is impossible.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank!
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co m
m.
What did Suma promise after the water supply was restored? a. To waste more
e
3

com
water. b. To never waste water again. c. To turn off the tap. d. To check the water
g l as
. a
em
tank frequently.

a s
a gl

m
Option (b) — To never waste water again.
. co ag
e m
The passage says: “That evening, the water was finally restored. Suma felt very happy and

g l as
promised herself that she would never waste water again.”
a
m
Why the others are wrong: (a) is the opposite of what she promised. (c) and (d) are
co
m.
good habits, and she may well do them — but they are not the promise the passage

m as e
cosensible. l
names. In a listening question you must choose what was actually said, not what
. a g
em
sounds
a s
a gl
Notice the word “promised herself”: Nobody asked her to promise. She decided it
m a s
.co agl
on her own, after feeling the trouble. A promise made to yourself is the kind you are
most likely to keep.
se m
g l a
a

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What activities were planned during the Water Conservation Week? a. Making taps.
em flowing water.
4

m a s
b. Poster-making and planting trees. c. Tank making. d. Watching

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a s
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a Option (b) — Poster-making and planting trees.

se m
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The passage says: “They planned activities like poster-making, planting trees, and even a water-
c planned in all, and option (b) names two of them. ag
saving competition.” So three activities.were l a
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se with the slogans ‘Save Every Drop’ and ‘No Water, No
l a
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Suma and her friends made posters
Life.’

co m
Why the others are wrong: (a) and (c) are not mentioned at all. (d) is the very
m .
m as e
.co l
opposite of saving water — standing and watching water flow away is wasting it.
a g
se m
g l a
a c
m .
e
What did Suma suggest to her parents? a. To go near a well. b. To build a swimming
s
5
m a
. co agl
pool. c. To fix a rainwater harvesting system. d. To buy a new tank.

e m
g l as
a

Option (c) — To fix a rainwater harvesting system.

com
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.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The passage ends: “She asked her parents to set up a rainwater harvesting system at home. Her
parents agreed happily.”
Rainwater harvesting means catching the rain that falls on the roof and leading it, through
pipes, into a tank or into the ground — instead of letting it run away down the drain.

Why the others are wrong: (a) No well appears in the passage. (b) A swimming pool
would use up more water, not save it. (d) A new tank would only hold water; it would
not bring any new water in.

Why her suggestion is the clever one: A tank stores water that someone else has
supplied. Rainwater harvesting makes its own supply, free, from the sky. This is the
very same idea as the Tankas and Ooranis you read about on page 65 — Suma has
simply thought of it for her own roof.

All five answers together: 1 – b · 2 – b · 3 – b · 4 – b · 5 – c.

Let us Write — Pages 76–77
A. Poster · B. Words ending in ‘er’, ‘or’ and ‘at’

LET US WRITE

A Design a poster in the space below, encouraging people to preserve and clean old
water tanks. Include: • Topic: ‘Save Our Water Tanks — A Community Awareness
Campaign’ • A catchy slogan (e.g., ‘Save Tanks, Save Lives!’). • A few bullet points on
why tanks are important. • An invitation to join a cleaning drive or awareness
programme (mention the place and time of the cleaning drive).

How to design the poster, step by step:

1. Step 1 — the topic at the top. Write the topic in the biggest letters on the page, right across
the top. Use a bold colour.
2. Step 2 — the slogan under it. A slogan is a short line that sticks in the mind. Keep it to four
or five words. Rhyme or repetition helps.
3. Step 3 — a picture in the middle. Draw an old tank, a bucket and a brush, or a drop of
water with a smile. Keep it simple and large.
4. Step 4 — the bullet points. Three or four short lines telling people why tanks matter. Not
sentences that run on — short, punchy lines.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

5. Step 5 — the invitation at the bottom. This is the part people act on, so give the place, the
day, the date and the time. Never leave these out.
6. Step 6 — check. Can it be read from the back of the room? If not, your letters are too small.

What a good poster needs: few words, big letters, one clear picture, plenty of
empty space — and the date, time and place of the drive. A poster is not a
paragraph.

Sample answer — a full poster you can copy and decorate:

SAVE OUR WATER TANKS
A Community Awareness Campaign

“Save Tanks, Save Lives!”
A clean tank today is clean water tomorrow.

[ Picture: an old round brick tank, with a girl and a boy scrubbing it clean.

A smiling water drop stands beside them holding a brush. ]

Why our old water tanks matter

They store the rain for the months when no rain falls.
They give us clean water to drink, to cook with and to farm with.
They keep the extra rainwater off our streets, so the roads do not flood.
They are part of our heritage — our elders built them with their own hands.
A dirty tank makes people ill. A clean tank keeps a whole village well.

Page 31 of 42

Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

JOIN OUR TANK CLEANING DRIVE!

Where: The old village tank, behind the Panchayat Bhavan
Day and date: Sunday, 16 November

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Bring a bucket, a brush and a cap. Tea and water will be provided.

Organised by the Eco Club, Government Primary School

No Water, No Life. Every Drop Counts!

Why old tanks need cleaning, not just building: Over the years mud, leaves,
plastic and algae collect in a tank. The water turns green and smells, and people
stop using it. Then the tank is forgotten and finally filled in. Cleaning an old tank is
cheaper and quicker than digging a new one — and it saves something our
grandparents built.

More slogans you may use: “Clean the Tank, Thank the Rain!” · “Our Tank, Our
Pride” · “Save Every Drop” · “A Tank in Time Saves the Village” · “Water Wasted is
Water Lost Forever”.

B.1 Write 10 words that end with ‘er’. For example: water ......er ......er ......er ......er ......er
......er ......er ......er ......er ......er

Here are ten words ending in ‘er’, one for each blank:

1. mother 2. father 3. brother 4. sister 5. teacher

6. farmer 7. summer 8. winter 9. river 10. letter

The book’s own example is water — the word this whole chapter is about.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Twenty more, if you want a longer list: finger, ladder, singer, painter, dancer, tiger, dinner,
number, corner, cover, silver, paper, hunter, driver, player, cooker, sweater, shoulder, thunder,
shopkeeper.

A pattern worth noticing: Many -er words name the person who does something.
A teacher is one who teaches. A farmer farms. A singer sings. A painter paints. Take
the verb, add -er, and you have the doer. Try it yourself: drive → driver, play → player,
help → helper.

Careful: Not every -er word is a doer. Mother, water, winter and river just happen to
end that way. And not every doer takes -er — some take -or, which is the very next
part of this question.

B.2 Now, do the same with: ......................or ......................at Write the words in your
notebook.

The book gives one blank for each, but says “do the same” — so make a list of ten in your
notebook, just as you did for er.
Ten words ending in ‘or’:

1. doctor 2. actor 3. tailor 4. sailor 5. visitor

6. tractor 7. motor 8. mirror 9. editor 10. author

More: collector, inspector, conductor, director, professor, floor, door, indoor, outdoor, error, junior,
senior.

Careful: colour and flavour look close, but they end in our, not or. Read the last two
letters before you write a word down.

Ten words ending in ‘at’:

1. cat 2. bat 3. hat 4. mat 5. rat

6. fat 7. sat 8. flat 9. chat 10. that

More short ones: pat, vat, spat, brat, what. Longer words that end in the same two letters: boat,
coat, goat, float, throat, habitat, format, combat.

Page 33 of 42

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank!
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
The difference between the three endings:

m l a se
-er and -or both often mean “the one who does it” — teacher, sailor. There is no rule
o
c takes which; you learn them one by one, the wayayou
for which.word g learn a face.
-ataisse
m
g l different. It is not an ending we add on. It is a sound family — c-at, b-at, h-at,
am-at, r-at. Change the first letter and you get a new word. That is why these words
rhyme.
co m
e m . ag
g l as
a
Try this: Say cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, fat one after another, quickly. Now say teacher,
farmer, singer, painter. The first list rhymes; the second does not. Endings that rhyme
and endings that mean something are two different things.
co m
em.
m l as
m .co a g
seExplore — Pages 77–78
Let aus
agl
A. How water tanks are cleaned · B. The Thirsty Crow

m a s
.co agl
LET US EXPLORE

a s em
A
a gltanks. Have you ever wondered how these tanks are
You have read a lot about
cleaned? Find out about the techniques for cleaning water tanks. You may bring
relevant pictures or photographs. Prepare a chart and put it up in your class.
co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
l a
How to find out:

ag 1. Step 1. Ask at home. Somebody in your family gets the tank cleaned, or has watched it being
done. Ask them how it is done and how often.
se m
2. Step 2. Ask your school helper or theco m who comes to your building. They are the g l a
. plumber
a
a s em
aglfor pictures in a newspaper or on the internet, and cut out or
people who actually do this work.
3. Step 3. With a teacher, look
print two or three.

co m
.
4. Step 4. Write the steps in order on a chart paper, one step per line, with a picture beside

em
as
each.
m l
m .co
5. Step 5. Give the chart a heading and put it up on your classroom wall.
a g
l a se
ag Safety first — write this on your chart in red: Cleaning a tank is grown-ups’ work.
.c
A child must never climb into a tank. The air inside a closed tank can be dangerous
s e m
m a
. co agl
and the walls are slippery. Your job is to watch, ask and learn — from outside.

e m
g l as
a
Sample answer — the chart, ready to copy:

co m
m .
m ase
.co


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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

HOW A WATER TANK IS CLEANED

Class 5 · Eco Club chart

STEP WHAT IS DONE WHY IT IS DONE

1. Switch off Switch off the motor and close the inlet, so no So the tank can be emptied and nobody
fresh water comes in. gets an electric shock.

2. Empty it Drain the water out. Save the last of it in Even dirty tank water is too precious to
buckets for washing the floor or the plants. throw down the drain.

3. Remove the Scoop out the mud, sand and leaves lying at This soft mud, called sludge, is where
sludge the bottom. germs live.

4. Scrub the Scrub the walls, the floor and the corners To take off the green slippery layer, called
walls with a hard brush. algae.

5. Rinse Wash it all down with clean water and drain To carry away everything the brush has
that out too. loosened.

6. Disinfect Wipe the tank with a weak solution of To kill the germs the brush could not
bleaching powder or chlorine, then rinse remove.
once more.

7. Dry and Let it dry, then put the lid back and fix the The lid keeps out dust, leaves, birds and
close wire mesh over the pipes. lizards; the mesh keeps out mosquitoes.

8. Refill Switch the motor on and fill the tank again. The house has clean, safe water once
more.

Some ways it is done:

By hand — a brush, a bucket and a scrubber. This is how most homes and villages do it.
Pressure jet — a machine throws water out hard, so the dirt is knocked off the walls without
anyone scrubbing.
Vacuum cleaning — a big suction pipe sucks the sludge out from the bottom, the way a
vacuum cleaner picks up dust.
For big open tanks and ponds — the whole village works together on a cleaning day, taking
out the silt and the weeds.

How often, and why it matters: A household tank should be cleaned about twice a
year. Water that stands still for months grows algae and collects sludge, and
mosquitoes breed in an open tank. Storing water is only half the job — keeping it
clean is the other half. A dirty tank can make a whole family ill.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B Look at the pictures given below. The story may already be familiar to you.

The Thirsty Crow

1 2

3 4

The four pictures printed on page 78. The numbers show the order to read them in.

The crow has become famous for its innovative idea. Imagine that your school has
invited the crow to interact with the students. Enact the event with the help of your
teacher.

First, read the four pictures on page 78. They tell the story without a single word.

1. Picture 1. A hot day — the sun blazes and the tree behind is bare. A thirsty crow perches on
the rim of a round glass pot and bends its head in. The water is far below. Its beak cannot
reach.
2. Picture 2. The crow is down on the sand beside the pot, picking up a small pebble in its beak.
It has had an idea.
3. Picture 3. The crow flies above the pot and drops a pebble in. A few pebbles already lie at
the bottom, and the water is a little higher.
4. Picture 4. The pot is full of pebbles and the water has risen right to the top. The crow sits on
the rim and drinks.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why the trick works: The pebbles take up room at the bottom of the pot. The water
cannot be squeezed, so it has nowhere to go but up. Nothing was added to the
water — it was only pushed higher. You can test this at home: put a glass half full of
water on the table, mark the level, then drop in six marbles and look again.

Why the crow is called “innovative”: Innovative means finding a clever new way to
do something. The crow could not reach the water and could not tip the heavy pot.
So instead of changing itself, it changed the water — and no bird had thought of
that before.

How to enact the event, step by step:

1. Step 1. Fix the roles with your teacher: the Crow (the chief guest), the Principal, two teachers,
the School Pupil Leader who anchors, a photographer, a videographer, someone for the mic,
and 15–20 students in the audience.
2. Step 2. Set the stage. Put a chair for the crow, a table with a bouquet, and a glass pot with a
few pebbles beside it, as a prop.
3. Step 3. Make simple costumes. A black shirt and a paper beak are enough for the crow.
4. Step 4. Decide the order: welcome → the crow’s talk → questions from the audience →
thank-you → group photograph.
5. Step 5. Write out your own lines and practise them twice. Speak loudly and slowly.

Sample answer — a short script for the event:

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

School Pupil Leader: Good morning, everyone. Today our school has a very special guest.

He is small, he is black, and he is famous all over India for one clever idea. Please welcome

the Thirsty Crow!

(The Crow walks in. Everyone claps. The Principal gives him a bouquet.)

Principal: Welcome to our school, Crow-ji. We are proud to have you here. Children, this

bird did not give up when he was thirsty. He thought — and that is the lesson of today.

Crow: Thank you, Madam. Thank you, children. It was a very hot day, and I had flown a

long way. I found a pot with a little water at the bottom, but my beak could not reach it.

Student 1: Sir, what did you feel at that moment?

Crow: I felt like flying away. But I sat still and looked around instead. I saw pebbles on the

ground. I thought — if the pot cannot come to me, perhaps the water can. So I dropped in

one pebble, then another, and the water rose a little each time.

Student 2: How many pebbles did you drop?

Crow: I did not count. I only kept going. That is the important part — I did not stop after

three.

Student 3: What would you like to tell us, Sir?

Crow: Two things. First, when a problem looks too big, look at it in a new way. Second —

please do not let me get so thirsty again! Keep a bowl of water on your terrace in summer,

for the birds. Our chapter is about water tanks. My pot was my water tank.

Page 38 of 42

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank!
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

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a g l Page 39 of 42

Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The surprise — Punjab. Punjab is a state in the north-western part of India. It is rich in
culture and heritage. In its villages the overhead tanks are shaped like real things: a giant
flower, a large football, a brown rooster, a statue, even an aeroplane.
Why the shapes matter. Every tank tells us something about the family in that house. If the
owner is a farmer, his tank may be shaped like a tractor, a bullock cart or a rooster. If he
loves football, his tank is a football. The tank is like a signboard for the family — it shows
what they do and what they love.
How the tanks are made. All of them are made of cement. First the frame is made using
steel rods. Then concrete is poured on to give it its final shape. Then it is installed on the
roof of the house. The finished tank is unique — one of its kind — and holds hundreds of
litres of water. The chapter calls these tanks the heart of the communities in rural Punjab.
New Words taught by the chapter: conservation, overhead, culture, heritage, containers,
unique, concrete.
The language work (Let us Learn). A and B teach contractions — short forms like isn’t and
don’t, where an apostrophe (’) stands in for the missing letters. C and D teach exclamatory
sentences — sentences that show a strong feeling and end with an exclamation mark (!). E
teaches animal families — the male, the female and the young one. F is a colouring and
imagining task.
The rest of the chapter. Let us Speak is a group talk about how we waste water and how
to stop, and a fun sound game with What a tank! / Water tank and I scream / Ice cream. Let us
Listen is a passage called A Day without Water with five questions. Let us Write asks for a
poster and for words ending in er, or and at. Let us Explore asks how tanks are cleaned,
and ends with the four pictures of The Thirsty Crow.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Quick revision

WORD WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT APPEARS A SENTENCE OF
YOUR OWN

conservation Saving something and using it “Water conservation is a Our school held a water
carefully so that it is not wasted. practice that has existed for conservation week.
centuries.”

overhead Above your head; kept or built up “Such water tanks are called The overhead tank on
high, on a roof. overhead water tanks.” our roof holds a
thousand litres.

culture The way of life of a group of “Rich in culture and The culture of Punjab is
people — their food, dress, songs, heritage, Punjab is also full of music and colour.
dances and festivals. known for…”

heritage The things handed down to us by “Rich in culture and The stepwells of
people who lived long ago — old heritage…” Gujarat are part of our
buildings, old skills, old customs. heritage.

containers Things we keep other things in — a New Words, page 67 Amma keeps the rice in
box, a pot, a drum or a tank. three steel containers.

unique One of its kind. Not like any other. “The final product is a Every child’s
unique tank…” handwriting is unique.

concrete A hard building material made by “Later, concrete is used to The floor of our
mixing cement, sand, small stones give it final shape.” classroom is made of
and water. concrete.

Tanka An underground tank in the Thar “Tankas as shown below are A tanka can hold water
region of Rajasthan that stores quite common in for six to seven
rainwater. Rajasthan’s Thar region.” months.

Oorani A pond in Tamil Nadu that stores “In Tamil Nadu, Ooranis The village Oorani fills
rainwater for drinking and for store rainwater for drinking up after the first rain.
farming. and farming.”

Panam Keni A kind of well in Kerala that does “In Kerala, Panam Keni We read about Panam
not dry up even in the hottest wells are known for not Keni wells in our
months. drying up…” English book.

contraction Two words joined into one, with Let us Learn, page 68 Isn’t is the contraction
(short form) some letters left out. of is not.

apostrophe (’) The small raised mark that takes the Let us Learn, page 68 Do not forget the
place of the missing letters in a apostrophe in don’t.
short form.

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Class 5 English Chapter 6 What a Tank! AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

WORD WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT APPEARS A SENTENCE OF
YOUR OWN

exclamatory A sentence that shows a strong Let us Learn, page 70 What a tank! is an
sentence feeling and ends with an exclamatory sentence.
exclamation mark (!).

rainwater Collecting rain and storing it, Let us Listen, page 75 We fixed a rainwater
harvesting instead of letting it run away. harvesting pipe on our
roof.

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