Desert Animals

(i) No animal can survive without water: True

Water is the major life support system for nature and all its elements.

However, the needs of various such elements differ. Some animals need more water while some need less of it. Example: Camels

(ii) Deserts are endless sand dunes: False

Deserts are not only endless seas of sand dunes but consist of rocky or pebbly, dotted with small bushes while some are sprinkled with colourful flowers during the spring.

(iii) Most snakes are harmless: True

As mentioned in the text, most of the snakes are harmless while there are a few which are so poisonous that they can kill a human being with just a single bite.

(iv) Snakes cannot hear, but they can feel vibrations through the ground: True

Snakes sense the presence of things near them through the vibrations coming from their movement on the ground. Example - Although it can sense the movement of a human being through the vibrations on the ground, if the same human being shouts, the snake would not hear it.

(v) Camels store water in their humps: False

The hump on a Camel’s body acts as a storage container which is full of fat and not water. This fat helps in the nourishment of the Camel when food is scarcely available.

(i) Deserts are among the driest places on earth but desert animals cannot survive without water.

They find alternate ways to survive in the scorching sun for long periods. For example – the Gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in cool underground burrows. The darkling beetles are experts at catching drops of moisture on their legs, then lifting them in their air until the drops trickle down their mouths. The Camel, also a desert animal can drink thirty gallons of water at once and can survive for nearly up to ten months without drinking water.

(ii) The mongooses are very smart in killing snakes without getting hurt themselves.

They can dodge each time the snake strikes because of their fast reactions. Acting in a very smart manner, they continually make a nuisance of themselves until the snake gets tired. In search of the right moment, they quickly dive in for killing the snake.

(iii) The Dromedary, with a single hump and the Bactrian Camel, with two humps, are the two different kinds of Camels found in the deserts. The humps of these animals help them in surviving by acting as storage containers that store a lot of fat. This fat nourishes the Camels when food is scarcely available. In addition to this, their mouths are so tough that even the sharp thorn cannot pierce through.

All animals in forests and deserts struggle to survive in harsh conditions. Though most of the animals are harmless, some are dangerous when threatened. If an intruder is noticed, they attack or bite to save themselves. They struggle continually for food and water. Some animals are called predators because they prey on other animals.

1. Which animal is the tallest?

Giraffe

2. Which animal runs the fastest?

Cheetah

3. Which place on earth is the hottest or the coldest?

Hottest – Al Aziziyah, Libya

Coldest - Oymyakon, Russia

4. Which animal is the largest?

The Blue Whale

5. Which is the tallest mountain in the world?

The Mount Everest

6. Which is the rainiest place on earth?

Mawsynram, Meghalaya

7. Which is the oldest living animal?

Belonging to different climatic conditions, there are some oldest living animals on earth. Example – Adwaita, an Aldabra giant tortoise, the jellyfish, the horseshoe crab etc.

Students can find facts related to different aspects covering many facts such as historical monuments.

1. Most of the people are honest, but around ten percent are dishonest.

2. Most of the fruits have plenty of sugar, but some citrus fruits are low in sugar.

3. Most of the soft drinks except this one has lots of ‘empty calories’.

4. Most of the films are romances, but a few are on other topics.

5. Most of the people agree that he is a good leader, only a few disagree.

1. You cannot reach the island by land or air; you have to go by boat.

2. We cannot see bacteria with our eyes; we have to look at them through a microscope.

3. He cannot have a new bicycle now; he has to wait till next year.

4. Old people often cannot hear very well; they have to use a hearing aid.

5. Road users cannot do what they wish; they have to follow the traffic rules.

6. She cannot accept this decision; she has to question it.

7. You cannot believe everything you hear; you have to use your own judgment.

A Golden Opportunity to visit the Thar!

The Great Indian Desert situated in the state of Rajasthan is a large area full of sand. Being a natural border between India and Pakistan, it is located in the Northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent.

A desert full of sand dunes in all the four corners has its own beauty altogether. Full of Cactus plants and Camels, it is a place worth visiting which is the most densely populated desert in the world (83%).

Although reading in books and on the internet is quite interesting to know, the challenging life in such a scarce place with limited resources is very difficult. Watching the women carrying ‘matkas’ on their head in search of water as well as the kind of arid atmosphere of the entire place shows the beauty as well as the difficulties people living there encounter in their everyday chores.

NOTE – The above-given account of the Thar Desert is just an example. Students can make their piece of writing much more interesting by adding in their personal experiences of the same place or some other desert they have visited.

The speaker in the poem is a child who is a school-going student. The different kinds of doubts in the form of “Whatifs” mentioned in the poem reflect the small fears and worries the child is thinking about during his childhood days.

The speaker is worried about the following happenings, as mentioned in the poem:

● If he/she gets dumb in school

● If they closed the swimming pool

● If he/she got beaten up

● If there was poison in his/her cup

● If he/she began to cry

● If he/she got sick and died

● If he/she flunked in that test

● If green hair grew on his/her chest

● If nobody liked him/her

● If a bolt of lightning struck him/her

● If he/she did not grow taller

● If his/her head started getting smaller

● If the fish stopped biting

● If the wind tore his/her kite

● If they started a war

● If his/her parents get divorced

● If the bus gets late

● If his/her teeth don’t grow in straight

● If he/she tore his/her own pants

● If he/she never learned to dance

The speaker, a school-going student experiences these small worries like every small child of his/her age.

Lying alone in bed during the night time, the child wonders about the worst things and situations that can happen along with some unrealistic situations as well. As it has been rightly said, “An empty mind is a devil’s workshop; the child’s mind tends to bend towards such fears.

In order to get rid of such worries, the child can occupy himself/herself in

studying or playing with friends. As long as one remains occupied with different

things, the place for fears and worries gets filled up with constructive energy to do something beneficial.

Images mentioned in the poem are:

● And pranced and partied all night long

● And sang their same old Whatif song

● Whatif green hair grows on my chest?

● Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?

Some of the ‘Whatifs’ are as follows:

● Whatif my mother doesn’t give me lunch

● Whatif my friends stop talking to me

● Whatif my teacher gives me bad grades

● Whatif I lose all my notebooks and textbooks

● Whatif I am punished the whole day at school

NOTE – This is a fun activity. Students can perform in groups and make many such creative and interesting “Whatifs” and then compile all of them to form a poem.