Science Class IV

Gases in the air

Q.1 What is air?

Ans. Air is a mixture of gases including oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

Q.2 What is a gas? With the help of a diagram show the amount of gas present in the air.
Ans. Gas is one of the three states of matter. It is a substance that has no shape and can spread everywhere. Air
is a mixture of different gases. (Diagram of the amount of gas present in air)

Q.3 Are gases easy to study? Why?

Ans. Gases are not easy to study because many of them are invisible and have no taste or smell. They are
difficult to get into a container because they can escape through the smallest hole.

Q.4 What is atmosphere? How is the atmosphere helpful to us?

Ans. Atmosphere is the thick layer of air that surrounds the Earth.
The atmosphere protects us from the sun and gives us the oxygen we need when we breathe.

Q.5 What is compressed air? In what ways is compressed air helpful?

Ans. Air that has been squeezed a lot by a force so that it takes up less space is called compressed air. We can
make compressed air do work for us:
1. We use it in bicycle and car tyres so that we do not feel all the bumps in the road.
2. Compressed air works some dentists’ drills and pumps used in hospital machines.
3. It also works robots in factories that make cars and some other tools.

Q.6 Write True or False:

a) At ground level there is plenty of air. True

b) If we go higher and higher, there is more and more air. False
c) Climbers usually take nitrogen gas with them when they climb high mountains. False
d) Hundreds of kilometres up in space, there is no air at all. True

Seed dispersal

Q1. Why must seeds be dispersed or scattered?

Ans. Seeds need room to grow into new plants. If all the seeds produced by a plant fell to the ground around the
parent plant, there would not be enough room for them all to grow. To ensure that they have enough space,
seeds are dispersed in different ways as far from the parent plant as possible.

Q2. How do birds disperse seeds?

Ans. Brightly coloured and juicy fruits, such as blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries are
often eaten by animals, especially birds. The hard seeds inside these fruits pass out of the animal’s body in its
droppings.

Q3. How are seeds dispersed by squirrels and jays?

Ans. . Squirrels and jays bury acorns and nuts to be eaten later in the winter. These animals often forget where
they have hidden their foodstore, and some of the seeds grow the following spring.

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Science Class IV
Q4. How are seeds dispersed by wind?
Ans. The seeds of sycamore, ash, maple and lime trees have wings, while dandelion and thistle seeds have
hairy parachutes on them. These are carried by the wind.

Q5. How are the seeds in pods and the poppy and orchid fruits scattered?
Ans: The fruits of peas, lupins, laburnum and gorse are pods. When these dry, they split open suddenly and
shoot out the seeds. Poppy and orchid fruits have small holes in them. When the wind rocks the plant, the seeds
are scattered as if from a pepper pot.

Fill in the blanks

a) A few seeds are dispersed by water.
b) Coconut has a spongy layer of fibres around it.
c) Coconut can floats sometimes for hundreds of kilometres from one island to another.
d) The seeds of water lilies and alder trees also float in lakes and rivers.
Where our Water Comes From

Q1. Why do we use water?

Ans: We use water to keep ourselves clean, and for cooking and washing- up, for cleaning clothes, cars, walls
and floors. We use water for pleasure when we swim, sail or water ski. Factories and power stations also use
huge amounts of water.
Q2. How much water does a person use where there is plenty of water ?
Ans: In places where there is plenty of water, each person uses between 150 and 500 litres a day.
Q3. Where does our water come from?
Ans: All the water has to be collected from rainfall or taken from rivers, lakes and wells. There is plenty of
water in the sea, but it is difficult and expensive to get the salt out of it.
Q4. How is a spring formed?
Ans: When it rains, some of the water seeps into the ground and it is stored there. In places, water bubbles out
of the ground and a spring is formed.
Q5. What is a reservoir?
Ans: Most of the water we use comes originally from rivers. The water is kept in a big lake called a reservoir,
where it is stored until it is needed.
Q6. Why do we use chlorine in water?
Ans. A gas called chlorine is put into the water to kill any germs.
Q7. What is sewage works? How is water cleaned at the sewage works?
Ans. The place where sewage, the waste material and liquid from factories and houses, is cleaned before it is
put into a river, a lake or the sea is known as sewage works.
At the sewage works the dirty water is put into big tanks where some of the dirt sinks to the bottom of the
tanks. Then the water passes through layers of sand or gravel, which filter out more of the dirt making the
water clean.

F/B
(a) A dam is often built across a river to form a large lake called a reservoir.
(b) Many rivers start from springs.
(c) The rivers get bigger as more water flows into them from other springs and streams.
(d) Some people get their water from such a well dug in the ground.

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