Plants—Our Green Friends Chapter Notes | Science Class 2 ICSE PDF Download

Introduction

Things We Get from Plants

• Plants give us food like fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts.
• They provide medicines, clothes, wood, oil, paper, and many other things.
• Plants give food to many animals.
• They make our surroundings look beautiful.

Plants Give Us Food

• We get many things from different parts of a plant.
• We eat roots, stems, leaves, fruit and flowers as vegetables and seeds as cereals and pulses.
• Seeds are used as cereals and pulses.
• Nuts are dry fruits with hard shells, like almonds, groundnuts, and cashew nuts.
• Nuts give us energy.
• Spices like cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, clove, coriander, turmeric, and red chillies add taste, color, and pleasant smell to food.
• Some spices are used in powdered form.

Other Food Items from Plants

• Plants give us beverages like tea, coffee, and cocoa.
• Coffee comes from coffee beans, which are seeds of the coffee plant.
• Sugar comes from the juice of sugarcane stems.

Oils from Plants

• We get oil from plants like coconut, groundnut, sunflower, and mustard.
• Oil is used for cooking, as medicines, and for applying on hair.
• Oil is made by crushing seeds that are rich in oil.
• Oil and juices from some plants are used in soaps, shampoos, and toothpastes.

Plants Keep the Air Fresh

• Plants take in carbon dioxide gas from the air.
• They give out oxygen gas, which makes the air fresh and clean.
• Humans and animals need oxygen to breathe.
• Oxygen is also needed for burning.
• Carbon dioxide is not good for our health, so we should not cut trees.

Plants Provide Shelter

• Monkeys live in the branches of tall trees like banyan or mango trees, using them as a safe place to rest and sleep.
• Squirrels build nests called dreys in the forks of tree branches, such as oak or pine trees, to live and raise their young.
• Birds, like sparrows and crows, make nests on tree branches or in the hollows of trees like neem or peepal for shelter and to lay eggs.
• Insects, such as bees, create hives in the hollows of trees or on sturdy branches of plants like eucalyptus for protection.
• Ants build colonies in the bark or roots of trees, such as teak or coconut trees, using them as a sheltered home.
  

Plants Give Food to Animals

• Cows and goats eat grass and leaves from plants like clover or alfalfa as their main food source.
• Deer feed on tender leaves, shoots, and bark of shrubs and trees, such as willow or acacia.
• Elephants consume large amounts of leaves, stems, and fruits from plants like banana trees and bamboo.
• Monkeys eat fruits like bananas, mangoes, and berries from trees and bushes.
• Bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers of plants like sunflower or lavender to make honey.

Other Uses of Plants

• Plants give us fibres like cotton, flax, jute, and coir to make clothes, bags, ropes, and other useful things.
• Medicines are made from plants like tulsi, neem, and eucalyptus.
• Clove is a spice used as a medicine for toothache.
• Wood from trees like teak, deodar, and sheesham is used to make furniture, doors, and windows.
• Wood from some trees is used as fuel and for making boats and carts.
• Paper is made from the pulp of trees like bamboo.
• Dyes, paints, and varnishes are made from juices of plants like henna and indigo.
• Plants give us rubber to make things like balls, rubber bands, and shoes.
• Gum is obtained from plants.
• Perfumes are made from the flowers of some plants.
• Dry leaves are used to make compost.
• Flowers and leaves are used for decoration and making bouquets.