🍎 1. Why Do We Need Food?
Every living being — humans, animals, birds, and even tiny insects — needs food to survive.
Food gives us energy to work, play, and think. It also helps our body grow, repair itself when injured, and
fight diseases.
Food provides us:
- ⚡ Energy — to do all activities (walking, running, studying)
- 🌱 Growth — helps the body grow bigger and stronger
- 🛡️ Protection — keeps us safe from diseases
- 🔧 Repair — heals wounds and worn-out cells
🌿 2. Food Variety — What Do People Eat?
People across India and the world eat very different types of food. For example:
- In Punjab — people eat a lot of roti (wheat bread) and dal (lentils)
- In West Bengal and Odisha — people eat lots of rice and fish
- In Rajasthan — bajra (pearl millet) roti with ker-sangri (desert
vegetables) is common
- In Kerala — rice, coconut, and seafood are staples
This variety happens because of differences in climate, geography, culture, and crop
availability.
📸 Image Prompt
A colorful illustrated map of India divided into regions, each region showing its
famous traditional food dish in a small circular icon — e.g., roti-dal for Punjab (top-left), rice-fish
for West Bengal (right), biryani for Hyderabad (center-south), idli-dosa for Tamil Nadu (bottom). Clean
flat-design illustration with soft colors and labeled region names.
Fig. 1.1 — Food variety across different regions of India
🌾 3. Where Does Our Food Come From?
All food we eat comes from either plants or animals. There is no food that
comes from both or from somewhere else!
🌱 A. Food from Plants
Plants are the most important source of food. We eat different parts of plants:
| Part of Plant |
Examples of Food |
| Root |
Carrot, radish (mooli), beetroot, sweet potato, turnip (shalgam) |
| Stem |
Potato (underground stem), sugarcane, ginger (rhizome), lotus stem (nadru) |
| Leaf |
Spinach (palak), cabbage, lettuce, coriander, fenugreek (methi) |
| Flower |
Cauliflower (gobi), banana flower, broccoli, pumpkin flower |
| Fruit |
Mango, apple, tomato, cucumber, pea (in pod) |
| Seed |
Wheat, rice, maize (corn), chickpea (chana), mustard |
Potato is a stem (not a root) — it is an underground stem called a tuber.
Tomato is a fruit (botanically), not a vegetable.
Ginger is a rhizome (modified underground stem).
Broccoli and Cauliflower — we eat the flower of the plant!
📸 Image Prompt
A labeled scientific diagram of a full plant (roots, stem, leaves, flower, fruit,
seeds visible). Each edible part is highlighted with a colored circle and labeled with a food example:
root → carrot, stem → sugarcane, leaf → spinach, flower → cauliflower, fruit → mango, seed → wheat.
Clean, educational poster style with white background and bright colors.
Fig. 1.2 — Different parts of a plant used as food
🐄 B. Food from Animals
Many animals provide us with food. This includes both products they give (like milk) and
their bodies (like meat).
Animal Food Sources:
- 🐄 Cow / Buffalo / Goat → Milk → Curd, Paneer, Cheese, Butter, Ghee
- 🐔 Hen / Chicken → Eggs, Chicken meat (poultry)
- 🐟 Fish / Prawn / Crab → Seafood
- 🐑 Goat / Sheep / Pig → Mutton, Lamb, Pork (meat)
- 🐝 Honey Bee → Honey (a natural sweetener made by bees)
📸 Image Prompt
A flat-design illustration showing 5 animals (cow, hen, fish, honeybee, goat) each
with an arrow pointing to the food product they provide (milk, eggs, fish/seafood, honey, meat). Clean
educational style with soft pastel background, each animal in its own rounded card. Labels in English
with food icons.
Fig. 1.3 — Animals as sources of food
🦁 4. What Do Animals Eat? — Types of Animals by Food Habit
Not all animals eat the same type of food. Based on what they eat, animals are divided into 3 groups:
| Type |
What They Eat |
Examples |
Herbivores
(Herb = plant) |
Only plants (grass, leaves, fruits, seeds) |
Cow, goat, horse, rabbit, elephant, deer, caterpillar |
Carnivores
(Carne = flesh) |
Only other animals (meat) |
Lion, tiger, eagle, shark, frog, lizard, spider |
Omnivores
(Omni = all) |
Both plants AND animals |
Human beings, dogs, bears, crows, cockroach, rats |
Memory Trick 🧠
Herbivore → Healthy plants only
Carnivore → Cruel meat eater
Omnivore → Opens mouth for everything!
📸 Image Prompt
Three side-by-side animal cards in a flat illustration style: Left card (green
background) shows a cow eating grass labeled "Herbivore — eats plants only". Middle card (red/orange
background) shows a lion eating meat labeled "Carnivore — eats animals only". Right card (purple
background) shows a human holding a plate with both a salad and chicken labeled "Omnivore — eats both".
Bold labels and bright colors for a Class 6 student educational poster.
Fig. 1.4 — Three types of animals based on food habits
🌾 5. Ingredients and Sources of Common Foods
When we cook food, we use different ingredients. An ingredient is anything that
goes into making a dish. Each ingredient comes from either a plant or an animal.
Example: Dal (Lentil Soup)
- Lentils (dal) → seeds of the lentil plant
- Oil → from mustard, sunflower, or groundnut plant
- Tomato → fruit of the tomato plant
- Salt → mineral (not from plant or animal)
- Spices (cumin, turmeric) → seeds, roots of plants
Example: Kheer (Rice Pudding)
- Rice → seed of the rice plant
- Milk → from cow or buffalo (animal)
- Sugar → from sugarcane (plant stem)
- Cardamom → from cardamom plant (seed/pod)
Honey is made by honeybees from the nectar of flowers. But the nectar originally comes from
plants (flowers)! So honey comes from an animal (bee) but the bee uses a
plant source (flower nectar). Honey is considered an animal product.
🔑 6. Key Terms to Remember
- Ingredient — A substance used to make food (e.g., wheat, milk, oil)
- Herbivore — An animal that eats only plants
- Carnivore — An animal that eats only other animals
- Omnivore — An animal that eats both plants and animals
- Nectar — The sweet liquid found in flowers, collected by bees to make
honey
- Sprouts — Seeds (like moong dal) that germinate (begin to grow) and
are eaten as food
- Edible — Fit to be eaten as food (e.g., "edible parts of a plant")
📝 7. Quick Revision — Important Points
- All food comes from plants or animals.
- We eat different parts of plants — roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and
seeds.
- Animals provide us food like milk, eggs, honey, and meat.
- Herbivores eat only plants. (Cow, horse, rabbit)
- Carnivores eat only animals. (Lion, eagle, tiger)
- Omnivores eat both plants and animals. (Humans, dogs, bears)
- Honey is an animal product made by honeybees from flower nectar.
- Potato is a modified underground stem (tuber), NOT a root.
- Food gives us energy, helps in growth, repair, and protection from diseases.
🧪 8. NCERT Activity: Listing Ingredients
NCERT asks you to list the ingredients of your favourite food and identify whether each comes from a plant or
an animal. Let's do it with "Vegetable Pulao":
| Ingredient |
Source |
Part of Plant / Animal Product |
| Rice |
Plant |
Seed |
| Potato |
Plant |
Stem (tuber) |
| Peas |
Plant |
Seed (inside fruit/pod) |
| Carrot |
Plant |
Root |
| Onion |
Plant |
Modified bulb (leaf base) |
| Oil |
Plant |
Seed of mustard/sunflower |
| Ghee |
Animal |
Milk product (cow/buffalo) |
| Cumin seeds |
Plant |
Seed |
