NCERT Solutions for Class 5 EVS Chapter 1: Water — The Essence of Life – Free PDF Download

Chapter 1 of Class 5 EVS, Our Wondrous World, Water — The Essence of Life, explains why water is essential to all living things, its sources, forms, and the water cycle.

Last Updated: August 26, 2026

NCERT Solutions for Class 5 EVS Chapter 1: Water — The Essence of Life

What this chapter teaches.
Why water is essential for plants, animals, and humans — it transports nutrients, regulates body temperature, and enables digestion; the difference between freshwater (rivers, lakes, groundwater, rain) and saltwater (oceans) — most of Earth’s water is salty, and only a small fraction is usable freshwater; the three forms of water — solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (water vapour); and the water cycle — evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Discuss (Textbook Questions)

Do you think we can drink the water present in the oceans?
No. Ocean water is salty (it has dissolved salts, mainly sodium chloride), which makes it unsafe to drink — drinking too much salt water can make a person more thirsty and even ill.

What can ocean water be used for?
Ocean water is used for fishing, sea transport and trade, generating salt through evaporation, and, after special treatment (desalination), it can even be turned into drinking water in some coastal areas.

On the basis of the mustard-seed activity, discuss how some rivers flow towards the Arabian Sea while some flow towards the Bay of Bengal.
Just like the mustard seeds spread out and moved towards the lowest points when water was poured on a sloping surface, rivers also flow downhill, following the slope of the land. India’s landmass slopes in different directions from its central highlands and mountain ranges — rivers on the western slope (like the Narmada and Tapi) flow towards the Arabian Sea, while rivers on the eastern slope (like the Ganga, Godavari and Krishna) flow towards the Bay of Bengal.

Activities

Activity 1 — Where can we find freshwater?
Freshwater is found in rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, groundwater (wells and borewells), glaciers, and rainwater — as opposed to the salty water of oceans and seas.

Activity 2 — Ice cube on a steel glass (condensation).
(a) The water droplets that form on the outside of the glass come from water vapour in the air, which cools and condenses into liquid water on contact with the cold glass. (b) The ice cubes slowly melt and turn into liquid water as they absorb heat from the surroundings. (c) If we heat water, it evaporates and turns into water vapour (a gas). Together, this activity shows all three forms of water — solid (ice), liquid (melted water and condensed droplets), and gas (invisible vapour in the air that condenses back to liquid).

Activity 3 — Water-cycle-in-a-bag.
A sealed transparent bag with a little coloured water, left in sunlight, shows a mini water cycle: the Sun’s heat makes the water evaporate inside the bag, the vapour rises and touches the cooler upper part of the bag where it condenses into droplets, and the droplets eventually run back down like “rain” — demonstrating evaporation, condensation, and precipitation in miniature.

Activity 5 — Groundwater recharge.
An open, unpaved patch of ground (soil, grass, a park) helps recharge groundwater, because rainwater can soak in. A cemented or tarred surface does not let water seep down, so it does not help recharge groundwater.

Activity 9 — “Who Eats Whom?” river food chain game.
This game helps children see that living things near a river are linked in a food chain (for example: algae → small fish → bigger fish → bird), and that polluting or disturbing the water affects every link in that chain.

Let Us Reflect (End-of-Chapter Questions)

1. Match the following (ocean water, snow, steam, rainwater with their characteristics). Answer guide: Ocean water → salty, found in seas; Snow → solid form of water, found in cold/mountain regions; Steam → gaseous form of water, rises when water is heated; Rainwater → falls from clouds, a fresh (non-salty) source of water.
2. Why do you think most of the water on Earth cannot be used for drinking or farming? Because about 97% of Earth’s water is salty ocean water, and much of the remaining freshwater is locked away as ice in glaciers and polar ice caps or lies deep underground — so only a very small share is easily usable freshwater.
3. Large number of living beings live near water bodies. Why? Because water is essential for drinking, growing food, and supporting the plants and smaller creatures that form the base of the food chain — so rivers, lakes, and ponds naturally attract and sustain a large variety of life.
4. What would happen if it did not rain in your region for two years? Rivers, lakes, ponds, and groundwater would dry up; crops would fail; drinking water would become scarce; and both people and animals would struggle to survive, possibly forcing people to migrate in search of water. (Answers will vary by student and region.)
5. What do you think happens to rainwater in a forest compared to a city? In a forest, tree roots and soft soil let rainwater soak in slowly, recharging groundwater and reducing flooding. In a city, concrete and tar surfaces stop water from soaking in, so it runs off quickly, often causing waterlogging or floods and less groundwater recharge.
6. Can you design a house or school that conserves water wisely? What would it include? Ideas include rainwater harvesting pits, low-flow or dripping-tap alerts, reusing wastewater (from washing) for plants, planting trees to help groundwater recharge, and rules to avoid wasting water while brushing, washing, or cleaning. (Open-ended — accept any well-reasoned design.)
7. Let us make a fish by folding a piece of paper. This is a simple origami craft activity, meant to be done hands-on with a square sheet of paper, following fold-by-fold instructions from the textbook — there is no single written “answer,” it is a creative/craft task done in class.

Why This Chapter Matters

Understanding how little freshwater is actually available builds an early appreciation for water conservation and mindful use.

How to Use These Solutions

Talk with your child about where your own household’s water comes from and how it’s treated before reaching the tap. Download the full chapter from our Class 5 EVS NCERT book page, or browse the Class 5 hub.

More on This Chapter

See also the Extra Questions and Revision Notes for this chapter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three forms of water?
Solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (water vapour).

What are the three stages of the water cycle?
Evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

What is the “Let Us Reflect” section of this chapter about?
It is the textbook’s own end-of-chapter set of seven reflection questions and tasks — covering water’s forms, why freshwater is scarce, water conservation design ideas, and a paper-folding craft — answered in full above.

Written by Satish

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