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Living in Harmony Class 3 EVS Chapter 6 PDF Download

This page is for Living in Harmony Class 3 EVS Chapter 6, the sixth chapter of the NCERT Environmental Studies textbook Our Wondrous World. The chapter runs 12 printed pages, from page 72 to page 83 of the book, and the official chapter PDF from NCERT is right here. This page follows the NCERT edition published for the current academic session.

Class 3 EVS Chapter 6 Living in Harmony PDF: open this official NCERT portal, choose Class 3, Environmental Studies and the book Our Wondrous World, and the chapter opens as the official PDF published by NCERT. The same portal also lists the full book if you prefer to read it online.


What the chapter holds Count Where it is used
Printed pages 12
Figures with NCERT captions 3
Tables 1
Activities 4
Official NCERT PDF Download the chapter PDF the chapter exactly as NCERT publishes it

Reference: NCERT Class 3 Environmental Studies textbook, chapter 6, official edition on ncert.nic.in.

What’s Inside the Chapter

A count table on this page lists how much the chapter holds in numbers. What matters more is what kind of reading it is: this is a story-led EVS chapter, not a page of exercises.

  • It opens on a picture-and-discuss page: a busy scene of animals, birds, insects and plants, with questions about which of them live in your home.
  • The middle is built around a read-aloud story, The Mango Tree, in which a boy watches a monkey drop a mango seed and learns that a new tree can grow from it.
  • A short Do you know? box explains how squirrels accidentally plant trees — science delivered as a surprise.
  • Hands-on tasks follow: observe and write about a real animal, test which food ants like best, and play an acting game called Guess Who I Am?
  • Writing and drawing tasks close the chapter: A. Discuss, B. Write, C. Draw, followed by A True Story! about children in Tamil Nadu who welcome migrating birds.
  • Unlike an older-class textbook, this chapter has no numbered exercise set — its tasks are woven into the pages as Discuss, Find out, Make a Guess, Write and Draw prompts.

A Page-by-Page Tour of the Chapter

The tour below lets a student follow the chapter with the book open — and shows a parent exactly what each page is asking the child to do.

Printed page What is on it What the student is asked to do
72–73 The opening spread: a picture of animals, birds, insects and plants; the Discuss question about which live in your home; and the Find out task with its record table (the book’s example is Monkey — Tree). Say which living things in the picture also live in your home; list animals, birds and insects you have spotted that are not in the picture, with where you saw them; ask elders which animals and plants they kept as children.
74 Discuss in Pairs: uninvited visitors at home. Talk about which uninvited animals visit, why they come, how you feel about them, which you like, and what you do when you do not like them.
75–76 The Mango Tree story: Shambhu and his father rest under a mango tree; a monkey eats a mango and drops the seed, and the father explains that a new plant will grow. Read or listen to the story and notice the give-and-take: the monkey’s meal becomes the tree’s future.
77 Five Discuss questions, the Do you know? box on squirrels, and the passage We Need Each Other. Answer the questions about how plants, animals and people depend on one another; learn the two key words, dispersing and fertile.
78 Get to Know an Animal and the Write task. Choose an animal you see often, observe it closely — you may keep a bowl of water and grains for it — and write a short description answering the book’s questions.
79 Busy, Busy, Busy and Clever Ants! — the three-food experiment; the Make a Guess questions; Visiting your Plant Friend. Lay out sweet, fried and boiled food in a line; write your guesses before watching the ants; try talking to a plant when you are happy or sad.
80 Guess Who I Am? — an acting game for pairs. Whisper an animal, bird, insect or tree to a partner; the partner acts it out and the class guesses.
81 A. Discuss and B. Write. Discuss three questions on how we depend on plants and animals; complete the sentence starters about plants and animals you like; list creatures you know from smallest to largest.
82 C. Draw. Name and draw creatures that have two, four, six and eight legs.
83 A True Story! — the children of Valparai, Tamil Nadu, and the Grey Wagtails. Find out why the birds are called Wagtails and give the story a title of your own.

Read top to bottom, the thread on every page is mutual care — the chapter’s title idea. Each story, question and activity circles back to the same sentence: we need each other (NCERT, p. 77).

Key Ideas: How Plants, Animals and People Help Each Other

This chapter is built on one idea: nothing in nature lives alone. Every living thing gives something and receives something — the table below shows the four give-and-take threads the chapter returns to.

Who gives What they give Where it appears
Plants Fruits, vegetables, medicines, fibre for clothes, wood for houses NCERT, p. 76
Cows, buffaloes and goats Milk and loving company NCERT, p. 77
People Water, food, shelter, care, protection and kindness NCERT, pp. 74 and 77
Animals Dispersing seeds and fertile soil, which help plants grow and spread NCERT, p. 77

Here is the seed journey with a fruit the book does not use, to show how the thread works. A crow eats a ripe berry from a bush, flies across a field and drops the seed in its droppings. Rain washes a little soil over the seed, and in time a new berry bush grows where no bush grew before.

The crow was only hungry — it planned nothing — but the bush needed the crow to carry its seed away. That is the same journey as the monkey and the mango (NCERT, p. 75): an animal eats, carries and drops, and a new plant grows.

The chapter’s own phrase for this give-and-take is “we need each other” (NCERT, p. 77), and its gentle rule sits on page 74: do not hurt animals even when we dislike or fear them, because animals generally do not hurt us unless they feel threatened.

Two related Class 3 chapters carry the same thread — the notes on plants and animals live together and on gifts of nature — so this chapter links forward into the rest of EVS.

Pictures in the Chapter and What to Notice in Them

In an EVS chapter, a picture-walk is not a break from learning — it is the learning. Most of this chapter’s meaning sits in its illustrations, and one task works directly from a picture.

Open the book at page 72, where the picture shows animals, birds, insects and plants. The Discuss question asks which of these living things also live in your home.

Then the Find out task on the facing page asks you to name living things you have spotted that are not in the picture, and to record them in the table below it — the book’s example is a monkey seen in a tree.

Use the picture like a checklist: name everything you can see, say where you have met each one, and let the record table grow with your own neighbourhood sightings.

Ask an elder in the family which animals and plants they kept at home when they were young — the chapter makes this part of the first page’s task, and the stories are usually the best part.

The rest of the chapter — the mango tree story, the ant experiment, the Grey Wagtail story — is illustrated in the book itself, so the pictures are part of the reading, not a break from it.

They re-tell the same ideas as the words, and a reader who looks at each one will remember the thread without trying: animals carry seeds, seeds become trees, and people, plants and animals care for one another.

Dispersing and Fertile: Two Words the Chapter Wants You to Know

The chapter’s own teacher guidance asks that two words be explained in simple language before the idea clicks: dispersing and fertile. Here they are in student-friendly words.

Word Simple meaning The chapter’s example
Dispersing Carrying seeds away from the parent plant to new places, so plants can grow near and far A monkey drops a mango seed and a new plant grows (p. 75); squirrels bury nuts and forget where they hid them (p. 77)
Fertile Soil that is rich enough for plants to grow well in it Animal waste makes the soil fertile (p. 77)

These two words are the mechanism behind the chapter’s title. Dispersing tells us how seeds travel, and fertile tells us what soil needs to receive them — together they explain exactly how animals help plants spread and thrive.

Common Mistakes Young Learners Make About Living Things

Naming a mistake before a child makes it is the fastest way to prevent it. These five misunderstandings are the ones this chapter quietly corrects.

The mistaken idea The chapter’s correction How to check yourself
“Uninvited animals in the house are pests — shoo them or hurt them.” We should not hurt animals even when we dislike or fear them; animals generally do not hurt us unless they feel threatened (p. 74). Ask: would I want to be hurt for coming somewhere I was not invited?
“Squirrels are wasteful — they bury nuts and lose them.” Those forgotten nuts grow into new trees; thousands of trees are accidentally planted by squirrels (p. 77). Ask: what grew where the squirrel forgot its nut?
“Nature exists to serve us; plants and animals do not need our help.” Help runs both ways — we give care and get food, shelter, clothing and company; we need each other (pp. 76–77). Ask: could a pot plant or a stray dog manage alone with no one caring for it?
“Plants do not need attention the way animals do.” Plants need our care and support too; making friends with a tree is a powerful way to build empathy and share feelings (p. 79). Ask: when did I last water a plant or notice a tree?
“I can answer the Make a Guess questions from memory.” The experiment is meant to be tried: predict first, then lay out the three foods and observe what the ants actually do (p. 79). Ask: did I write my guesses before or after watching the ants?

Using the Chapter for Class Work: Discuss, Write, Draw

This section answers the practical question — what do I actually have to do here? Every closing task builds a specific skill, and the table below maps them.

Task What it asks Skill it practises
A. Discuss (p. 81) Three questions: how we depend on plants and animals, how we should care for them, and how they depend on us Speaking and forming an opinion
B. Write (p. 81) Complete sentence starters about plants and animals you like; name your favourite and say why; list creatures you know from smallest to largest Writing and comparison
C. Draw (p. 82) Name and draw creatures with two, four, six and eight legs Observation and classification by body parts
Get to Know an Animal (p. 78) Choose an animal you see often, watch it closely, and write a description to share Observation and recording
Busy, Busy, Busy and Clever Ants! (p. 79) Predict which food the ants will choose, then test sweet, fried and boiled food Predicting before observing — the first step of the scientific method
A True Story! (p. 83) Find out why the birds are called Wagtails and give the story your own title Research and creativity

Small actions to try at home

Most of the chapter’s activities can be repeated at home in a few minutes. Small actions a Class 3 student can try:

  • Keep a bowl of water and some grains for an animal or bird you see often (p. 78).
  • Lay out sweet, fried and boiled food in a straight line and watch which the ants choose — write the guess before you look (p. 79).
  • Talk to a plant friend when you feel happy, sad or angry (p. 79).
  • Play Guess Who I Am? with someone at home — act out an animal and let them guess (p. 80).
  • Ask an elder which animals and plants they kept when they were young (p. 73).
  • Make a welcome poster for a bird that visits you, the way the children of Valparai did (p. 83).

One honest note for parents: at Class 3 there is no CBSE board exam — the school assesses EVS through classwork, and these activities are that classwork. Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical, so check the current official syllabus and the school’s own plan.

For more help, the Class 3 EVS notes page, the general Class 3 study notes and the wider CBSE notes collection cover the same ground in note form.

Quick Recap: The Harmony Web

The whole chapter in one glance — follow the harmony web:

  • People give plants and animals water, food, shelter, care and protection (pp. 74, 77).
  • Plants give us fruits, vegetables, medicines, fibre for clothes and wood for houses (p. 76).
  • Cows, buffaloes and goats give us milk and loving company (p. 77).
  • Animals help plants by dispersing seeds and making the soil fertile: the monkey’s dropped seed, the squirrel’s forgotten nuts (pp. 75, 77).
  • Plants and animals depend on each other for food and shelter (p. 77).
  • Proof from the chapter: a mango seed becomes a tree (pp. 75–76); forgotten nuts become thousands of trees (p. 77); the children of Valparai welcome the Grey Wagtails with posters and sweets (p. 83).

The chapter’s real summary is one short line from page 79: “We can all help each other.”

Sources and Data Verification

This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.

Where this page’s facts come from, stated plainly.

  • The chapter described is Chapter 6, Living in Harmony, in the NCERT Class 3 Environmental Studies textbook Our Wondrous World (English edition), printed pages 72–83.
  • This page covers only that NCERT textbook chapter; it does not cover other Class 3 books or subjects.
  • The page is maintained for the current academic session using the NCERT edition available on the official portal, ncert.nic.in.
  • Authorities: NCERT publishes the textbook and its official PDF; CBSE sets the curriculum and syllabus. Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical — check the current official syllabus on cbse.gov.in.

Reference: NCERT Class 3 Environmental Studies textbook, chapter 6, official edition on ncert.nic.in.

Frequently Asked Questions About Living in Harmony

Short answers to the questions students and parents actually ask about this chapter.

How do animals help plants in this chapter?

Animals help plants by dispersing seeds and making the soil fertile (NCERT, p. 77). A monkey eats a mango and drops the seed, and a new plant grows from it (p. 75); squirrels bury nuts, forget them, and trees grow (p. 77); animal waste makes the soil fertile so plants can grow and spread near and far.

What is the story of Shambhu and the mango tree about?

A boy called Shambhu sits under a huge mango tree with his father and watches a monkey eat a mango and throw out the seed. His father tells him a new plant will grow from that seed — that is how animals and plants help each other (NCERT, p. 75).

The story then lists what we get from plants: fruits, vegetables, medicines, fibre for clothes and wood for houses (p. 76).

Why do squirrels plant trees without meaning to?

Squirrels bury nuts to eat later and forget where they hid them. The forgotten nuts sprout, which is why the chapter says thousands of trees are accidentally planted by squirrels (NCERT, p. 77). It is the same pattern as the monkey’s mango seed: an animal carries a seed, and a new plant grows elsewhere.

What do the children of Valparai do for the Grey Wagtails?

Through the school year, the children and teachers of Valparai in Tamil Nadu watch for and record the birds that come to their town.

Just after the rains and in the winter months, when the first Grey Wagtails — called Vaalatti kuruvi in Tamil — arrive from the mountains, the children celebrate by putting up welcome posters and distributing sweets to everyone (NCERT, p. 83).

What is the main message of Living in Harmony?

Living things depend on one another. We give plants and animals care, protection, food and shelter, and they give us food, shelter, clothing and company — the chapter’s exact phrase is “we need each other” (NCERT, p. 77).

Which book and class does Chapter 6 Living in Harmony belong to?

Chapter 6, Living in Harmony, is from the NCERT Class 3 Environmental Studies textbook Our Wondrous World, English edition, printed pages 72–83.

Reference: NCERT Class 3 Environmental Studies textbook, chapter 6, official edition on ncert.nic.in.

Explore Class 3 Environmental Studies Books

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  • Next: Gifts of Nature

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