This MCQ module is based on: Plants and Animals — Key Differences
TOPIC 36 OF 46
Plants and Animals — Key Differences
🎓 Class 6
Science
CBSE
Theory
Ch 10 — Living Creatures: Exploring Their Characteristics
⏱ ~14 min
🌐 Language: [gtranslate]
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[myaischool_lt_science_assessment grade_level="class_6" science_domain="biology" difficulty="basic"]
10.3 Plants and Animals — Two Big Groups of Life
All living things on Earth are divided into two very large groups — plants and animals. Both are alive and both show all seven life-signs, but they live in very different ways.
| Feature | Plants | Animals |
|---|---|---|
| Food | Make their own food from sunlight | Eat plants or other animals |
| Movement | Fixed in one place; move slowly | Walk, run, swim, or fly freely |
| Colour | Mostly green (leaves) | Many colours — brown, yellow, black… |
| Body cover | Bark, leaves | Skin, fur, feathers, scales, shell |
| Growth | Can grow all through life | Grow only up to a certain age |
| Response | Slow (hours) | Fast (seconds) |
10.4 Parts of a Plant and Their Work
Most plants we see in India — from tulsi to mango — have four main parts: roots, stem, leaves, and flowers. Each part has a special job, just like the rooms in a house.
Roots
Hold the plant firmly in the soil and suck up water and minerals from the ground.
Stem
Carries water from roots to leaves and supports the plant like a pillar.
Leaves
The plant's kitchen! They make food using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.
Flower
The plant's way of making seeds — which grow into new plants.
Photosynthesis: The process by which green leaves prepare food using sunlight, water from the roots, and carbon dioxide from the air. Oxygen is given out as a gift to us!
10.5 Body Features of Animals
Animals come in thousands of shapes and sizes — from a tiny ant to a huge elephant. But most of them share a few common body features.
- Head — holds the eyes, ears, mouth, and brain (the decision-maker).
- Body (trunk) — contains the stomach, heart, and lungs.
- Limbs — legs, wings, or fins for moving around.
- Body cover — fur, feathers, scales, or skin that protects them.
- Tail — helps in balance (cat), swimming (fish), or scaring insects away (cow).
Think: A fish has no legs but it has fins. A snake has no legs at all but moves by slithering. Nature gives each animal the body parts it truly needs!
10.6 Locomotion — How Animals Move
Locomotion means moving from one place to another. Different animals move in very different ways — each suited to the place where they live.
| Way of moving | Body part used | Example animals |
|---|---|---|
| Walking / Running | Legs | Dog, cow, human, tiger |
| Flying | Wings | Sparrow, butterfly, parrot, bat |
| Swimming | Fins, tail | Fish, dolphin, whale |
| Slithering / Crawling | Full body | Snake, earthworm, caterpillar |
| Hopping / Jumping | Strong back legs | Frog, rabbit, kangaroo |
Activity 10.3 — Spot the Plant Parts L3 Apply
You need: a small flowering plant pulled gently from a pot (or observed in the garden), a sheet of paper, a pencil.
- Wash any soil from the roots under running water.
- Lay the plant flat on the paper.
- Label the four main parts: roots, stem, leaves, flower.
- Count how many leaves the plant has. Is each leaf exactly the same size?
- Put the plant back in soil and water it.
Predict: Which part of the plant do you think is the longest in most plants — roots or stems? Why might that be?
Observation: In many grown plants the roots spread out as far as — or even wider than — the stem, because they need to hold the plant firm and find water from a big area. Leaves are similar in shape but rarely identical in size, since the younger ones are smaller.
10.7 What Do Animals Eat? — Food Habits
Based on what they eat, animals fall into three big groups:
Herbivores
Eat only plants. Example: cow, goat, deer, elephant, rabbit. They have flat teeth to grind grass.
Carnivores
Eat only the flesh of other animals. Example: tiger, lion, eagle, crocodile. They have sharp teeth and claws.
Omnivores
Eat both plants and animals. Example: humans, bear, crow, dog. They have a mix of flat and sharp teeth.
There is also a fourth group called scavengers — animals like vultures and hyenas that eat dead animals. They help keep nature clean.
Activity 10.4 — Food Habit Detective L4 Analyse
You need: pictures or photos of 10 animals from your textbook or newspapers.
- Make three columns: Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore.
- Put each animal in the right column.
- For each one, write one clue you used — teeth shape, claws, where it lives, or what you have seen it eat.
- Check with your teacher or family members.
Predict: Is a cat a carnivore or an omnivore? What about a crow?
Observation: A house cat is mostly a carnivore — it hunts mice, birds, and fish. A crow is an omnivore — it eats grains, insects, and even leftover food. Looking at teeth and claws gives strong clues: sharp and curved means meat; flat and broad means plants.
Competency-Based Questions
On his school trip, Aryan visited a dairy farm. He saw cows chewing grass for a long time, a farmer riding a bicycle, a green money plant growing in a corner pot, and an eagle flying high above searching for a mouse.
Q1. Which animal in the scene is a carnivore? L1
B — The eagle. It hunts smaller animals like mice. The cow is a herbivore, the plant makes its own food, and the farmer is an omnivore.
Q2. The cow keeps chewing for a very long time. Which plant part makes up most of its food? L2
Mainly the leaves of grass and other plants. Leaves store starch that the plant has made, giving the cow its food energy.
Q3. Aryan notices that the money plant's roots have grown in a small jar of water with no soil. Which two jobs are the roots still doing? L4
The roots still (1) hold the plant firm in the jar, and (2) absorb water and minerals dissolved in it. They are just doing their normal job, without soil!
Q4. Fill in the blank: An animal that eats both plants and other animals is called a ______. L1
Omnivore. Humans, bears, and crows are good examples.
Q5. True or False — A fish swims because it has strong legs. Correct it if false. L5
False. A fish has no legs. It swims using its fins and tail, pushing water backward so its body goes forward.
Assertion – Reason
Assertion (A): Leaves are often called the kitchen of the plant.
Reason (R): Leaves prepare food for the plant using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.
Answer: A. Leaves are called the kitchen because photosynthesis — food-making — happens in them.
Assertion (A): Tigers have sharp, pointed teeth.
Reason (R): Sharp teeth help them to chew grass easily.
Answer: C. A is true. R is false — sharp teeth are for tearing meat, not for chewing grass. Grass is ground by flat teeth.
Assertion (A): Birds can fly.
Reason (R): Birds have hollow, light bones and strong wings.
Answer: A. Hollow bones and strong wings are exactly what makes flying possible.
Frequently Asked Questions — Plants and Animals — Key Differences
What does the topic 'Plants and Animals — Key Differences' cover in Class 6 Science?
The topic 'Plants and Animals — Key Differences' is part of NCERT Class 6 Science Chapter 10 — Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics. It covers the key ideas of plants, animals, autotrophs, heterotrophs, movement, response, differences, explained through everyday examples, labelled diagrams and hands-on activities from the NCERT Curiosity textbook. Class 6 students learn simple definitions, see why each idea matters in daily life, and try short experiments and observations. The lesson uses easy language, colourful pictures and small questions so that young learners build a strong base for higher classes and for competency-based questions in CBSE school tests.
Why is 'Plants and Animals — Key Differences' important for Class 6 NCERT Science?
'Plants and Animals — Key Differences' is important because it builds the first ideas of science that Class 6 students will use again in Class 7, 8 and beyond. NCERT Chapter 10 — Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics — introduces plants and connects it to things children already see at home, at school and in nature. Learning this topic helps students ask better questions, understand simple news about science, and score well in CBSE tests that use competency-based questions. The chapter also supports NEP 2020 by encouraging curiosity, observation and learning by doing rather than only reading and memorising.
What are the key ideas students should remember from Plants and Animals — Key Differences?
The key ideas in 'Plants and Animals — Key Differences' for Class 6 Science are: plants, animals, autotrophs, heterotrophs, movement, response, differences. Students should be able to say each term in their own words, give one or two easy examples from daily life, and draw a small labelled diagram where needed. A good way to revise is to make flashcards, write a short note in the science notebook, and solve the NCERT in-text and exercise questions of Chapter 10. Linking every idea to something seen at home or school — in the kitchen, garden, playground or sky — makes these ideas easy to remember for unit tests and the annual CBSE examination.
How is Plants and Animals — Key Differences taught using activities in NCERT Curiosity Class 6?
NCERT Curiosity Class 6 Science teaches 'Plants and Animals — Key Differences' through an inquiry-based approach using Predict–Observe–Explain activities. Students first make a guess, then try a small experiment with safe, easily available materials, and finally explain what happened and why. This matches the NEP 2020 focus on learning by doing. For Chapter 10 — Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics — the textbook has hands-on tasks, labelled pictures and thinking questions built for Bloom's Taxonomy Levels 1 to 6. Teachers use these activities, along with competency-based questions (CBQs) and assertion–reason items, to check real understanding instead of only rote learning.
What real-life examples of plants can Class 6 students see at home?
Class 6 students can see plants at home in many simple ways linked to 'Plants and Animals — Key Differences'. Kitchens, school bags, playgrounds, the garden and the night sky are full of examples that match NCERT Chapter 10 — Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics. For example, students can look at food labels, watch changes while cooking, try safe activities with water, magnets or shadows, and observe the Sun, Moon and weather each day. Keeping a small science diary — with the date, what was observed and a quick drawing — turns daily life into a mini science lab. These real-life links make concepts easy to remember and help in answering competency-based questions in CBSE Class 6 Science.
How does 'Plants and Animals — Key Differences' connect to other chapters of Class 6 Science?
'Plants and Animals — Key Differences' connects to many other chapters in NCERT Class 6 Science Curiosity. The ideas of plants come back when students study related topics like diversity in the living world, food, magnets, measurement, materials, temperature, water, separation, habitats, natural resources and the solar system. For example, what students learn here helps them build mental pictures for later chapters and for Class 7 and Class 8 Science. Teachers often ask cross-chapter questions in CBSE exams to check if students can use what they learned in Chapter 10 — Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics — in new situations. This linked approach matches the NEP 2020 and NCF 2023 focus on holistic, competency-based learning.
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