We, human beings, and all other forms of life live on the planet earth.

The beautiful earth

We live on the planet called earth.

The round planet where we live is the earth.

It is made up of land and water and is surrounded by air. Only one part of the earth is land. The rest of the earth is water.

We need three basic things to live.

We need land to live on.

Water is needed for drinking and many other things.

And we know that there can be no life without air. We need air to breathe.

Land

The earth has different forms of land.

Flat, low-level land is known as plains. Most people live in the plains.

The plains are the best for farming and growing crops.

Most towns, cities and villages have grown up in the plains.

There are also places where the land rises up towards the sky. Such high lands are known as hills and mountains.

The high lands which do not rise very much are called hills.

Hills that really rise high are called mountains.

Almost all mountains are covered with snow in winter. But there are also mountains that are so tall that their tops are covered with snow all the time.

Hills and mountains are usually far cooler than the plains.

Faming in hilly areas is difficult but people do grow crops there.

Hilly areas have fewer towns and cities.

People from the plains often visit these beautiful mountain towns. These are also known as hill stations.

The low plain land between mountains is called a valley.

Very often, rivers beginning in the snowy mountains flow out through valleys.

The land in valley is usually very for plants. So, there is a lot of farming.

Mountains usually have pointed peaks.

But you will also find high lands with flat tops. These are plateaus or table lands.

Large area of the land is covered by forest

There are places in both plains and mountains, which are covered with forests.

Forests are areas full of trees, plants and grasses.

Different kinds of wild animals live in forests.

Water

Rain brings water to the earth.

Rain is the source of all water.

The oceans and the seas hold most of the water.

Sea water is salty. It does not serve our basic need basic of water.

This need of ours is served mainly by water from rivers.

Rivers start from different sources.

Some rivers start from springs and lakes.

Most rivers begin from snow –topped mountains.

Ice

The melting ice supplies water to the rivers.

After through valleys and plains, it flows into the sea.

Spring, Dams, ponds, tanks and lakes too hold a lot of water.

We get food like fish from water.

We also get riches like pearls and coral from it.

We use water in many other ways.

Rivers flow very fast hilly areas.

At times they come down hills in beautiful waterfalls.

We use the fast flow of river water to make electricity.

Man has travelled over water in rafts, boats and ships for thousands of years.

He has also dug canals to bring water from rivers for the crops in his fields, and drinking water for the people.

Most big cities have grown up besides rivers.

Riversides and seashores are beautiful. We often have a nice time there.

Air

No kind of life is possible without air.

The layer of air that covers the earth is called the atmosphere.

Outside the atmosphere there is no air.

Air keeps moving. It never stays at one place.

The moving air carries the clouds in the sky from one place to another.

It causes wind and storms.

Air is important to all life on earth.

We must keep it clean and pure.

Smoke from factories, cars and other things are making the air very unclean.

Unclean air is called polluted air which is unhealthy and harmful.

We must stop this pollution.