Deep under the sea
See the lovely coloured fish
Swimming peacefully
This special poem in three lines is called a Haiku .Such poems about nature are popular in Japan.
Here is another Haiku-
The lake ,calm,smooth,still
A fish jumps up and returns
Ripples shake the lake
Do you know any poems about fish?
Here are some drawings made by children.
When you think about fishes what shapes come to your mind?
Look for fish designs around you - on cloth, in paintings, on mats etc.
One whale shark was as long as 18m. Just think how long that is almost 12 children of your size standing one on top of the other! And guess what it weighted? Well, much,much more than what 12 of you together weigh!Its weight was about 16000kg!
To see the difference between whales and fish look carefully at their tails.Can you see that the fish tail stands flat along its body, but the tail of the whale almost looks like two legs.Can you spot the fish in the picture?
Fish like to swim together in the sea in big groups called "schools" of fish.In their school they feel safe from the bigger fish.(Do you feel safe in your school?)
This is a thematic chapter which presents to children the world of fish and fish workers through an integrated approach. Mathematical concepts ,such as shapes , estimation ,sense of large numbers , simple operations speed ,loan ,etc are woven into real-life contexts to allow a creative revision of some ideas learnt earlier.
To scare away the bigger fish,some small fish drink up a lot of water, swell up and look big!
Which of these sea animals have you seen before?
How many of you have seen the sea? Where did you see it? Did you see it in a movie or for real? How deep do you think the sea could be? Find out.
Do you know how to swim? Would you be scared of the high sea waves?
Fishermen can feel the wind and look at the sun to find out which way to go. Many of us would get lost and not be able to find our way on the sea where you only see water, water, and nothing else!
Find out
Look at the sun and find out the direction from where it rises.
Out on the sea, fishermen look for a place where they hope to find a good catch of fish. There they spread their nets. They will have to wait for many hours for the fish to come into their nets.
Some boats have motors and go further into the sea. Since they go far out they can catch more fish. These boats travel faster, at the speed of about 20 km in one hour.
These big machine boats also catch the small baby fish, which have yet to grow up. Fishermen in the smaller boats always let the baby fish pass through their nets to go back into the sea. They choose a net size in such a way that only the grown up fish are caught.
For hundreds of years fishermen have cared for the sea and its fishes, and fished only a little to eat and sell. They say that if trawlers catch thousands of kilograms of fish everyday, there will be no fish left in the sea
In one trip the log boat brings about 20 kg of fish. But other types of boats bring a bigger catch as given in the table. The table also shows the speed of each type of boat, which is how far each boat goes in one hour. Look at the table and calculate
In the Class IV Math-Magic you heard of the number 'lakh' which is equal to a hundred thousand. You had read that there are about one lakh brick kilns in our country, where bricks are made.
We might wonder about the number of people whose lives are related to fish. In all there are about one hundred lakh fishworkers who catch fish, clean and sell them, make and repair nets and boats, etc. We also have a name for this big number 'one hundred lakh' is called a crore.
Have you been to a fish market? If you have then you might know why a very noisy place is sometimes called a 'fish market'!
This fish market is busy today.
Many boats have brought a good catch. The fisherwomen are shouting out their prices to the buyers.
Mini - "Come here! Come here! Take sardines at Rs 40 a kg".
Gracy - "Never so cheap! Get sword-fish for Rs 60 a kg".
Floramma sells prawns for Rs 150 a kg.
Karuthamma sells squid for Rs 50 a kg.
Look, Fazila can hardly carry this big kingfish! She says, "This fish weighs 8 kg. I will sell the whole for Rs 1200".
Try saying this fast!
Here is a tongue twister. Repeat it fast!
She sells sea shells on the sea-shore. She is sure that the shells that she sells will be there no more.
Women's 'Meenkar Bank'
The meeting of the Meenkar Bank has just begun. Fazila is the president. Twenty fisherwomen have made their own bank. Each saves Rs 25 every month and puts it in the bank.
Earlier women did not go on the boat to fish. But now Jhansi and some others are going on the boats during the day. Things are changing now and their Bank helps them. They have also got a special bus to take their baskets full of fish.
The women of Meenkar Bank also want to start a factory to dry fish. The Panchayat has given them some land for that. Over the years they have saved Rs 74,000. They find out how much they will need for the factory.
Fazila writes the things they need to buy to begin. See the table for the cost of each item and the number of items they want to buy. Find the total cost.
Total cost to set up the factory =
[Hint : sum of (each item × number of items) ]
When fresh fish is dried it becomes 1/3 its weight.
In one month they plan to dry 6000 kg of fresh fish.
How much dried fish will they get in a month?
They are all very happy with this plan. The group can make profits and each woman can get a salary for the work she does.
Jhansi - I found that for 6000 kg fish we would need 1500 kg salt every month! Its price is Rs 2 per kg.
Monthly costs:
Fazila - That sounds very good! Our calculations tell us that every month our Bank will earn Rs 44,000!