Things Around Us · NCERT Class 3 Our Wondrous World

This World of Things

The world is full of things — some made by nature, some by people. Tap each idea to sort natural and made things, discover the materials around you, and find out how things behave.

🧱 3 topics⏱ ~12 min📝 8-question quiz

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Six things about the world of things

Tap each term to explore the things and materials all around you.

Explore · Things around ustap a term

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Three big ideas

Some things are natural — made by nature, like water, stones, soil, plants and air.
Some things are made by people — like a chair, a book, a toy or a car.
Even made things often start from nature — a wooden chair comes from a tree, and cloth comes from cotton plants.

Sort it. Is a river natural or made by people? What about a bridge?

A river is natural, but a bridge is made by people. Look around — can you spot more of each?

Things are made from materials — wood, metal, plastic, glass, clay and cloth.
Each material is chosen for a reason: glass is clear for windows, metal is strong for tools, cloth is soft for clothes.
One object can have many materials — an umbrella has a metal rod and a cloth top.

Common mix-up: The same thing can be made of different materials — a cup may be of glass, clay, metal or plastic. The material changes how it feels and what it is good for.

Things can be hard or soft, rough or smooth, heavy or light, shiny or dull. We learn by looking and touching.
Some things float on water (a leaf, a plastic ball) and some sink (a stone, a coin).
We can see through transparent things like clear glass and water, but not through opaque things like wood or a wall.

Try it. Drop a stone and a leaf into a bucket of water. What happens?

The leaf floats on top and the stone sinks to the bottom. Heavy, hard things often sink; light things often float.

Where you'll see it

Things all around us

In your school bag

A metal compass, a plastic ruler, a cloth bag and paper books — your bag is full of different materials, each chosen for a job.

A clear window

Glass is used for windows because it is transparent — it lets light in while keeping rain out.

Float a paper boat

A light paper boat floats while a coin sinks — a fun way to learn which things float and which sink.