It's raining

    Everyone needs water. We need water to drink, cook food, take baths, clean our clothes and house, etc. The animals and birds need water for drinking. And all those plants and trees need water to keep living. We have many sources of water for ourselves but the plants and trees depend on the rain for their water. In this chapter we will learn about the importance of rain and the process of raining.

Appu ate bananas:

     Appu the elephant likes to eat bananas.  Every day he will go to the banana plant to pluck and eat bananas.  One day he finds out that the plants are drying and drooping due to the lack of rain for a long time. He went to the river and filled his trunk with water and watered the banana plant. This way appu could keep the banana plant alive.

    But elephants don't water the plants. Can you tell how the plants get water? Yes, they get water from the ground and rain. Let's learn how the rain is formed.

Rain rain everywhere:

      Rain is the most important source of water for all the animals and plants that live on land.  The rain is formed by a process called the water cycle. 

Water cycle:

1. Evaporation: Water from the surface of earth gets converted into water vapours by the heat of the sun and travels to the sky.

2. Condensation: The water vapour in the higher altitude is converted to clouds as it is cold in the high atmosphere. 

3. Precipitation: When the clouds become more and more cold they start to rain/ snow.

4. And the cycle continues.

Importance of rain:

• Rain is the main component of the water cycle. 

• It is the biggest source of freshwater on earth.

• Paddy cultivation in India depends on the rainfall.

• Trees in the forest depend on the rain for water.

• Water in the rivers and ponds comes from the rain.

• If there is no rain for some years we face droughts. 

• If it rains extensively, floods come.

• If it rains very little for many years then the land is converted to desert. 

Rainbow:

    Rainbow is formed when it is raining and we have sun out in the sky. This is due to the reflection, refraction and dispersion of sunlight. We can see the rainbow mostly during morning or afternoon when the sun is at a lower angle. When light rays pass through the water drops a rainbow is formed.

    There are 7 colours in a rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.