Grade 5 Chapter 22: Growth and Personality Development

Topics covered: Physical growth, Skills and efficiency, Development, Heredity, Unique personality, Factors supporting growth and development.

Growth and Personality Development

Can you tell?

• Do the clothes and shoes you wore as a baby fit you now?

All living things eat and grow physically. Similarly, we, too, grow in height and weight from birth to adulthood. You will see this also from the information that your friends enter about themselves. Some of them will be more than you in height or weight while some will be less. But, they will all have gained in height and weight since they were in Std I or II. This is because the first 18 years are the growing years for all boys and girls.

Try this.

Read the information about yourself entered in your report card and fill in the following table.

Can you tell?

1. Can an infant feed itself?
2. Can a two-year old child fold clothes neatly?
3. When do they learn to do these tasks?
4. Which of the following things have you learnt to do? Which ones have you yet to learn?

   (List provided in textbook) Skipping on a rope, writing an essay, combing your own hair, making tea, learning a song / poem, swimming, telling a story, cycling, giving a speech, counting money, tidying your house, using a computer, playing field games, climbing a tree, etc.

5. Name the things you can do which are not seen in the list.

Skills and Efficiency

Small babies cannot do anything for themselves. If they need something, they can only cry and beat about with their legs and arms. But soon, they begin to get control over some of their movements and develop co-ordination between different movements. For example, they learn to turn their head and look at something they choose. If they recognize someone, they smile. They learn to grip and hold things and then to take them towards their mouth. As they learn to control and co-ordinate their movements on their own, they begin to do several other tasks - for example, picking up things, holding a spoon and hitting it on a plate to make a noise. Achieving control of one’s movements to learn to do something new is called ‘learning a skill’.

Observe.

What does everyone feel when a baby says her first word or takes a step for the first time? What do they do?

As a baby learns various skills, the baby and everybody is happy. They praise the baby. The baby does the same things again and again. Thus, she gets a lot of practice with those skills and her strength also builds up. Slowly, she begins to do the newly learnt tasks more easily and without making mistakes. That is, her efficiency increases. Every day, we keep learning. That makes it easier to learn new skills. For example, once the child is able to hold something, she can learn to throw a ball. After learning to walk, the child learns to do more difficult things like running, hopping on one leg, or catching a ball. These new tasks also include activities that are a part of our daily routine such as eating with one’s own hands, washing one’s own face, having a bath, dressing oneself, etc.

Development

As we grow, our height and weight increases. With age our physical strength also increases. At the same time we keep learning new skills. In this way, every individual makes progress. This is called ‘development’.

Observe.

Try to observe a cow or a cat to find out all that she does for her young ones and also all the things that the calf and the kitten learn to do on their own. These animals learn from their mother, the skills of obtaining their food, protecting themselves from the sun and rain, and from their enemies. After that, they begin to live independently. Animals learn only a certain number of skills in their life. In comparison, human beings go on learning many more things throughout their life.

[Note: Students should refer to the image of children at play on page 116 of their textbook.]

Think about it.

Many skills have been mentioned in this lesson up to now. Can you do without learning some of them? Which ones are necessary for any person?

1. Which are some of the tasks you like to do? Which ones would you like to do in future?
2. What things would you like to do just for recreation?
3. What would you like to do daily when you grow up?

Some of the early skills like walking and running come with age, without having to be taught. However, we have to be taught many of the skills we learn later. We learn many skills from our parents, teachers and other adults. The greater the number of skills we learn, the less is our dependence on others. Even so, it is not as if we do every one of our tasks ourselves. For example, not all people stitch their own clothes. Nor does everyone grow their own food. But, we must all learn to take the responsibility for doing our personal tasks ourselves.

Find out.

How many years does it take the young ones of the tiger / elephant to start living independently?

Use your brain power!

Sayali is in the sixth standard. They are going on a picnic. Sayali’s Aai is going to make laadoos for the whole class. But she needs Sayali’s help. What can Sayali do to help?

Which of her skills will she use to help her mother?

Compare.

We are allowed to drive a motor vehicle, vote in an election only after a certain age.

Use your brain power!

Can you: play football, lagori / seven tiles, cook a meal, press clothes, shop for provisions, nurse a person who is ill, write a summary?

Heredity

Read and reflect.

An industrialist had worked hard to expand his business. He had three assistants. He conducted an experiment to decide whom to make the head of his factory after he retired. He gave five lakh rupees to each of them, and told them to do whatever they thought best with the money. After a year, he called them and asked them to report how they had used the money.

First assistant: I have kept the money safe. It cannot fall into anyone’s hands. I can bring it back to you whenever you say.

Second assistant: This year, I doubled the amount of the yearly bonus we give our workers. I also gave them all a feast. All the workers were very happy. I think I used the money really well.

Third assistant: With part of the money you gave, I bought a better machine. So, our production grew fivefold. Our product is also of better quality and the demand for it has also grown. We made a profit of 25 lakhs in just about eight months. So I used 10 lakhs to build a canteen that the workers needed. I have put 5 lakhs in the Workers’ Welfare Fund and I think I shall use the remaining 10 lakhs to buy one more machine.

You can easily guess who the industrialist chose as his successor. What is the moral of this story?

[Note: Students should refer to the diagram showing the assistants' use of money on page 118 of their textbook.]

How tall does one grow?

You know that our height grows till we are about 18 years old. Think of people you know who are 18 or older. Of these people, how many are very much taller or shorter than their parents?

Our looks, our built and other physical characteristics are like those of our parents. People of one family show similarities in many ways. Some of our features or traits are like those of our grandparents, or our parents’ siblings. That is why, sometimes, people who know them recognize us even if they have never met us before. Being born with certain features or traits in common with the members of our family is ‘heredity’. These are our ‘inherited’ traits. However, even though many of our traits are like those of our family members, no one has any control over which traits we will inherit and which we will not.

Each one has a unique personality

In your class, there must be some children who are good in studies while others are good at games and sports. Some sing well and some like to act in plays. We do not learn good values only to write about them in the exams. They must be reflected in our behaviour.

For better personal development ...

We inherit the ability to learn many skills. The growing age is the time to recognize these abilities and to develop our skills. Developing our skills helps us to live an independent, useful and enriching life.

A good diet

You know that food is necessary for growth. However, in certain circumstances, a growing child does not get the various food constituents in adequate proportions. This leads to malnutrition, affecting the growth of that child, for example, a person does not grow as tall as they would have been. Even if such a person gets a good diet later on, it is of no use for the growth of the body. Other factors that support growth and development Along with nutritious food, adequate exercise is also necessary for growth and development. Lack of exercise also affects growth adversely. One must also be careful to study well, avoid addictions and their ill effects, develop hobbies, take part in sports and learn new skills. If we take care to do all this, it leads to good development. Whether boy or girl, each person has every right to get the opportunity to make progress and enrich their own life.

Always remember -

• Every person is different from all others. Our physical and mental make-up is not the same as that of anyone else.
• Our personality develops through our interests and efforts - what we like to do and what we practise every day.
• During the growing years, we also learn to tell what is good and what is bad. Our personality can be said to be excellent only when we put good thoughts into practice.

What we have learnt -

• We grow in height and weight right from birth till we reach adulthood.
• A newborn baby cannot do anything for itself.
• We learn many skills from our parents, teachers and others.
• We see similarities in people of the same family. Even so, every person is unique.
• The more the skills we learn, the less we depend on others.
• We can live an independent, useful and enriched life with the help of skills.

Exercises

1. What’s the solution?
   1. Kabir wants to be a professor of zoology. What can he do today to prepare for that?

      Solution: Kabir should focus on his science studies, especially biology. He can read books about animals, watch documentaries, visit zoos or nature parks, and try to learn more about different species. He should also develop good study habits and aim for good grades to pursue higher education in zoology.

2. Use your brain power!
   1. What skills do we already have before we learn to ride a bicycle?

      Answer: Before learning to ride a bicycle, we already have skills like balancing, walking, running, coordinating hand and leg movements, and understanding basic directions.

   2. Suman wishes to run a restaurant of her own in the future. Which of the skills she is learning today will be of use in her future occupation?

      Answer: Skills like cooking, managing household chores, counting money, communicating with people, and being organized will be useful for Suman in running a restaurant.

3. Answer the following questions.
   1. What is meant by heredity?

      Answer: Heredity refers to being born with certain features or traits in common with the members of our family, inherited from our parents or ancestors.

   2. What differences do we see between children in pre-primary classes and children in Std V?

      Answer: Children in Std V have grown in height and weight, and have developed many more skills and abilities compared to children in pre-primary classes, who are still learning basic coordination and self-care tasks.

   3. What changes take place in us from birth till adulthood?

      Answer: From birth till adulthood, we grow in height and weight, our physical strength increases, and we continuously learn new skills, leading to overall development and increased independence.

   4. Name any three skills you have acquired.

      (Student's individual answer) Examples: Writing, cycling, playing a sport, cooking simple meals.

   5. What is meant by physical growth?

      Answer: Physical growth refers to the increase in a person's height and weight from birth through childhood and adolescence until they reach adulthood.

4. True or false?
   1. A baby gradually learns to perform newly learnt tasks without making mistakes. (True)
   2. At birth, we already have all skills. (False)
   3. We cannot manage all our tasks entirely by ourselves. (True)
   4. Our height increases from birth till we grow old. (False - it increases till about 18 years of age.)

Activity

Observe the young one of a pet cat or dog, or a bird, insect or any other animal in the surroundings from its birth till it becomes an adult. Keep notes regarding the following points: Growth, height, development, skills, etc. Write an interesting story based on your observations.