Reproduction
All living beings reproduce. They produce young ones of their own kind. This process is called reproduction. Reproduction is essential as it gives birth to the next generation.
One day, while Swati was going to her friend’s house, she saw three puppies playing. She was fascinated to see those healthy puppies playing and chasing each other. She stood admiring them and wondered, from where have they come? Doubts like how are these young puppies born and how are they formed, troubled her.
When she reached home, she went to her grandmother with her doubt. Her grandmother clarified her that the puppies were born from their mother dog’s womb. She also explained her that womb is a place where life begins.
In animals and human beings, womb is in the belly of the female or the mother. The baby is supplied with food, water and oxygen through a tube from the mother’s body. The baby is safe inside the womb. When the baby grows and is able to breathe and eat on its own, it comes out of the mother’s body.
Puppies, kittens, calves and even human babies are born from their mothers’ wombs. For some time after their birth, they feed on their mothers’ milk. They are called mammals.
The young ones of hens, insects, snakes, lizards and birds are born from eggs. Most of the animals take care of their young ones. The birds prepare their nests to lay eggs. After laying the eggs, they sit on the eggs to keep them warm till they are hatched. The birds take care of their young ones till they are able to fly and arrange for their food on their own. The process by which young ones come out of the eggs is called hatching.
The animals protect the young ones from enemies too. They bring food to feed the young ones till they are able to survive by themselves.
Swati’s grandmother added that sometimes two children are born together. If two children are born together, they are called twins.
Adoption
Swati’s grandma told Swati that her friend Lakshmi had lost her parents in her childhood. When Lakshmi was a child of two years, her father died in a road accident and her mother died with some unknown illness after a few months of her father’s death. She was left alone in the family without
brother or sister of her own. Her grandparents were poor and they could not take care of Lakshmi.
So, Lakshmi was adopted by her uncle and aunt who had no children.
They were happy to look after Lakshmi as their own child. They became Lakshmi’s legal parents and Lakshmi became their adopted child. The process by which couples adopt a child is called adoption.
Grandmother also reminded Swati that parents fulfill the needs of their children. They give them love and affection. They guide them when they go wrong. They educate and support them till they find a job and become independent. Every child grows up under the care and protection of his/her parents.
