NCERT Solutions For Class 5 Maths Chapter 1 The Fish Tale - 2025-26

NCERT Textbook Page: 1

1. Do you know any poems about fish?

Solution:-

Yes. The poem is given below.

One, two, three, four, five.

Once I caught a fish alive,

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so.

Which finger did it bite?

This little finger on the right.

2. Try to use a square and a triangle to draw a fish.

Solution:-

By using a square and a triangle, we can draw a fish like the one below.

NCERT Textbook Page: 2

1. ‘Meen’ means a fish, and ‘Meenakshi’ is a girl whose eyes look like a fish. Can you think of someone who has such eyes? Draw a face with ‘fish eyes’

Solution:-

A face with "fish eyes" is seen following:

2. How long is the biggest fish you can imagine?

Solution:-

There was an 18-meter-long whale shark. So, I would imagine that a fish is about 18 metres long.

3. How many times longer is your big fish than the smallest fish?

Solution:-

Fish come in lots of sizes. Some are really small, only about 1 cm long. The biggest ones can be super long, up to 18 metres.

As, 1 m = 100 cm

Then, 18 m = 18 × 100 = 1800 cm.

Therefore, big fish is 1800 times longer than the smallest fish.

NCERT Textbook Page: 3

1. About how many kilograms do you weigh?

Solution:-

I weigh about_____kilograms. (Students can write their weight according to their weight)

2. So, 12 children like you put together will weigh about ………… kg.

Solution:-

Let the weight of one child be 30 kg.

Then,

The weight of 12 children and I put together = 12 × 30 = 360 kg

So, if 12 children, like me, stand together, they will weigh about 360 kg

3. About how much more does the whale shark weigh than 12 children like you put together?

Solution:-

A whale shark weighs about 16,000 kilograms.

The weight of 12 children and I put together = 360 kg

Then, the whale shark weigh than 12 children = Whale shark weight – Weight of 12 children and I put together

= 16000 – 360

= 15,640 kg

Thus, the whale shark weighs 15,640 kilograms more than the total weight of 12 children and me combined.

NCERT Textbook Page: 5-6

1. 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.

Solution:-

I have seen the sea, and many of my friends have too. I saw the sea at Puri when we went on a trip. I've also seen the sea in movies. I think the sea must be at least 1000 feet deep.

2. Do you know how to swim? Would you be scared of the high sea waves?

Solution:-

Yes, I know how to swim. And yes, the big waves can be scary.(You can do it yourself)

3. Close your eyes and imagine the sea with waves rising high.

Solution:-

Yes, I can imagine the sea with waves rising high. High sea waves look really beautiful.

4. How high do you think the waves can go?

Solution:-

I think that the waves can go even heigher than 45 meters.

NCERT Textbook Page 5-6

1. These log boats do not go very far. If the wind is helpful, they travel about 4 km in one hour. 

(a) How long will they take to go a distance of 10 km?

Solution:-

The log boats take 1 hour to travel 4 km.

Then, the log boats take 2 hours to travel = 2 × 4 = 8 km

But in half an hour, the log boats will travel = 4/2 = 2km

Therefore, the total time they take to go a distance of 10 km is 2 and half an hour.

For 2 hours of boat travel = 8 km

For half an hour of boat travel = 2 km

Total distance travel= 8 + 2 = 10 km

So, the total distance traveled is 10 km.

(b) Guess how far you can go in one hour if you walk fast.

Solution:-

I think I can cover 5 km to 6 km if I walk fast.(You can do it yourself)

NCERT Textbook Page 7

Find Out

1. Look at the sun and find out the direction from where it rises:

(a) From where you are, what interesting things do you see to your east?

Ans. The sun rises in the east. I see the rising sun in the east. I see the orange-red sky in the east during the morning.

(b) Name two things that are lying to your west.

Ans. I see the setting sun in the west and trees are lying to my west.

2. Look at the different types of boats.

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.

(а) How far would the motorboats go in three and a half hours?

Solution:-

In 1 hour the boat goes a distance of 20 km.

Then the distance covered by motor boats in three and a half hours would be:

Total distance = 20 × 3.5 = 70 km

(b)  How much time will they take to go 85 km?

Solution:-

In 1 hour the boat goes a distance of 20 km.

Then the distance travelled by motorboats in four hours = 20 × 4

= 80 km

The distance travelled by motorboats in ¼ hour = ¼ × 20

= 5 km

Total time taken by motorboats = 4 hours + ¼ hours

{¼ hours=60/4=15 minutes}

So, the total time taken by motorboats to go a distance of 85 km is 4 hours and 15 minutes.

NCERT Textbook Page: 9

1. Which Boat Gets How Much?

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.

a) About how much fish in all will each type of boat bring in seven trips?

Solution:-

b) About how far can a motorboat go in six hours?

Solution:-

c) If a long tail boat has to travel 60 km, how long will it take?

Solution:-

From the given table, a long tail boat travels at a speed of 12 km per hour.

So, time taken by the long tail boat to travel 60 km is:

Using the formula for Time,

Time= distance/speed

Time= 60 /12

Time= 5 hours.

NCERT Textbook Page: 9

Some Big, Big Numbers!

In the Class IV Math-Magic you heard of the number 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.

1. What other things have you heard of in lakhs?

Solution:-

1. Cost of a car.

2. Number of shops in a city.

3. Population in towns, etc.

2. Write the number one thousand. Now, write one hundred thousand. So how many zeroes are there in the number one lakh? Easy, isn’t it?

Solution:-

One thousand = 1000

One hundred thousand is also known to be one lakh = 1,00,000

Therefore, there are 5 zeroes in one lakh.

3. There are about two lakh boats in our country. Half of them are without a motor. What is the number of boats with a motor? Write it.

Solution:-

Given:

Total number of boats = 2 lakhs

Number of boats without motor =2/2=1 lakh

Then, the number of boats with a motor = (2 lakhs - 1 lakh)= 1 lakh motors or 1,00,000 motors

4. About one-fourth of the boats with a motor are big machine boats. How many thousand machine boats are there? Come on, try to do it without writing it down.

Solution:-

From the question, it is given that about one-fourth of the boats with a motor are big machines.

Number of boats = 1,00,000

One-fourth of the boats = ¼ × 1,00,000 = 25000

Therefore, the number of machine boats is 25000

5. Where have you heard of a crore? What was the number used for?

Solution:-

I heard that India's population is in crores.

1 crore = 1,00,00,000

The total number of zeros is 7.

NCERT Textbook Page: 11

1) At what price per kg did Fazila sell the kingfish?

Solution:-

Price of 8 kg of King fish = 1200 rupees

The price of the kingfish for one kg = 1200/8 = ₹ 150 per kg

Therefore, Fazilla sold the King fish at Rs 150 per kg.

2) Floramma has sold 10 kg prawns today. How much money did she get for that?

Solution:-

Given, Floramma has sold 10 kg prawns today.

Price of 1 kg prawns = Rs 150

Price of 10 kg prawns = 10 x 150 = 1500 rupees

So, Floramma got Rs 1500 for her prawns.

3) Gracy sold 6 kg swordfish. Mini has earned as much money as Gracy. How many kg of sardines did Mini sell?

Solution:-

Given: Price of 1 kg sword fish = Rs 60

Total money earned by Gracy = 6 × 60 = ₹ 360

Mini sold sardines at ₹ 40 per kg.

Total weight of sardines sold by Mini = 360/40 = 9 kg

4) Basheer has Rs 100. He spends one-fourth of the money on squid and another three-fourth on prawns.

a. How many kilograms of squid did he buy?

Solution:-

Given: Basheer has money of ₹ 100.

Basheer spends one-fourth of the money on squid = ¼ × 100 = ₹ 25

Karuthamma sold squid for Rs 50 a kg.

Basheer bought = 25/50 kg = ½ kg of squid

b. How many kilograms of prawns did he buy?

Solution:-

Given: Basheer has money of ₹ 100.

Basheer spent another three-fourth on prawns =  ¼ × 100 = ₹ 75

Floramma sold prawns for Rs 150 a kg.

Basheer bought prawns= 75/150 = ½ kg of prawns

NCERT Textbook Page: 11

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.

1. How much money does the group collect each month?

Solution:-

Given:

There are twenty fisherwomen in the Women’s ‘Meenkar Bank’.

Collection from 1 woman = Rs 25

Each saves ₹ 25 every month.

So, the total money collected in the bank each month = 20 × 25

= ₹ 500

2. How much money will be collected in ten years?

Solution:-

Collection of 1 month = Rs 500

Then, the total money collected in the bank in one year = 12 × 500 = ₹ 6000 (There are 12 months in a year)

So, collection of 10 years = 10 x 6000 = 60000 rupees

NCERT Textbook Page 11

Practice time

Gracy needs money to buy a net. Jhansi and her sister want to buy a log boat. So they take a loan from their bank. They will return it with interest.

a) Gracy took a loan of Rs 4000 to buy a net. She paid back Rs 345 every month for one year. How much money did she pay back to the Bank?

Solution:-

Given:

Gracy took a loan of ₹ 4000 to buy a net.

Monthly installment paid by Gracy = Rs 345

The total money she paid in a year = 12 × 345 = ₹ 4,140

So, Gracy paid Rs 4140 back to the bank.

b) Jhansi and her sister took a loan of Rs 21,000 to buy a log boat. They paid back a total of Rs 23,520 in one year. How much did they pay back every month?

Solution:-

Given:

Jhansi and her sister took a loan of Rs 21,000 to buy a log boat.

Amount paid in one year = Rs 23,520

The total amount they pay back every month = ₹ 23,520/12 = ₹ 1,960

Hence, amount paid in a month is 1960 rupees

NCERT Textbook Page: 13-14

Why Don’t We Start a New Fish-drying Factory?

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.

1. 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 = ____________

When fresh fish is dried, it becomes its weight. In one month, they plan to dry 6000 kg of fresh fish.

How much dried fish will they get in a month? ____________

Solution:-

Total cost to set up the factory = 3000 + 40000 + 4000 + 6000 + 1500 = ₹ 54500

Fresh fish in 1 month = 6000 kg

Dry fish in 1 month = 1/3 x 6000 = 2000 kg

2. Floramma – let us first calculate for 6 kg of fresh fish.

We buy fresh fish for ₹ 15 per kg.

We sell dried fish for ₹ 70 per kg.

(i) We dry 6 kg fresh fish to get _____ kg dried fish

Solution:-

When fish is dried, it loses a significant amount of weight due to the removal of water. 

For this question, let's assume a weight loss ratio of around 2/3. This means that for every 3 kg of fresh fish, we end up with approximately 1 kg of dried fish.

Weight loss ratio = 2/3

Weight loss for 6 kg of fish = (2/3)  × 6 kg = 4 kg

Weight of fresh fish = 6 kg

Weight of dried fish = Weight of fresh fish - Weight loss

Weight of dried fish = 6 kg - 4 kg = 2 kg

So, we dry 6 kg fresh fish to get 2 kg dried fish.

(ii) For 6 kg fresh fish, we have to pay 6 × __ = ₹ 90

Solution:-

As we buy fresh fish for ₹ 15 per kg.

For 6 kg fresh fish, we have to pay 6 × 15 = ₹ 90

(iii) We will sell 2 kg dried fish and get 2 × __ = ₹ __

Solution:-

As we sell dried fish for ₹ 70 per kg.

We will sell 2 kg dried fish and get 2 × 70 = ₹ 140

(iv) So if we dry 6 kg fresh fish, we will earn __ – 90 = ₹ __

Solution:-

So if we dry 6 kg fresh fish, we will earn 140 – 90 = ₹ 50

(v) But if we dry 6000 kg, we can earn ₹ __ × 1000 in one month!

Solution:-

But if we dry 6000 kg, we can earn ₹ 50 × 1000 = ₹ 50000 in one month.

3. Jhansi — I found that for 6000 kg fish, we would need 1500 kg salt every month! Its price is Rs ₹ per kg.

Monthly costs:

a) Salt 1500 × 2 = ₹ ____

b) Packing and bus charges = Rs 3000

So the total monthly cost of drying and selling the fish = ₹ ____

Fazila — That sounds very good! Our calculations tell us that every month our Bank will earn Rs 44,000!

Solution:-

(a) Salt 1500 × 2 = ₹ 3000

(b) As the packing and bus charges = Rs 3000

Then, the total monthly cost of drying and selling the fish = ₹ 3000 + 3000 = ₹ 6000

Total earning = 50000 – 6000 = ₹ 44000

So, the total monthly cost of drying and selling the fish is ₹ 44000.

Conclusion 

NCERT Solutions for Class 5 Maths Chapter 1 - "The Fish Tale" serve as an invaluable aid for students to explore the fascinating world of geometry through poems, drawings, and discussions. By providing well-structured examples and exercises, students can grasp the concepts with ease and strengthen their problem-solving skills. The chapter instils a sense of curiosity and understanding of geometric shapes, making mathematics enjoyable and accessible. 

Other Study Material for CBSE Class 5 Maths Chapter 1

Chapter-Specific NCERT Solutions for Class 5 Maths

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