Chapter 13 — Animal Jumps

Chapter 13 of the Class 5 Mathematics NCERT textbook (Maths Mela), "Animal Jumps", introduces factors, multiples, common factors, and common multiples through number-line jumping activities featuring animals — download the PDF and read a summary of how rabbits, frogs, spiders, and grasshoppers help students discover these foundational number concepts.

• Factors and Multiples — The chapter explains that factors are the numbers by which another number can be divided completely. Arrays (rows and columns) are used to find all factors — for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12 are all factors of 12, and 12 is a multiple of each of them.
• Common Multiples Using a Number Line — Animals jumping at different step sizes illustrate common multiples. A rabbit jumping 4 and a frog jumping 3 both land on 12 first, making 12 the smallest common multiple of 3 and 4. Students extend number lines and use times tables to find further common multiples.
• Common Factors — A common factor of two or more numbers divides each of them exactly. The chapter uses Mowgli's trail to show, for instance, that 2 is a common factor of 4, 12, 14, and 50 — the positions of Mowgli's friends he can reach by jumping 2 steps at a time.
• Prime Numbers — Through array-making exercises, students discover that numbers like 13 and 37 can only be arranged in a single row (1 x 13, 1 x 37), which means their only factors are 1 and themselves — the definition of a prime number.

1. 01A number arranged as an array reveals its factors — the number 12 forms arrays of 1x12, 2x6, and 3x4, giving factors 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12.
2. 02The product of two or more factors gives a multiple; 1 and the number itself are always factors of any number, and every number is a multiple of itself.
3. 03A rabbit jumping 4 steps and a frog jumping 3 steps first meet at 12 on the number line — 12 is the smallest common multiple of 3 and 4.
4. 04A spider (jumping 3) and grasshopper (jumping 6) share common multiples 6, 12, 18, ... showing that multiples of the larger number are always common multiples.
5. 05A common factor of two or more numbers divides each of them exactly; for example, 2 is a common factor of 4, 12, 14, and 50.
6. 06Numbers like 13 and 37 have no arrays other than a single row, which is why they are called prime numbers.
7. 07Students sort numbers by divisibility rules — identifying which are divisible by 2 only, 5 only, 10 only, or all three — connecting factors to divisibility.