Biology - Class 11

The Biology Syllabus reinforces the ideas introduced in the lower classes while the children learn new concepts besides getting an exposure to contemporary areas of Biology. This syllabus aims also at emphasising the underlying principles that are common to both animals and plants, as well as highlighting the interrelationships of Biology with other areas of knowledge. The format of the syllabus allows a simple, clear, sequential flow of concepts without any jarring jumps. The empirical experience gained and practical exercises carried out during the course would prepare the student to handle Biology easily at higher levels in case she/he opts to continue further studies in this area.

The revised syllabus stresses the connection of the study of Biology to real life problems -use of biological discoveries/innovations in everyday life- in environment, industry, medicine, health and agriculture

Since it was important that the quality of Biology education at the higher secondary level was not compromised in any way, the reduction in load from the syllabus required a very careful selection of topics to be taught. The Committee chose to leave topics out if: the question about why the child needs to study the topic at the particular stage could not be answered; if the topic had no direct relevance to the child i.e. was not contextual; if the content was repetitive across stages with no change in expected understanding, and if any topic was in isolation with no evident horizontal or vertical linkages. The need for a network of ideas and cross-linking between the areas being identified was deemed very important. While deciding on the units/topics and the depth of each topic for the higher secondary level, a holistic view of the syllabus across all stages from the primary to the higher secondary and beyond was taken. Reducing the use of too many technical terms and avoiding very large numbers of examples will also help to make the content a little lighter. The importance of careful selection of illustrations and their use to make the concepts more explicit was stressed; in Biology the quality of illustrations can make or mar any attempt at good textbooks/teaching.