Class XI: Biology Syllabus (Units I–V)
Focus on diversity, organization, and basic cell/molecular processes.
| Unit | Topic | Key Subtopics |
|---|---|---|
| I | Diversity in Living World | What is living?; biodiversity; need for classification; taxonomy and systematics; concept of species and taxonomical hierarchy; binomial nomenclature; tools for study (herbarium, museum, botanical garden, zoological park, keys); five kingdom classification; salient features and classification of Monera, Protista, Fungi; viruses and viroids; lichens; major phyla of Animalia (Porifera to Chordata) with characteristics and examples. |
| II | Structural Organisation in Plants and Animals | Morphology and modifications; tissues; anatomy and functions of different parts of flowering plants (root, stem, leaf, inflorescence, flower, fruit, seed); family (Fabaceae, Solanaceae, Liliaceae); animal tissues; morphology/anatomy of cockroach and frog (digestive, circulatory, respiratory, nervous, reproductive systems). |
| III | Cell: Structure and Function | Cell theory; prokaryotic/eukaryotic cells; cell envelope (cell wall, plasma membrane); cell organelles (nucleus, mitochondria, plastids, ribosomes, ER, Golgi, lysosomes, vacuoles, centrioles); cilia/flagella; biomolecules (proteins, carbs, lipids, nucleic acids); enzymes (nature, properties, classification, factors affecting). |
| IV | Plant Physiology | Transport in plants (diffusion, osmosis, apoplast/symplast, transpiration, root pressure, guttation); mineral nutrition (essential elements, deficiency symptoms, nitrogen metabolism); photosynthesis (site, pigments, photochemical/electron transport, Calvin cycle, C3/C4 pathways, photorespiration); respiration (glycolysis, TCA cycle, ETC, oxidative phosphorylation); plant growth/development (seed germination, growth regulators: auxin, gibberellin, cytokinin, ethylene, ABA; photoperiodism, vernalisation). |
| V | Human Physiology | Digestion/absorption (digestive system, enzymes, disorders); breathing/exchange of gases (respiratory system, mechanism, disorders); body fluids/circulation (blood, lymph, clotting, heart, ECG, disorders); excretory products/transport (kidney structure, urine formation, regulation, disorders); locomotion/movement (muscles, skeletal system, joints, disorders); neural control/coordination (neuron, reflex arc, human brain, reflex action, sensory perception); chemical coordination/communication (endocrine glands/hormones, mechanism, disorders). |
Class XII: Biology Syllabus (Units VI–X)
Emphasis on reproduction, inheritance, evolution, and applied biology.
| Unit | Topic | Key Subtopics |
|---|---|---|
| VI | Reproduction | Reproduction in organisms (asexual/sexual modes, events, significance); sexual reproduction in flowering plants (structures, pollination, double fertilization, post-fertilization events, seed formation, apomixis, polyembryony); human reproduction (male/female systems, gametogenesis, fertilization, embryo development, pregnancy, parturition, lactation, assisted reproductive tech); reproductive health (contraception, STDs, infertility, birth control). |
| VII | Genetics and Evolution | Heredity and variation (Mendelian inheritance, deviations, incomplete dominance, codominance, multiple alleles, inheritance of blood groups, pleiotropy, polygenic inheritance); molecular basis of inheritance (DNA as genetic material, structure, replication, transcription, genetic code, translation, regulation, lac operon, human genome project, DNA fingerprinting); evolution (origin of life, theories, adaptive radiation, natural selection, origin of new species, mechanism of evolution, Hardy-Weinberg principle, Ascaris, adaptive radiation in Australian marsupials, molecular evidences). |
| VIII | Biology and Human Welfare | Health/disease (pathogens, prevention, immunity: innate/acquired, active/passive, vaccination, AIDS, cancer, drugs/alcohol abuse); improvement in food production (plant breeding, tissue culture, single cell protein, biofortification); microbes in human welfare (household/industrial products, sewage treatment, energy production, biocontrol, biofertilizers). |
| IX | Biotechnology and Its Applications | Principles/processes (recombinant DNA tech, tools: restriction enzymes, ligases, vectors, competent host, polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis, biotech production processes); application (insulin, vaccines, GM crops, Bt cotton, RNA interference, molecular diagnosis, ELISA, gene therapy, transgenic animals). |
| X | Ecology and Environment | Organisms and populations (organism-environment interaction, major abiotic factors, adaptations, population attributes, growth models, life history variation, population interactions: mutualism, competition, predation, parasitism); ecosystem (structure, productivity, decomposition, energy flow, ecological pyramids, succession); biodiversity/conservation (patterns, loss, hotspots, endangered organisms, conservation: ex-situ/in-situ, biosphere reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries); environmental issues (air/water/soil/thermal/radioactive pollution, solid waste management, agrochemicals, greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, deforestation, case studies). |