CTET Paper 1 - 28th Dec 2021 (English-Hindi-Sanskrit) (Previous Year Paper)

Development refers to a qualitative change that results in an increase in structure for better and enhanced functioning of organs. Growth refers to a quantitative change that results in an increase in height, weight, and length of the child.

Key Points

Human growth and development are influenced by both 'Hereditary and Environment' as they are the elements that play a vital role in determining the development of an individual.

The relative effects of heredity and environment vary in different areas of development​ as:

• All mental and social traits depend on the environment.
• All the inborn traits, instincts, and I.Q. depend on heredity.
• All the potential inputs for growth and development depend on heredity.
• Both are complementary to each other in molding the life of an individual.
• How a person will develop depends on the environment but how far a person can develop depends on heredity.
• Heredity places limit on IQ and the environment determines the numeric position of IQ within these limits.

Hence, it could be concluded that the relative effects of heredity and environment vary in different areas of development.

Hint

• Heredity: It refers to the traits that pass down from the parents to their offspring. It is the most important personality and intelligence determinant.
• Environment: It refers to the circumstances in which an individual lives. Child's immediate environment strongly influences their personality and intelligence.

Childhood refers to the period of the human lifespan, ranging from birth to puberty. It consists of many developmental stages and early childhood is one of them.

Key Points

• 'Early childhood' lies between the age of '2 to 6 years.
• It is a very crucial period for the overall development of the child.
• It is also known as the toy age, pre-gang age, and exploratory age, etc.

Characteristics of early childhood:

• Develops the skills of language acquisition.
• Faces problems with the concept of conservation.
• Struggles with the idea of centration and reversibility.
• Begin to use words and pictures to represent objects.
• Learns to compare objects through external characteristics.
• Child increases the coordination of social skills with one's and others' emotions.

Hence, it could be concluded that in the context of stages of development, the stage from 2 to 6 years is called early childhood.

Additional Information 

Other Stages of Development:

Development refers to an increase in structure for better and enhanced functioning of organs. A child develops in an orderly sequence which is almost similar in all children.

• The rate and speed of development may vary in individual cases but the sequence of development patterns is almost the same in all children. Thus human development is based on certain principles.
• It is one of the most important principles of development that states every individual although exhibit differences in the change but they follow the same sequence of change.

Key Points

Predictable Patterns of Development: 

• Child development takes place in two directions, one is from the head-to-foot/toe direction and the second is from center to periphery.
• The Cephalocaudal Development: It exhibits that the development proceeds in the longitudinal direction i.e. from head to toe. That is the reason why a child first gains control over the head before s/he starts walking.
• The Proximodistal Development: It proceeds from near to the distant and from parts of the body near the center develop first then the extremities. Therefore, the child in the earlier stages of development starts developing the fundamental muscles rather than the smaller muscles or fine motor skills.

Hence, it could be concluded that the Proximodistal principle of development states that motor development proceeds from the center of the body towards the extremities.

Socialization is the process through which communities transact or educate their members about the norms and values of society to be socially acceptable.

• It simply refers to acquiring the socially approved ways of behavior and taking ideal expectations seriously.
• Socialization is the continuous process of negotiating identities and shaping one’s concept of self, identity, various attitudes, and behaviors.
• Socialization has 4 major agents namely family, school, peers, and mass media.

Key Points

Types of Socialization: 

Primary Socialization: 

• It happens during infancy and childhood. It refers to the process where the child becomes socialized through the family in the early childhood years.
• It highlights that the key agent in the process of primary socialization is the family (Parents, siblings, etc.).

For example,

• A very young child in a family has little knowledge of his culture. It is through the family that the child gets to know what is accepted and what is not in a particular society.
• Rhea, a 4 year old girl got scolded by her parents when she refused to eat her vegetables. During make-believe play, Rhea repeats this behavior.

Secondary Socialization: 

• It occurs once the infant passes into the childhood phase and continues into maturity. It refers to the process that begins in the later years through agencies such as schools and peer groups.
• During this phase more than the family, some other agents of socialization like the school and peers’ group begin to play a role in socializing the child.
• For example, Schools help children in learning the importance of social cohesion and unity and inculcating the informal cues about social roles through interaction.

Hence, it could be concluded that Rhea's behaviour depicts primary socialization.

Hint

• Make-believe play is a ubiquitous part of early childhood. In make-believe play, children pretend that an object is something other than what it actually is.
• In make-believe play, children also pretend to be another person. In other words, being able to make-believe means that the toddler is able to think symbolically.
• Toddlers reproduce acts that they have seen adults perform, like pretending to read a book, picking up the telephone receiver, and carrying out an imaginary conversation.

Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist, has propounded the 'Theory of Moral Development'.

• He has made a systematic study of moral development in his theory that is categorized into 3 levels and 6 stages.
• He created moral development theory by posing moral dilemmas to groups of children as well as adolescents and adults.
• According to Kohlberg, a moral dilemma is the thinking process involved in judgments about questions of right & wrong.

Key Points

Level 1: Pre-conventional Morality: It consists of the first two levels of moral development. Here morality is judged based on the standards of adults and the consequence of an action.

• Stage I (The Punishment and Obedience orientation) — An action is immoral if it is punished by the authority.
• Stage II (The instrumental purpose orientation/Individualism and Exchange) — This stage is self-interest driven and children understood for the first time that different individuals may have different viewpoints. An action is considered morally correct if it is in the best interest of the individual. At the individualism and exchange stage of moral development, children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs.

Level 2: Conventional Morality: This level consists of stages three and four. During this level, children start internalizing the value of society to judge morality.

• Stage III (The good boy-good girl orientation) — The intention of the actor is more important in terms of judging moral values. If the intention is to gain the consensus of others or approval of the society then the actor will be judged morally right.
• Stage IV (The social-order maintaining orientation) — Judgment of morality is based on one’s duty, law, and social order. actively maintaining the current social system ensures positive human relationships and societal order

Level 3: Post Conventional Morality: The last level consist of stage five and six of moral development. According to Kohlberg, very few people are able to reach this level. Here, the individual perspective is given more importance over social rule and order. Individuals judge morality based on basic human rights and justice.

• Stage V (Social Contract and Individual Rights) – In this stage, the individual or child understands that different people and communities may hold different views and laws. Laws of the society are not rigid edicts and should be changed with the change in the time and needs of the society.
• Stage VI (Universal Principles) – Individuals judge morality of the actor based on some universal principles that transcend beyond the society’s rules and regulations.

Hence, it could be concluded that according to Lawrence Kohlberg, Pooja is at the instrumental purpose orientation stage of Moral development.

Cognitive development involves cognitive processes such as knowing, thinking, remembering, recognizing, categorizing, imagining, reasoning, decision-making, and so forth.

• According to Piaget, children’s understanding of the world expands as they experience new ideas and challenges. Children construct their own knowledge through interaction with their surroundings.
• Cognitive development proceeds as children mature. Piaget divided cognitive development into four stages.
• Sensorimotor (Birth – 2 years) & Preoperational (2-7 years)
• Concrete Operational (7-11 years) & Formal Operational (11 years and above)

Key Points

​The Pre-operational Stage:

• In this stage, the child faces problems with the irreversibility of thought, the concept of conservation, and struggles with the idea of centration.
• Conservation refers to the idea that a quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance. If you show a child four marbles in a row, then spread them out, the preoperational child will focus on the spread, and tend to believe that there are now more marbles than before.

The Concrete Operational Stage:

• In this stage, children can solve conservation problems because of the attainment of the concept of reversibility, decentralization, seriation, and transitivity as a cognitive capacity.
• Reversibility is the ability by which the child becomes capable of following a series of actions and then being able to follow back or in other words ‘reverse’ these series of actions mentally.
• Decentralization refers to the ability to consider multiple aspects of a situation. When a child can focus on more than one aspect of a situation at the same time they have the ability to decenter.

Hence, it is clear that according to Jean Piaget, a child’s ability to solve conservation problems depends upon an understanding of decentralization and reversibility aspects of reasoning.

Additional Information 

• Seriation: It is the ability to order items along a particular dimension such as length or weight. For instance, arranging pencils from shortest to longest.
• Transitive inference: It is the process of finding unknown relationships between objects by using multiple previous information. If stick A is longer than stick B and stick B is longer than stick C, children can draw the mental inference that stick A is longer than stick C.
• Centration: Due to the Centration in thought, the child can focus his attention only on one aspect of the situation at a time and cannot reverse the direction of his thought.

Cognitive Development involves cognitive processes such as knowing, thinking, remembering, recognizing, categorizing, imagining, reasoning, decision-making, and so forth.

• According to Piaget, children’s understanding of the world expands as they experience new ideas and challenges. Children construct their own knowledge through interaction with their surroundings. Cognitive development proceeds as children mature.
• Piaget divided cognitive development into four stages.
• The Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)
• The Pre-Operational Stage (2-7 years)
• The Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)
• The Formal Operational Stage (11 years and above)

Key Points

​The Pre-Operational Stage:

• This is the second stage of cognitive development which is basically a pre-logical stage as logic has not yet fully developed. It extends from two to seven years of age.
• We saw that towards the end of the second year, the child becomes capable of representing experiences mentally without interacting with them directly or physically. Also that the child begins to understand that symbols represent certain aspects of reality.
• At this age,  the child exhibits symbolic representation which means the ability to deal with symbols. Although the child is able to think about symbols still he lacks reversibility.
• According to Piaget, symbolic representation is a representational ability that emerges when the child is about 22-24 months old. It is a unified capacity that enables the child to represent an object or an event that is not present (a signified) by means of another object that is present (a signifier).
• The child during this stage engages in what is called a symbolic play that is, the wooden box is considered as a car, a rounding, the steering wheel and the stick, a gun. A child pretends to ride a broomstick to represent riding a horse.
• In language, signs are part of the existing structure that we use to communicate so children start learning signs first to communicate their language.

Thus, it is concluded that Raghav pretends to ride a broomstick to represent riding a horse, this ability is called symbolic representation.

Additional Information

• Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to infer the perspective of other people or to see a situation from others' points of view.
• Conservation refers to the idea that a quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance. If you show a child four marbles in a row, then spread them out, the preoperational child will focus on the spread, and tend to believe that there are now more marbles than before.

Seriation refers to the ability to sort objects or situations according to any characteristic, such as size, color, shape, or type. For example, they can arrange a set of pencils of different sizes in ascending or descending order.

'Lev Vygotsky', a Soviet psychologist, has propounded the "Socio-cultural Theory". This theory implies the idea that social interaction plays a crucial role in the development of learners' cognitive ability. 

Key Points 

• Vygotsky has proposed the concept of 'Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)' in his theory which refers to the difference between what a learner can do on his/her own and what he/she can do with someone's help.
• It is a distance between the learner's actual development level and his/her level of development under someone's guidance.
• In the concept of the Zone of proximal development, the term ‘Proximal’ indicates that the assistance provided should be just beyond learners' current competence.
• It emphasizes putting comprehensible input slightly above the learner's current level so that they could complete the task effectively.

Hence it could be concluded that in the concept of Zone of proximal development proposed by Lev Vygotsky, the term ‘Proximal’ indicates that the assistance provided goes just beyond learners' current competence.

Additional Information

Other Important Terms Proposed by Vygotsky in his 'Socio-cultural Theory':

• Scaffolding: It refers to a process through which temporary support is imparted to the learners to enhance learning to achieve goals.
• More Knowledgeable Other(MKO): It refers to a person with a higher skill level and a better understanding of the concepts than the learners.

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist and a social constructivist. He has propounded 'Socio-cultural Theory' which emphasizes the role of social interaction in cognitive development.

• Lev Vygotsky emphasized that the acquisition of speech is the major activity in cognitive development.
• Vygotsky embedded in this theory, the concept of 'private speech' which is a kind of speech directed to the self with no communicative function.

Key Points

Private Speech:

• It refers to the speech produced aloud by young children which seems to be addressed either to the self or to others, which sometimes cannot be easily conceived by a listener.
• It has a major role in the augmentation of the self and self-consciousness. It is the main aspect in the development of self and subjectivity.
• Children use private speech to guide their actions by speaking to themselves. This phenomenon starts in the early years of life and proceeds to the end of adolescence and even later.
• For example, a child instructs himself while assembling a set of blocks.

Hence, from the above-mentioned points, it becomes clear that Akram instructs himself while assembling a set of blocks. In light of Lev Vygotsky’s theory, Akram is engaging in 'private speech'.

Hint 

• Piaget relates private speech to egocentrism among children, and also calls it egocentric speech. He says that such speech indicates that the child is unable to see others' points of view. S/he only talks about what s/ he wants to. However, as s/he cognitively and socially develops such speech gradually disappears.

Intelligence refers to the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. It is the ability to solve problems, learn from experiences, and apply knowledge to deal with new situations.

Key Points

• Howard Gardner, an American Psychologist, proposed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
• In his book ‘Frames of Mind’, he pointed out that he did not believe there was “one form of cognition which cut across all human thinking. There are multiple intelligences with autonomous intelligence capacities.” So, intelligence cannot be viewed as a single entity.
• Gardner initially proposed eight types of intelligence which later on he increased to nine. Thus Gardner views each individual as a unique combination of various intelligence, hence we cannot say that one is more intelligent and another is less intelligent.

Important Points Types of intelligence suggested by Howard Gardner in this theory:

• Linguistic Intelligence refers to the ability to use language. It is the capacity to use spoken and written words in a skilled way.
• Logical-mathematical intelligence is the ability to use logical reasoning and mathematical ability. Individuals high on this intelligence have good abstract reasoning, critical thinking, and good in dealing with numbers.
• Musical Intelligence is the ability to use rhythms, sounds, and patterns to create, compose and perform music. It involves sensitivity to music, and the ability to recognize and manipulate musical patterns.
• Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is the ability to use and control one’s body movements and actions. Dancers and sports persons are usually high in such intelligence.
• Spatial Intelligence is the capacity to perceive, understand and use spatial and visual information effectively. Such people are good at spatial orientation, forming visual images and patterns.
• Interpersonal Intelligence refers to the ability to understand others and social interactions. They can understand the emotions and the perspectives of others and relate well to others.
• Intrapersonal Intelligence is the ability to understand oneself and know one’s thoughts, emotions, feelings, motives, and desires, and how these influence their behavior.
• Naturalistic Intelligence is the ability to recognize and understand the various patterns in nature. It includes sensitivity to nature with all its features including flora, fauna, and all biodiversity.
• Existential Intelligence: Gardner added existential intelligence as the ninth intelligence which refers to the sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions beyond sensory data and about human existence. It concerns the ‘big picture’ in life and the ultimate truth of life. Cosmologists and philosophers

Hence, the theory of multiple intelligence is given by Howard Gardner.

Hint

• Alfred Binet: Uni-factor Theory (General factor)
• Robert Sternberg: Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
• B. F. Skinner: Operant Conditioning Theory

Language development refers to the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them for the understanding of the others.

• Language development concerns itself with the length and the patterns of sentence structure, grammatical construction, and syntax.

Key Points

• Heredity and environment interact to influence the development of skills in all areas, be it the development of language, cognitive, physical, or social skills.
• Children acquire language since they are genetically predisposed to do so and the environment also plays a significant role in it as language development is a product of both heredity and environment.
• The learner-centered and low-anxiety classroom environment has a great impact on language acquisition. By this, they will show a greater motivation to read aloud in class or write an essay without the fear of being criticized.
• The biological/hereditary factors include the genetic make-up of the child and the maturational timetable. Basic to learning a language is the ability to listen and produce sounds.
• The following three facts point out that we are biologically predisposed to acquire language:
• Firstly the human body, as you have read, is equipped for the purpose of speaking, hearing, and understanding language.
• Secondly, all newborns are most responsive to the sound of the human voice which shows that we have an inborn ability to learn the language.
• Thirdly, all children go through the same stages while acquiring language and they do so at approximately the same ages, irrespective of the language they speak.

Hence, it is clear that both (A) and (R) are false.

Marginalized groups are those who do not have sufficient resources as compared to the established students. These groups of students get discriminated against in terms of race, color, or economic status.

• The present pandemic condition has increased the challenge of providing education to such groups due to the lack of access to the internet or computers, especially in countries like India where a large chunk of the population is still living in rural areas.

Key Points

• Teachers’ negative beliefs about their abilities and having very low expatiations from marginalized students is a potential risk factor involved with the learning and development of children from marginalized groups.
• Such assumptions will create a negative impact on the self-confidence of students. It may hinder their future academic success.
• A teacher should treat all the students as equals and should encourage the students who are not performing well.
• Many students, despite lacking resources at home, perform well in school while some students with all the aids and support do not perform well.

Hence, it is clear that teachers’ negative beliefs about their abilities and having very low expatiations from marginalized students is a potential risk factor involved with the learning and development of children from marginalized groups.

Hint

• Rest options will ensure equity in education for the marginalized groups which is a measure of achievement, success, placement, and opportunities in education.
• Equity in education ensures the basic requirement of education that is required by the student for basic work skills.
• Heterogeneous grouping in classrooms, emphasis on the connection between local knowledge with school knowledge wherever possible, and representation of marginalized groups as central characters in stories that are included in textbooks will ease the process of learning for the marginalized group to help them understand better.

A society comprises of males and females. Gender division, gender biases, and gender stereotypes are the common ill practices in a society.

Important Points 

Gender bias:

• It is an unfair idea about the personal attributes and traits of males and females.
• It is a tendency of differentiating people as men and women on the basis of their gender.
• It refers to a generalized view or characteristics that ought to be possessed by women and men.

Key Points

The above-mentioned perspective of the school reflects gender bias as it:

• will put women in traditional roles and will also promote a sense of gender inequality among people.
• will emphasize the stereotype that certain activities are only meant to be done by women and not by men and vice versa.
• can limit the development of the natural talents and abilities of girls and boys as well as their life opportunities in general.

Hence, it could be concluded that the above-mentioned perspective of the school reflects gender bias.

Additional Information 

• Gender equality is a human right which means that all human beings irrespective of their gender should be treated in an equal manner.
• Gender identity is defined as an individual’s perception of oneself as a male or female or third gender and it also deals with how society views you.
• Gender stability is defined as the understanding of one's gender and its inability to change over the period of the lifespan.

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation, commonly known as 'CCE' lays emphasis on the thought process and de-emphasize memorization as CCE includes all aspects of students' development.

• It is the latest development in the teaching-learning process introduced as a school-based system of evaluation by the CBSE in 2009 with the enactment of the Right to Education Act.

Key Points

• In continuous and comprehensive evaluation, teacher closely observes children throughout the year when they are engaged in learning activities, compiles samples of their work, and maintains an observation diary of individual children as the primary goal of continuous and comprehensive evaluation is to assess children's understanding and modify the curriculum and pedagogy for students.
• It provides immediate feedback to the teachers who can then decide whether a particular unit or concept needs re-teaching in the whole class or whether a few individuals are in need of remedial instruction so that they can modify the curriculum accordingly.
• It creates interest among the learners for studies and ensures all-around development of students including cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains.
• CCE entails meticulous record-keeping by the teacher through Cumulative records, Anecdotal records, portfolios, etc., and entails integration with the teaching-learning process through diagnostic and remedial teaching.

Hence, it is concluded that the above-mentioned type of evaluation is continuous and comprehensive.

Additional Information

• Summative evaluation evaluates student learning by comparing it against some standard or level. It ‘Sums-up’ how much a student has learned over a period of time.
• Formative evaluation is used to evaluate student learning progress and achievement. It helps teachers to understand the learning needs of students to ensure their academic growth.
• Norm-referenced evaluation is the traditional class-based assignment of numerals to the attribute being measured.  It is an attempt to interpret the test results in terms of the performance of a certain group. This group is a norms group because it serves as a referent of the norm for making the judgment.

Assessment is done to determine the outcomes (what students have learned), process (the way they learned), and their approach to the learning before, during, or after the program or course.

Key Points

Purpose of assessment:  

• Providing credible feedback on learning.
• Motivating children to develop an interest in the study.
• Providing feedback to each pupil about his/her progress in study.
• Giving feedback to the teacher about the effectiveness of his/her teaching.
• Enhancing the teaching-learning process so that the learning of students can be benefitted.
• Assessing the remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating abilities of learners.

Hence, it could be concluded that the purpose of assessment is to provide credible feedback on learning.

Individual difference refers to the difference which distinguishes an individual from another on the basis of psychological characteristics. Individual differences could be seen in all domains of development such as physical, emotional, mental, etc.

Key Points

Pedagogical strategies that schools should adapt to address individual differences among students:

• Provide diverse learning experiences to students.
• Cater to the individual needs of children by being flexible.
• Combine different types of prompts to make students inculcate skills.
• Use a variety of pedagogical approaches and means of assessment.
• Cater to the range of learning needs and requirements of diverse learners.

Hence, it could be concluded that catering to the individual needs of children by being flexible, is the correct answer in the context of the question.

Additional Information 

Other required steps to meet individual differences:

• Ability grouping.
• Enrichment of curriculum.
• Individualization of instruction.
• Identification of special talents.
• Adoption of modern method of teaching.
• Providing a variety of learning experiences.

Developmental disorder refers to the severe, chronic disability of an individual which is likely to continue indefinitely. There are different kinds of developmental disorders and ADHD is one of them.

• The abbreviated term ADHD denotes Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to hyperactivity in a child's behaviour.

Key Points

Typical Behaviours Associated with  Hyperactive Children are:​

• Get distracted easily.
• Poorly sustained attention in all situations.
• difficulty in listening to or following directions.
• More active or restless than normal children.
• Difficulty in adhering to the rules and regulations.
• Impulsive, over-enthusiastic, and try to do several things at once.
• Diminished persistence in tasks not having immediate consequences.

Hence, from the above-mentioned points, it becomes clear that a student with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is likely to have the tendency to get distracted easily.

Exceptional children are those who deviate from the normal population and need special education services to meet their needs. It includes children who are gifted, backward, creative, learning disabled, etc.

• A gifted child is essentially exceptional and displays consistently remarkable performance in physical or cognitive aspects and exhibits superiority in general intelligence levels.

Key Points

• Gifted children have divergent thinking and are very curious in nature that's why sometimes the classroom seems monotonous to them because they grab things fast than their age-peers.
• So, it's a teacher's responsibility to use customized and stimulating instructions method to make learning interesting for them.
• For teaching students who are gifted, a teacher should encourage the reading of high-level and original texts for them chosen with their consent as they can construct and handle the higher level of abstractions.
• Separate classes and enrichment programs can be used for gifted children to satisfy and utilize their intelligence.

So, it is clear that for teaching students who are gifted, a teacher should encourage the reading of high-level and original texts for them chosen with their consent.

Students come to the classroom with a range of abilities, experiences, and backgrounds. Some students will have special needs and disabilities, while others will have additional learning needs and/or elements of educational disadvantage which are not formally recognized.

• In the teaching-learning process, partially sighted learners or learners with low vision suffer from an issue with sight or vision but when they are facilitated with the right training and tools, they develop a good literacy ability.

Key Points

Instructional adaptations that a teacher should make to address the needs of children with low vision include:

• Use of large-print books.
• Use of a lot of touches and feel materials.
• Use of three-dimensional maps and charts.
• Use of software that converts text to speech.
• Give verbal clues to create opportunities to imagine.
• Introduce tactile materials such as felt books and felt boards.
• Speak clearly, explicitly, and loudly with appropriate pauses and reiterations.
• Provide learning with the help of auditory systems such as an audio CD of the textbook, radio, etc.
• Use a braille system to make them read-write as its raised dots will help the child to study the words through the pattern.

Hence, it could be concluded that in the above-mentioned situation, the teacher should provide him with audio-recorded lessons from the textbook.

Learning disability refers to a neurological disorder that causes cognitive impairment. Dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, etc. are the most common learning disability.

• If a child has difficulty in putting words down on paper, it may be due to 'Dysgraphia' or 'Dyslexia'.

Key Points

• Dysgraphia refers to a learning disability that affects learners' ability to write coherently. It hinders in organizing letters, numbers, or words on paper.
• Dyslexia is a condition in which a child/student faces persistent challenges in reading and comprehending the text. When they face difficulty in reading, they can not spell the words properly and are unable to write them accurately as well.
• Avoiding spelling as a criterion for evaluating assignments is an effective assessment strategy to assist children with learning disabilities. It will make children express themselves without any fear of being incorrect.
• The motive or the expectation from the students is not to get the right answer, rather the intention is to observe the thought process of the learner so that the qualitative performance of the student can be evaluated.
• They should not worry about right or wrong spelling, they need to focus on conceptual understanding. The teacher is there to guide the students in case they are wrong, but that should be expressed at the end of the activity.

Hence, it is clear that avoiding spelling as a criterion for evaluating assignments is an effective assessment strategy to assist children with learning disabilities.

Learning is a comprehensive process that refers to a change in behavior, knowledge, and skill as a result of practice and experience.

• Meaningful learning refers to the process of acquiring information actively and properly with complete understanding.
• It takes place only when learners are actively engaged in tasks and activities.

Key Points

Effective strategies for promoting meaningful learning: 

Use of examples and non-examples

• Examples: It utilizes similar situations, ideas, or concepts to learn new information or concept easily. Examples help to understand an unclear concept by relating to another similar concept.
• Nonexamples: It utilizes contrasting situations, ideas, or concepts to learn new information. Non-examples help students to understand concepts by stretching their thinking effectively.

Encouraging students to ask questions:

• Questions take learning forward by interactions and lead to conceptual clarity.
• Questions inspire learners to look out for information that aligns with their pursuits and might consequently promote lifelong learning.
• Asking questions allows learners to link between various pieces of information which can assist them in structuring essays and debates.

Having students teach the concept to someone else:

• When children sit and learn in a group, the bright children who have gained mastery over some concepts in a subject may act as tutors and teach the other children in the group.
• It helps both children to assimilate the concepts effectively and meaningfully.

Hint

• Promoting children to constantly compare their performance with other children can lead to low self-esteem and anxiety in them which could hinder meaningful learning.

Hence, it could be concluded that (i), (ii), and (iii) are effective strategies for promoting meaningful learning.

Problem-solving is an important part of thinking processes. In general, a problem is any kind of conflict or difference between one situation and another that one wishes to produce, that which is the goal.

• An individual uses various kinds of methods or strategies to solve problems. Some strategies when used take a long time but definitely give an answer. On the other hand, there are some other strategies that take lesser time but do not always guarantee success.

Key Points

Ahmed encourages children to his classroom to think of analogies to promote effective problem-solving:

• An analogy is one of the strategies of problem-solving.
• In analogy, a solution to an earlier problem is used in order to help with an original problem.

Children learn meaningfully when the teachers enable them to make connections with what they already know:

• In analogy, the current problem is solved on the basis of past experience of solving similar problems. This heuristic looks for similarities between a current problem and one solved in the past.
• For example, try to solve the anagram BODUT. By thinking of the words D, O, and U will simplify the problem information. The usefulness of the planning strategy depends on the extent to which the solution to the simple problem will be helpful when the complex problem is considered.

Thus, it is concluded that both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

National Education Policy 2020 is the first education policy of the 21^st century and aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of our country. The development of the creative potential of each student is emphasized in the National Education Policy 2020.

Key Points National Education Policy 2020 proposes that education should:​

• be aligned with the aspirational goals of the 21^st century.
• lays emphasis on conceptual understanding rather than rote learning and learning-for-exams.
• develop good human beings capable of rational thought and action.​
• be inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centered, discussion-based, flexible, and, of course, enjoyable.
• focus on problem-solving, critical thinking, scientific temper, and creative imagination, with sound ethical moorings and values.
• adopt experiential learning including hands-on learning, arts-integrated and sports-integrated education, story-telling-based pedagogy, etc.

Hint 

• NEP 2020 does not focus on drills and practice and doesn't promote textbook or teacher-centric education and assessment of learning rather NEP 2020 emphasizes learning by real-life experience and assessment for learning.

Hence, we can conclude that National Education Policy 2020 proposes a pedagogical shift from rote learning to conceptual understanding.

Critical Thinking is the ability to apply reasoning and logic to new or unfamiliar situations, ideas, and opinions. It refers to the process of judging or analyzing facts, events, etc.

Key Points

• Critical Thinking requires proper analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation as critical thinkers imagine and explore alternatives in the context of a situation to solve a problem.
• Critical thinking involves metacognition, analysis, and reflection as it is a process that challenges an individual to use reflective, reasonable, rational thinking to gather, interpret, and evaluate information in order to derive a judgment.
• Critical thinking helps a person in identifying and challenging assumptions underlying a statement and focuses on checking for factual accuracy and logical consistency among statements.
• Thinking critically involves seeing and observing things in an open-minded way and examining an idea or concept in a way to form as many angles as possible.​

Hence, from the above-mentioned points, it becomes clear that thinkers do not consider the context of a situation, does NOT contribute to critical thinking.

Motivation is the drive to achieve something in life that satisfies one’s needs. There are two primary types of motivation namely, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. 

• There are many methods of motivating learners which can either be categorized into extrinsic or intrinsic types of motivation.
• Intrinsic motivation is the motivation that is animated by personal enjoyment, interest, or pleasure. It is driven by an interest in the task itself and exists within the individual.

Key Points

• From the above-mentioned information, it is clear that Meera is illustrating intrinsic motivation as intrinsic motivation refers to the behavior which focuses on personal satisfaction and internal rewards.
• Intrinsic motivation is the internal condition or factor of learning. It directs behavior that leads to self-actualization in learning.
• It is the arousal of a tendency to act and produce results. It is the drive to achieve something in life that satisfies one’s needs.
• It arouses and sustains the interest of learners in the teaching-learning process which compels them to be active while learning a concept.

Hence, it could be concluded that Meera practices guitar after school as she loves the activity and finds it very satisfying, she illustrated intrinsic motivation.

Hint 

• Extrinsic motivation refers to a behavior that is guided by earning rewards or avoiding punishment.
• Rewarding a student is an extrinsic type of motivation. It lures the learner to focus on studies for achieving a reward.
• Such kind of motivation creates a mindset where the learner expects to put effort only when there is a reward at the completion of work.

Learning is not something that takes place within the boundaries of a classroom; rather it takes place anywhere, anytime, and from anyone.

• Traditional Indian Literature has examples where people learned from trees, mountains, rivers, insects, etc. It means learning is something that is possible anywhere.

Key Points

• The socio-emotional environment determines to a great extent the future course of learning and development. As the child grows, the contours of personal and social space for interaction expand.
• School climate is a leading factor in explaining student learning and achievement but apart from academic learning, it is important to focus on the socio-emotional needs of the students in an educational setup.
• Social-emotional capacities include the management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others.
• By focusing on the socio-emotional needs of the students, schools can remove those socio-emotional problems which hinder the learning and ultimately the success of students.
• An empathetic and listening teacher promotes socio-emotional learning in the classroom as a teacher is liked by students when he/she listens to their problems.
• Students are curious in nature and they feel good when someone shows empathy and interest in answering their questions relating to every field. It also boosts their confidence to explore their knowledge.
• They connect to that teacher in a better way and don't hesitate to ask for any kind of help. It is the moral duty of a teacher to always listen to the problems of students.

Thus, it is concluded that an empathetic and listening teacher promotes socio-emotional learning in the classroom.

All learners make mistakes. As someone has said: "You can't learn without goofing". Whether you are learning how to ride a bicycle, how to fly a kite or learn a language, everyone does make mistakes.

Key Points

• An error is an incorrect form and a sure indication that the learner has not mastered the core of the selective topic in a learning process.
• Errors offer an opportunity for the teachers to understand students’ thinking or thought processes since they are a window to children's thinking.
• Errors are necessary for the learning process to give insight into children's thinking. It helps the teacher to be aware of learners' learning styles and to cater to them according to their needs.
• Making an error cannot be just due to negligence and carelessness. It may be so that students are thinking about it in a different manner other than what is the right process.
• To understand this, a teacher should analyze what mistake the students are doing, how the mistake is generated, and where exactly they tend to make mistakes.​

Hence, it is clear that errors offer an opportunity for the teachers to understand students’ thinking.

Learning is a comprehensive process that refers to a change in behavior, knowledge and skills as a result of practice and experience.

• Children are always encouraged to concentrate on learning in schools. A lot of effort is dedicated by the teacher and the parents to aid the child in the learning process.
• Although significant learning occurs through these efforts, a child may not necessarily perform up to his best potential. This may occur due to many factors.

Key PointsFactors influencing learning includes:

• Cultural content: Cultural content and its value are significant influencers in the process of learning. A child who is aware of his culture and is motivated to preserve the cultural integrity of the society develops an interest in learning more about the society and thinks about the ways towards the betterment of the society.
• Maturation: Maturation is the process by which we change, grow, and develop throughout life. The maturation of the learner affects learning because ​maturation is related to the structure and potential capacity.
• Interest: Interest refers to a feeling that keeps learners involved and attentive while learning or doing a specific task. Subjects in which a learner is interested reflect his motivation, attraction, and attentiveness in favor of that subject. If a learner is disinterested in learning a particular subject it shows that he/she has a feeling of demotivation against that subject.
• Emotional factor/Emotions: Emotion impacts our levels of motivation. Positive emotions can help a student engage with learning longer because they stay motivated. Emotions during learning also impact our feelings toward education. If we have positive experiences, we are more likely to enjoy our schooling and develop a love for learning.

Hence, it is clear that all (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) factors influence learning.

Approaches to learning describe and explain the conditions under which learning does and does not take place. This movement is towards theorizing the process of learning. It attempts to provide a definite coherence to one particular subset of experimental findings in the field of learning.

Key Points

• Constructivism is centered on the idea that human knowledge and learning are actively constructed by the teacher, not passively received from the environment.
• Knowledge is always someone's knowledge. It is created or constructed by the experiencing individual.
• The learner is not a passive entity but an active cognizing subject. He\she plays an important role in the learning and development of knowledge.
• Learners have to construct knowledge themselves or by working in small groups in which the teacher facilitates each group.
• Knowledge is not passively received or absorbed by the learner but actively built by him\her. What more this implies is that knowledge cannot be transmitted from one learner to another.
• Constructivism emphasizes that new learning depends on current understanding and meaningful learning occurs through social interaction and with authentic learning tasks.

Thus, it is concluded that the learning is hindered by social interaction, is NOT a characteristic of constructivism.

Textbook is a tool to be used in the teaching-learning process to facilitate effective and meaningful learning.

Key Points

• The key characteristic of a good textbook is that it should have cartoons and stories that promote exploration and divergent thinking.
• The cartoons used in the textbook raise basic issues and make them relatable to children.
• A cartoon is an effective technique to develop critical and reflective thinking by creating interest. It consists of both visualization and motion and makes the child familiar with the issues by raising it in an attractive way.
• Stories bind the students in studies. At the primary level, stories can help students to learn the important events and personalities in a fun way.
• The main purpose of Stories in the textbook at the Primary level is to make the subject learning more interesting and entertaining as stories are always a source of keen pleasure for the learners to develop a genuine feeling and real enjoyment.

Hence, it becomes clear that a textbook of class III uses cartoons and stories, this would make the content interesting and relatable for the children.

Calculation:

Rs. 14 = (Rs. 10 × 1) + (Rs. 2 × 2)

Rs. 14 = (Rs. 10 × 1) + (Rs. 2  × 1) + (Rs. 1 × 2)

∴ In 2 ways you can give 14 rupees to me.

The correct option is 2

Calculation:

Digits on a mobile keypad - 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

⇒ The product = 0 × 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 × 6 × 7 × 8 × 9 = 0

∴ If a number is multiplied by 0 the product is 0.

The correct option is 4 i.e. 0

Given:

Footmarks of Kangaroos = 48

Footmarks of Rabbits = 12

Footmarks of Duck = 40 

Calculation:       

The number of legs of a Kangaroo = 4

⇒ The number of Kangaroos = 48/4 = 12

The number of legs of a Rabbit = 4

⇒ The number of Rabbits = 12/4 = 3

The number of legs of a duck = 2

⇒ The number of ducks = 40/2 = 20

∴ Kangaroos, Rabbits and Ducks are standing respectively in the garden are 12, 3 and 20.

The correct option is 3 i.e. 12, 3, and 20

Given:

Length of rectangular field = 4 cm

Width of rectangular field = 3 cm

Side of a square =  1 cm

Formula Used:

Perimeter =  Sum of all sides

Calculation:      

The length of the boundary of the rectangular field before cutting square = 4 + 3 + 4 + 3 = 14 cm

The length of the boundary of the rectangular field after cutting square = 3 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 14 cm

The length of the boundary of the rectangular field before cutting square ∶ The length of the boundary of the rectangular field after cutting square = 14 ∶ 14 

∴ 1 ∶ 1

The correct option is 3 i.e. 1 ∶ 1

Given:

Shan wishes to pour milk = 2 L

First bottle holds = 1/2 of the milk

Second bottle holds = 3/4 of the rest of the milk

Third the bottle holds = 1/5 of the remaining milk 

Calculation:     

Shan wishes to pour milk = 2 L   

⇒ First bottle holds = 1/2 of 2 L = 1 L

 ⇒Remaining milk = 2 L - 1 L = 1L

Second bottle holds = 3/4 of the rest of the milk 

⇒ Second bottle holds = 3/4 of 1 L = 3/4 L

⇒ Remaining milk = 1 - 3/4 = 1/4 L

1 L = 1000 ml

1/4 L = 1000/4 = 250 ml

Third bottle holds = 1/5 of remaining milk

⇒Third bottle milk = 1/5 of 250 = 50 ml

⇒ Remaining holds milk = 250 - 50 = 200 ml

∴ 200 ml of milk will be left with Shan after filling all the three bottles.

The correct option is 1 i.e. 200 ml

Given:

Varun has = Rs. 10

The cost of a pen = Rs. 6

Calculation:       

Varun has = Rs. 10

The cost of a pen = Rs. 6

⇒ The remaining amount = Rs. 10 - Rs. 6 = Rs. 4

Rs. 4 = (Rs. 1 × 2) + (Rs. 2 × 1)

⇒ Total coins = 2 + 1 = 3

∴ He has received total 3 coins.

The correct option is 3 i.e. 3

Given:

The sum of consecutive numbers = 45

Formula Used:

Average = Sum of all values/Number of values

Calculation:  

Let assume that first number is (x - 2)

The second number = (x -1)

The third number = x

The fourth number = (x + 1)

The fifth number = (x + 2)

The sixth number = (x + 3)

The sum of all values = (x - 2) + (x - 1) + x + (x + 1) + (x + 2) + (x + 3) = (6x + 3)

Now, A/Q

45 = (6x + 3)

⇒ 6x = 42

⇒ x = 7

Six numbers are 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10

Sum of the square of first 3 numbers = 5² + 6² + 7² = 25 + 36 + 49 = 110

Concept:

Prime Number: Prime numbers are those numbers that have only 2 factors that are 1 and the number itself.

Composite Number: Composite numbers are those numbers that have more than 2 factors.

Calculation:

1 has only 1 factor so it is neither a prime number nor a composite number.

∴ 1 is not a prime number is the correct statement

∴ 1 is not a composite number is the correct statement

The correct option is 1 i.e. Both A & B are true

Calculation:

Two third = 2/3

three twentieth = 3/20

(2/3) × (3/20)

⇒ (2/20)

⇒ Two twentieth

Given:

Length of wire = 100 m

Concept:

Perimeter of shape = length of the wire 

So perimeter of all of the given shapes will be same.

Out of a fixed perimeter of any traingle an equilateral traingle has maximum area.

Formula:

Circumference of the circle = 2πr

Area of the circle = πr²

Perimeter of equilateral triangle = 3 × side

Area of the equilateral triangle = √3/4 a²

Perimeter of square = 4 × side

Area of the square = (side)²

Perimeter of rectangle = 2 × (l + b)

Area of the rectangle = l × b

Calculation:

Checking for square : 

Perimeter of square = 100 m

⇒ 4 × side = 100 m

⇒ side = 25 m

∴ Area of square = 25 × 25 

= 625 m²

Checking for rectangle : 

Perimeter of rectangle = 100 m

⇒ 2 × (l + b) = 100 m

⇒ l + b = 50 m

⇒ b = 50 - l

∴ Area of rectangle = (50 - l) × l

= 50l - l²

for maximum area dA/dl = 0 and d²A/dl² < 0

⇒ d(50l - l²)/dl = 0

⇒ 50 - 2l = 0

⇒ l = 25 m

⇒ b = 50 - l = 25 m

Also d2A/dl2 = -2 < 0 hence maximum

∴ l = 25 m and b = 25 m 

∴ maximum area = 25 × 25

= 625 m2

Checking for triangle : 

By above concept ,triangle must be equilateral

Perimeter of equilateral triangle = 100 m

⇒ 3 × side = 100

⇒ side = 100/3

∴ Area = √3/4 × (100/3)²

= 480.56 m² (approx)

Checking for circle : 

Circumference of circle = 100 m

⇒ 2πr = 100

⇒ r = 50/π 

∴ Area = πr²

= π(50/π)²

= 2500/π 

= 796.17 (approx)     -     GREATEST

Concept:

A rhombus has 2 lines of symmetry.

A kite has 1 line symmetry

Calculation:

In the Rhombus ABCD, 

All four sides are equal and opposite angles are equal, adjacent angles are supplementary

PQ and RS are the lines of symmetry.

∴The rhombus has 2 lines of symmetry.

A Kite has two  pair of adjacent sides and 1 pair of equal opposite angle

∴ A kite has 1 line of symmetry.

The correct option is 2 i.e. Rhombus

Calculation:

A bus leaves in = 1/2 hours

The next bus will leave at = 9:25 am

Previous bus left at = 9:25 am - 30 minutes = 8:55 am

Passenger asked his query = 8:55 am + 10 min. = 9:05 am

∴ The enquiry clerk gave this information to the passenger at 9:05 am

The correct option is 4 i.e. 9:05 am

Formula Used:

The perimeter of rectangle = 2 × (Length + Breadth)

The area of rectangle = Length × Breadth

Calculation:  

Option 1:

The area of rectangle = 60 cm2

The breadth of rectangle = 1 cm

⇒ The length of rectangle = 60 ÷ 1 = 60 cm

The perimeter of rectangle = 2 × (60 + 1)

⇒ The perimeter of rectangle = 122 cm

Option 2:

The area of rectangle = 60 cm²

The breadth of rectangle = 2 cm

⇒ The length of rectangle = 60 ÷ 2 = 30 cm

The perimeter of rectangle = 2 × (30 + 2)

⇒ The perimeter of rectangle = 64 cm

Option 3:

The area of rectangle = 60 cm2

The breadth of rectangle = 6 cm

⇒ The length of rectangle = 60 ÷ 6 = 10 cm

The perimeter of rectangle = 2 × (10 + 6)

⇒ The perimeter of rectangle = 32 cm

Option 4:

The area of rectangle = 60 cm2

The breadth of rectangle = 12 cm

⇒ The length of rectangle = 60 ÷ 12 = 5 cm

The perimeter of rectangle = 2 × (12 + 5)

⇒ The perimeter of rectangle = 34 cm

∴ The maximum perimeter of the rectangle is 122 cm.

The correct option is 1 i.e. Rectangle with area 60 cm2 and one side 1 cm.

Given:

Aman drinks glasses of water daily = 14

The capacity of the glass = 300 ml

1 week = 7 days

Calculation: 

Aman drinks water in a week = 14 × 7 = 98 glasses

⇒ Total quantity = 98 × 300 = 29400 ml

1 L = 1000 ml

⇒ 29400 ml = 29400 ÷ 1000 = 29.4L 

∴ 29.4 L of water he drinks in 1 week.

The correct option is 2 i.e. 29.4L

Concept:

Acute angle: An acute angle is an angle that measures less than 90°.

Right angle: A right angle is an angle that is exactly equal to 90°.

Obtuse angle: An obtuse angle is a type of angle that is always larger than 90° but less than 180°.

Complimentary angle: Complementary angles are two angles that sum to 90° 

Calculation:

The angle made by the middle alphabet of the word 'ONE' is an acute angle.

Because the Acute angle is lesser than a right angle 

And from the figure of the alphabet N

∠I is less than 90° 

So, the angle formed in the middle alphabet of ONE is acute angle

 

The correct option is 1 i.e. Acute angle

George Polya is known as the father of modern mathematical problem-solving.In 1945, he proposed a book "How to solve it", in which he explains all the four steps.

Key Points

• According to Polya, the sequence of all the four steps in problem-solving is as:
• Understand the problem
• Devise a plan
• Carry out the plan
• Look back
• That's why option (2) is correct.

Additional Information 

• Understand the problem:
• Children should put their efforts to understand the problem as to which type of the given problem is.
• Devise a plan:
• Plan a strategy by which the problem gets easily solved.
• Example: Use symmetry, make a list, use the model, etc.
• Carry out the plan:
• Persist with the plan that you have chosen, check each step and if the plan is continuous not working leave the plan and devise another plan.
• Look Back:
• Check the outcome (result) of the problem, and look back to see from which steps you get results.

Mathematics is considered a formally organized subject of study, and hence, it is treated as a discipline. In Mathematics, we deal with various branches such as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc. The branches of Mathematics find application in our daily life.

Nature of concepts in mathematics.

Key Points

• Hierarchical in nature concepts are arranged in a particular order where the students progress from one to another according to their cognitive ability of the student.
• Logical in nature as mathematics relies on logic rather than on observation as its standard of truth. Research in mathematical logic commonly addresses the mathematical properties of formal systems of logic such as their expressive or deductive power.
• Abstract in nature, if we take the example of the circle to sphere the abstractness of ‘concept’ expands since roundness is different from, a circle which in turn is different from a sphere. At a later stage, the abstractness grows to various other related concepts of circle and sphere such as diameter, radius, perimeter, volume, and so on. Thus we may conclude that every mathematical concept gives rise to more such concepts and hence abstractness widens.
• It deals with quantitative facts and relationships.
• Mathematics is the science of Space and Numbers.

Thus, it is concluded that Concrete in nature is NOT true about the 'nature of concepts' in mathematics.

Hint 

• Mathematics is not concrete because the process of moving from the concrete to the abstract scenario is known, appropriately enough, as an abstraction. Through abstraction, the underlying essence of a mathematical concept can be extracted. People no longer have to depend on real-world objects, as was once the case, to solve a mathematical puzzle.

Open-ended questions are those which doesn't have a fixed solution or a fixed way to reach the solution. Open-ended questions give liberty to the respondents to express their views. They give tremendous freedom to the respondents to answer according to their interpretation. 

Key PointsAdvantages of open-ended questions

• Enhance creativity and divergent thinking.
• Unanticipated answers can be obtained from the respondents.
• The researcher can have real views of the respondents.
• Respondents can give their views in their language reflecting creativity, self-expression, and richness of detail.
• Such answers reveal the logic of the respondents.

​"Take two digits, say 3 and 5. Make four-digit numbers using both the digits an equal number of times". is also an open-ended question as many 4-digit numbers can be formed.

Hence, It is an open-ended question and gives opportunities for students to analyze and critique each other's responses.

 Additional Information

The readiness of children is an important factor that should be considered before starting the teaching-learning process. If the children are not ready cognitively, physically, or mentally they can't grasp the concept taught to them. 

Key PointsAll the activities conducted by the teacher above are useful for assessing children's readiness to introduce important concepts like numbers, and counting in arithmetic because

• Sorting shells, stones, and tokens of different size and color make students ready to grasp and understand the topics like basic geometry of shapes and develop competencies like classifying according to various parameters.
• Arranging different sticks in a bundle according to their lengths make students get a basic idea of measurement where the students compare different objects according to their lengths and decide which is big and which is small.
• Threading the beads to form a garland for counting makes them ready for concepts like the introduction of numbers and counting which can make their addition ability strong.

​Hence,  all the activities conducted by the teacher above are useful for assessing children's readiness to introduce important concepts like numbers and counting in arithmetic.

Hint 

On the other hand, all the other options are wrong because they indicate this activity as a waste of time, irrelevant, and done for leisure.

The aim of NCF 2005 regarding teaching mathematics is mathematization. Mathematization refers to the act of interpreting or expressing mathematically or the state of being considered or explained mathematically. In other words, mathematization is nothing but converting a given situation in a more specific way using numerals, symbols, and mathematical facts satisfying the given conditions with the help of logic. Logic is the backbone of the mathematization of any given situation.  

Key Points

Estimating the weights of different objects in their surroundings and discussing the answers with peers and teachers indicates mathematization because 

• Here students apply their knowledge in problem-solving.
• Knowledge of rote memorization doesn't help here.
• Children think differently about different objects in their surroundings and their weights.
• While discussing children share their thoughts freely and their thought process is enhanced and mathematization takes place.
• Children remain active throughout the activity.

​Hence,  estimating the weights of different objects in their surroundings and discussing the answers with peers and teachers indicates mathematization.

Hint 

On the other hand, the other three options don't indicate mathematization because enough freedom is not given to the student he/she is forced to communicate only through a formula and through formal procedures which lack mathematization.

“The National Curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils: become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics. reason mathematically by following a line of inquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalizations, and developing an argument using mathematical language. 

Key Points

The Shape of mathematics education has become taller and more spindly, rather than broad and rounded.' This means that

• The curriculum is no longer broad and rounded with the same old topics.
• Many new topics have been included and some old basic topics have been trimmed.
• A positive change has taken place in the curriculum that new topics of higher significance are added.
• These new topics have higher significance because they form a base for higher mathematics education.

​Hence 'The Shape of mathematics education has become taller and more spindly, rather than broad and rounded.' This means a curriculum acceleration has led to the pruning of some basic topics to include new topics which are of significance in higher mathematics education.

On the other hand, the other 3 statements don't explain the meaning of the statement in the question which means some basic topics are trimmed to include new topics which are of significance in higher mathematics education.

A concept map is a diagram that shows relationships among concepts. A concept includes many attributes and prepositions. Concept maps consist of labels (enclosed in circles or boxes) and relationships (a connecting line) linking two concepts and sub-concepts. 

Key Points

Features of concept maps :

• A concept map can be used as an excellent planning device for planning instruction.
• It helps in organizing and planning learning activities to enhance the learning experiences of the learners.
• Mapping the concepts may increase your ability to provide meaningful learning experiences to learners by integrating concepts.
• Concept maps can be used as diagnostic tools to identify difficulties in learning that students are facing.
• It facilitates the identification of concepts and sub-concepts that you want to emphasize. A concept map facilitates the teacher to reconceptualize the course content.
• It helps to understand the relationship between facts and concepts through cross-links, which leads a teacher to gain new insights into the nature of mathematics.

Additional Information

​On the other hand the statement "It is a linear arrangement of all the sub-concepts of the concept". is wrong because the concept map is a complex network depicting the relationship between all the sub-concepts of the concept, not a linear arrangement.

Key Points

• Formative assessment is a range of formal and informal assessment procedures employed by teachers during the learning process to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment. It is an ongoing process usually carried out by the teacher to continuously monitor students’ progress in a non-threatening and supportive environment.
• Hence it Finds out what learning, changes, and progress has taken place in the child over some time in different subjects and other dimensions of personality
• In a teacher-centered classroom, the full control of the classroom and activities is with the teacher. Therefore, the classroom is often orderly, and students remain quiet. 
• Hence children memorize the facts and are assessed through written tests
• A child-centered classroom is one in which the teacher is flexible and caters to the needs of individual children. The teacher provides pupils with opportunities to learn independently and from one another and coaches them in the skills they need to do so effectively.
• ​Hence Children work both individually and in groups and are assessed while doing activities.
• Group assessment is done where the students are not alone, every category of students is placed in the group and the students learn from each other.
• ​Hence this helps to assess social skills and cooperative learning processes

Hence option 1 forms the correct matching

Assessment plays an important role for children in primary classes. The purpose of assessment in primary schools is to provide information on the performance of a child at a point in time or over the school year. The results are used to plan ongoing learning and whole-school evaluation. 

Key Points

A test based on recalling facts and formulae is not an appropriate assessment method for primary class children because

• It involves rote memorization which is not an assessing parameter.
• Recalling facts and formulae doesn't indicate meaningful learning.
• Recalling makes the student limited in terms of thinking.
• Here the students may understand the formulae or they may remember blindly.

Hence a test based on recalling facts and formulae is not an appropriate assessment method for primary class children.

Additional InformationOn the other hand, a subjective test according to the learning levels of children, using ICT-based tools for assessment, and using concept maps are appropriate assessment methods for primary class children because they involve meaningful learning and effective parameters which can be considered for assessment.

Proportional materials are base 10 materials where a ten is physically the same size as 10 ones, and a hundred is physically the same size as 10 tens. This helps children understand the place value relationships. Groupable materials are proportional, and so are many pre grouped materials.

 Key Points

• Dienes blocks are proportional materials as the material for 10 is 10 times the size of the material for 1 where 100 is 10 times the size of 10. Place values can be taught using this proportion where the students get the idea of ones and tens without increasing materials just by increasing proportion.
• Bundles of match sticks are also proportional as one match stick can be taken as ten and ten match sticks as a hundred and make students understand the place values of numbers.

​Hence Dienes blocks and Bundles of match sticks are proportional materials.

 Additional Information

Mathematics is considered a formally organized subject of study, and hence, it is treated as a discipline. In Mathematics, we deal with various branches such as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc. The branches of Mathematics find application in our daily life.

 Key Points

Hierarchical nature of mathematics

• A hierarchy of ideas is a system of ideas in which they are organized into different grades, ranked one above another.
• ​For example From the counting of concrete objects, we abstract the set of natural numbers, namely, N = {l,2,3,4 ... }.
• ​If in this set, we include zero, we get the set of whole numbers, namely, W = {O, 1,2,3, 4 ... }.
• This set can be further enlarged to include negative numbers, and we get Z = { ... -3, -2, -1, 0, l, 2, 3 ... } as the set of integers.
• To the  set of integers, we can add positive and negative fractions to get the set of rational numbers, Q, and so on

​​​If we don’t understand what the natural numbers mean, we will certainly not be comfortable with whole numbers. Similarly, if we don’t grasp what negative numbers mean, we doubt if we will understand what a rational number is. So, to understand each of these abstract concepts, we need to understand every concept that comes before it in the step-wise build-up, or hierarchy, of ideas.​

Hence Assessing children's previous knowledge of mathematical concepts is important because mathematical concepts are hierarchical.

 Additional Information

Consider the sentence ‘In 2003, the President of India was a woman’. When you read this declarative sentence, you can immediately decide whether it is true or false. And so can anyone else. Also, it wouldn’t happen that some people to say that the statement is true and some others to say that it is false. Everybody would have the same answer.

So this sentence is either universally true or universally false. 

Key Points

• Similarly, ‘An elephant weighs more than a human being.’ Is a declarative sentence that is either true or false, but not both. In mathematical logic, we call such sentences statements or propositions.
• A proposition should be either uniformly true or uniformly false. For example, ‘An egg has protein in it.’, and ‘The Prime Minister of India has to be a man.’ are both propositions, the first one true and the second one false.
• Similarly, the Sum of 6 and 7 is 13 will be either true or false but not both so it is an example of the proposition.

Hence the sum of 6 and 7 is 13 is an example of the proposition.

 Additional Information

Divergent thinking is a creative process of exploring many possible solutions to a problem. It is also looking at an idea from many viewpoints**.** Divergent problems differ in that there are many solutions to one problem. It is important to note that no solutions are offered to choose from. Instead, many solutions are created during the divergent exploration. 

Key Points

• The analysis involves divergent thinking because here the students do not see the problem or solve it as a whole, they break the problem into many parts and solve each part in various ways in which they explore and possibly find the solution.
• The synthesis also gives scope for divergent thinking because here the children do the opposite of analysis, here students join all the parts of the problem to make a whole where the problem could make meaning and provide a clue for them to proceed further.
• Evaluation is also a part of the cognitive domain and it also leads to divergent thinking because here the students get enough opportunity to find out the correct solution and how correct and wrong solutions differ, this also involves divergent thinking

Hence option 2 is the correct one. 

Additional Information

Multiplication is one of those 4 basic operations in mathematics.It is also called repeated addition, a student without having a proper understanding of addition can't solve problems based on multiplication. 

Key PointsThe method used by the student above reflects her understanding of the properties of multiplication because

• The student is trying a different way to solve the problem.
• He/she is first splitting the given numbers as a sum of tens and ones.
• Then multiply each number by the other two numbers.
• Here the student is able to use a method which he/she feels comfortable to solve the problem because he/she has a clear understanding of multiplication.

Hence the method used by student above reflects her understanding of the properties of multiplication.

 Additional Information

On the other hand, all the other options are wrong as they show this method as useless and informal and should not be used in the examination which is not true.

Geoboard is a tool for exploring a variety of mathematical topics introduced in the elementary and middle grades. Learners stretch bands around the pegs to form line segments and polygons and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more. It consists of a wood board with evenly spaced rows of nails or a plastic board with protruding pegs around which string or rubber bands are wrapped.

 Key Points

Geo-board helps students to :

• comprehend mathematical concepts effectively by utilizing concrete objects and experiencing real situations.
• test and experience theoretical knowledge and discover different mathematical properties of various geometrical objects.
• enhances the interest and motivation of learners to learn mathematics.
• provide a better learning experience that helps learners to relate geometrical concepts with their daily life activities and nature.
• promote ndividual learning while engaged with geo-boards as learners engage in an exploration of mathematical contents in their way.

​Hence the most appropriate reason for introducing Geo-board-based activities could be to provide concrete representations for many investigations into geometrical concepts.​

Concept:

• A map is a representation or a drawing of the earth’s surface or a part of it drawn on a flat surface according to a scale.
• There are three components of Maps – distance, direction and symbol.

Explanation:

• There are four major directions, North, South, East and West. They are called cardinal points.

• The other four intermediate directions are north-east (NE), southeast(SE), south-west (SW) and north-west (NW).

• We can locate any place more accurately with the help of these intermediate directions.

• We can find out the direction of a place with the help of a compass.

Given: The Doctor is located at X.

• He first goes to A which is 800 m due east of X.
• Then, he goes to B which is 650 m due south of A.
• Then, again he goes to C which is 150 m due west of B.
• And, then finally he goes to Y which is 100 m due north of C.

 

Hence, from the above diagram, it becomes clear that with respect to the hospital the correct direction of the doctor's house is north-west.

The Correct Answer is: mynah

Concept:

• Different birds have different characteristics.
• All have different beaks, necks feathers, eyes etc.

Key Points

Mynah:

• Mynah birds are species in the family starlings.
• Mynah is best known for their ability to talk and to mimic any sounds.
• Mynah found in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.
• In India Mynah known as Maina.
• Mynahs are medium in height and have sturdy feet.
• They can move their head backwards with a jerk.

​Thus, the bird which can move its neck back and forth with a jerk is Mynah.

Additional Information

Owl:

• An owl is a nocturnal bird, which means it sleeps during the day and is awake at night.
• Owls are carnivores. They eat rodents, small and medium-sized mammals, insects, fish, and other birds.
• Owls can rotate their neck back up to 270 degrees.
• Owl can move its neck backwards to a large extent.

​

​Crow:

• They are the most common birds.
• They are black-greyish in colour.
• They bob their head.

​Koel:

• They are the cuckoo birds of India.
• They are known for their sweet songs.
• They lay eggs in other birds nest.
• They are blackish-bluish in colour.
• They cannot move their neck backwards to a large extent.​

The Correct Answer is: owl

Concept:

• Different birds have different characteristics.
• All have different beaks, necks feathers, eyes etc.

Key Points

Mynah:

• Mynah birds are species in the family starlings.
• Mynah is best known for their ability to talk and to mimic any sounds.
• Mynah found in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.
• In India Mynah known as Maina.
• Mynahs are medium in height and have sturdy feet.
• They can move their head backwards with a jerk.

Owl:

• An owl is a nocturnal bird, which means it sleeps during the day and is awake at night.
• Owls are carnivores. They eat rodents, small and medium-sized mammals, insects, fish, and other birds.
• Owls can rotate their neck back up to 270 degrees.
• Owl can move its neck backwards to a large extent.

​

​Crow:

• They are the most common birds.
• They are black-greyish in colour.
• They bob their head.

​Koel:

• They are the cuckoo birds of India.
• They are known for their sweet songs.
• They lay eggs in other birds nest.
• They are blackish-bluish in colour.
• They cannot move their neck backwards to a large extent.

​Thus, the Owl bird can rotate its neck backwards to a large extent.​

Concept:

• Some persons, including children, can be visually impaired.
• They have very limited vision to see things
• Such persons try to identify things by touching and listening to voices more carefully.
• They develop their other senses more sharply
• Additional resources can enable them to develop their capabilities further

Explanation:

• The most popular resource for visually challenged persons is the Braille script
• It was developed by Louis Braille in 1821
• The Braille system has 63 dot patterns or characters.
• Each character represents a letter, a combination of letters, a common word or a grammatical sign.
• Dots are arranged in cells of two vertical rows of three dots each
• Thus, this script is based on six points
• These patterns when embossed on Braille sheets(thick paper) help visually challenged persons to recognise words by touching.
• To make them easier to touch, the dots are raised slightly
• This script can be typed or manually made using pointed tools

This script is based on 6 points.

Explanation:

In Assam houses are -

• The houses are made up of strong bamboo pillars as bamboo is the most available resource with their strong structure.
• The inside of the house is made of wood which can be beheld on bamboo bases.
• Most of the villages construct their wooden houses 3 to 3.5 m above the ground on strong bamboo pillars as floods are more often in this state.
• Since there is a heavy rain zone so their roofs are sloping that does not store water on the roof.

Hence, we conclude from the above-mentioned points that in Assam is the state which is a suitable answer.

Additional Information

Description of houses of different places:

• In Ladakh, houses are made of woods, with sloping roofs and covered in snow.
• In Kashmir, some old houses have a special type of window which comes out of the wall. It is called 'dab'.
• In villages of Kashmir, houses are made from stone cuts and kept one on top of the other and coated with mud.
• In Srinagar, 'Donga' houseboat can be seen in Dal Lake and Jhelum river. From inside it is just like a house with different rooms.
• In Manali (Himachal Pradesh), houses are made of stone and wood, but not on bamboo pillars.

National Park:

• A national park is an area dedicated to the conservation of wildlife along with its environment.
• It is usually a small reserve covering an area of about 100 to 500 km2.
• Within biosphere reserves, one or more national parks may also exist.

Key Points

Jim Corbett National Park :

• It is the oldest national park in India, located in Uttarakhand. H
• It was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal tiger.
• Jim Corbett National Park is the largest tiger reserve located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.
• It was established in the year 1936.
• It is famous for being home to a large number of tigers, the highest among any Indian national park.
• The Park itself occupies 520 square kilometres, and its whole area comprises hills, marshy depressions, riverine belts, grasslands and a large lake.
• It is India's oldest and most prestigious National Park.

Thus, Jim Corbett National Park was located at Uttarakhand

Additional Information

The following National parks are most famous in India:

Concept:

• Every region has a different house.
• The type of house depends on the climatic conditions in the region.
• Houses are built specially to suit the needs of the people.

Explanation:

A. In Leh (Ladakh) houses are made of stones, have two floors, a ground floor for animals and for storing necessary things, wooden floors, flat roofs - Correct

B. In Manali (Himachal Pradesh) houses are made on bamboo pillars, made of wood and stones - Incorrect.

C. In Rajasthan people in rural areas live in a mud houses, with roofs of thorny bushes. - Correct.

Hence, we conclude from the above-mentioned points that A and C are correct.

Additional InformationDescription of houses of different places:

The Correct Answer is: Crow

Concept:

• Aquatic Animals live in water for most or all of its life.
• It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialized organs called gills, or directly through its skin.
• Aquatic animals are those animals that live in water are called aquatic habitats.
• Ponds, swamps, lakes, rivers, and oceans are some examples of aquatic habitats.

Explanation:

• All animals given in the option except crow is an aquatic animal.
• While crow is a bird from the Corvus genus.
• Fish, Tortoise, Crocodile, Duck (aquatic bird) are an example of aquatic animals.

Hence, from the above-mentioned points, it becomes clear that Crow is different from the others.

The Correct Answer is: C and D

Key Points

About Elephant and its herd:

• The elephant is the largest existing mammal on the Earth
• The herd follows matriarchy, i.e. the oldest female elephant becomes the head of the herd.
• There are 10 to 12 female elephants and young ones in a herd.
• It mainly consists of females and baby elephants.
• There is no male elephant in the herd, they leave when they turn 14 or 15.
• The herd sometimes is joined by the (bull) elephants depending on the climate and terrain.
• An adult elephant can eat more than 100kgs (1 quintal) of leaves and twigs in one day.
• A three-month-old elephant weighs about 200 kgs (2 quintals).
• Elephants do not rest much and sleep for only 2-3 hours per day.
• Elephants are usually found in tropical habitats.
• Elephants love to play with mud and water. The mud keeps their skin cool.
• Their big ears also work like fans. The elephants flap these to keep themselves cool.
• Family is what forms the basis of the formation of elephants but it can consist of more than one family.

Thus, 

A. A herd may have 20-25 female elephants and young ones. - False

B. Male elephants live in the herd till they are 4-5 years old - False

C. An adult elephant can eat more than 100 kg of leaves and twigs in one day. - True

D. In an elephant herd the oldest female elephant decides everything - True

The correct answer is October to December. 

Concept:

• A honey bee is a flying insect.
• It is well known for its ability to produce honey by collecting nectar from flowers.
• Hence the name honey bee.

 Key Points

About Honey bees:

• Honeybees are attracted to flowers.
• Honey bees live in a beehive, which is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony.
• Honeybees lay their eggs from October to December.
• Honey bees like to feed on sugar syrup.
• Every bee colony consists of three types of bees:
• Queen Bee: 
• Every beehive has one Queen Bee that lays eggs.
• Male Bee: 
• There are only a few males in the hive.
• The male bees have no special role as workers.
• Worker Bee: 
• Most of the bees in the hive are worker-bees.
• These bees work all day.
• They make the hive and also look after the baby bees.
• They fly around flowers in search of nectar.
• The worker bees are very important for the hive.
• Without worker-bees, there would be neither hive nor any nectar collection.
• When one bee finds flowers with nectar, it does a special kind of dance by which the other bees can know where the nectar is.
• Honey bees play a very important role in the pollination of flowers like the Litchi, coffee, and cocoa flower.

Therefore, the best time to start bee-keeping is October to December.

Additional Information

About Beekeeping:

• Beekeeping is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made hives, by humans.
• A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produces.
• The purpose of beekeeping includes products like beeswax, honey, bee pollen, and royal jelly.
• Beekeeping is also done for pollination of crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers.
• A location where bees are kept is called an apiary or "bee yard".
• An apiarist is a fancy word for a beekeeper.

Concept:

• Speed: The distance travelled by the body in unit time.
• \(Speed = \frac{{Distance}}{{Time}}\)
• Also, \(Time= \frac{{Distance}}{{Speed}}\)
• Average Speed: Since the body does not always have the same speed, So we use the concept of average speed. It is the ratio of total distance covered to total time taken by the body.
• \(Average;Speed = \frac{{Total;Distance}}{{Total;Time}}\)

Conversion of units of speed:

• From km/hr to m/s = multiply by 5/18
• From m/s to km/hr = multiply by 18/5

Calculation:

Total Distance covered = 1080 km

Time taken = 20 hrs

Average Speed = distance/ time = (1080/20) = 54 km/h

Since the options are in m/s so,

54 × (5/18) = 15 m/s

Thus, the average speed of the train is 15 m/s. 

Mistake Points

Do not confuse with units km/hr and m/s

Conversion of units of speed:

• From km/hr to m/s = multiply by 5/18
• From m/s to km/hr = multiply by 18/5

The correct option is North-west.

Concept:

• A map is a representation or a drawing of the earth’s surface or a part of it drawn on a flat surface according to a scale.
• There are three components of Maps – distance, direction and symbol.
• There are four major directions, North, South, East and West. They are called cardinal points.
• The other four intermediate directions are north-east (NE), southeast(SE), south-west (SW) and north-west (NW).
• We can locate any place more accurately with the help of these intermediate directions.
• We can find out the direction of a place with the help of a compass.

Explanation:

• Kolkata (the capital of West Bengal) is on the eastern side of the country.
• Chandigarh is a union territory in the NCR (North) of the country.

The correct option is North-west.

Concept:

While growing a crop, the steps followed are:

Explanation:

Onion cultivation:

• The right amount of seeds are dropped at a regular distance.
• It should be done carefully so as not to drop too many seeds in one place.
• After 20 days of sowing the seeds, they begin to sprout.
• Weeds start to appear along with the onion plants.
• Weeds need to be removed so that they do not take up all the water and fertilisers.
• If there are too many weeds, then the onion plants will not be healthy.
• The plants grow tall.
• The leaves start turning yellow and drying up.
• This means that the onions are ready to be taken out.
• The onions are now taken out.
• It is important that this should be done at the right time.
• If late, the onions will rot in the ground itself and all the hard work will be wasted.
• The dried leaves from the top of the onions are cut.
• The sacks are filled with onions and taken in a truck to sell in the big market.

Thus, the correct way of doing it -

D. Digging to loosen the soil

A. Sowing the seeds

B. Weeding

E. Plucking the onion out

C. Cutting the dried leaves from the top of onion.

Concept:

• India is a country of vast geographical expanse.
• In the north, it is bound by the lofty Himalayas.
• The Arabian Sea in the west.
• The Bay of Bengal in the east.
• The Indian Ocean in the south.

Explanation:

• Tamilnadu is the southern state of India, Chennai (formerly known as Madras) is the State Capital of Tamilnadu.
• Tamil Nadu is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth-largest by population(Census,2011). Neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu are Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka.

 

​

Hence, the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu are - Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh

Additional Information

Indian States / Union Territories with the coast on the Arabian Sea:

• Gujrat.
• Maharashtra.
• Goa.
• Daman and Diu.
• Karnataka.
• Kerela.
• Lakshwadeep.
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Indian States / Union Territories with the coast on the Bay of Bengal:

• West Bengal.
• Odisha.
• Andhra Pradesh.
• Tamil Nadu.
• Puducherry.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Community-based learning helps learners in building a sense of connection to their communities. Family society and community play a very significant role in informal education. The role of community is very important for the child because it helps in shaping the behavior of the child. A community is a school in itself for history, literature, cultural heritage, and natural environments. Community or society can play also an important role in formal education.

 Key Points

We can utilize the community as a learning resource in the following manner:

• Guidance Services: Community members can give guidance services to learners. Older members of the community and experts in different areas can help learners with their valuable guidance.
• Lecture of Guests: In the schools, experts from different areas can be invited for delivering lectures and presentations. These guests may be experts in any area as social workers, mathematicians, doctors, scientists, social scientists, sportspeople, etc.
• Community Participation: In this approach, learners would learn, at least in part, by actively participating in their community. For example, learners may undertake a research project on any local problem with NGO.
• Instructional Connections: In this form of community-based teaching and learning, a teacher makes a clear and purposeful relationship between the content which has been taught in the classroom and local issues and contexts. For example, the workings of a democratic political system may be described in terms of a local political process.​​

​Hence, Mohan's father and his experience of making "Kulhads" can be used as a community resource to teach students to prepare Kulhads for drinking tea under the theme, "Things we make and do".

Additional Information

Science is a process of learning. It is very different from other areas of study because “the way to learn Science is to do Science”. We can propose it as a subject, which always tests ideas with the help of evidence collected from the world around us.  

Key Points

Characteristics of science:

• Science does not explain supernatural myths rather it focuses on the natural world around us.
• Science is the body of knowledge and the process of constructing it and an integral part of our daily life.
• Laws and theories play a central role in developing scientific knowledge, yet they have different functions.
• ​​​Science is not merely a collection of shreds of evidence of happenings; rather it attempts to understand happening through analysis, testing, and verification.
• Science is a creative endeavor and scientific knowledge is long-lasting yet tentative.

​Hence the statement "science is the body of knowledge and process of constructing it'  is the best description of science.

Hint 

On the other hand, the other three statements do not describe science effectively as the nature of science is not best addressed in those statements.

Education about the environment, through the environment, and for environmental protection will make an individual realize his/her responsibility toward the total environment. 

Key Points

As per National Curriculum Framework 2005, the following statements describe EVS learning:

• to make children aware of the nature of the relationship between humanity and the environment on which they depend.
• to impart knowledge and skills to understand and solve environment and development-related skills.
• for the acquisition of knowledge and skills from the environment to develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems.
• sharing of ideas and skills among learners.
• to acquire the attitudes and motivations leading to sound discussions and civic actions for the improvement and protection of the environment and its quality.
• active construction of knowledge by learners by involving in many activities related to the environment.
• help students develop a sense of responsibility and urgency regarding environmental problems to ensure the appropriate action to solve these problems.

​Hence, D, A & B are the correct options.

Hint 

On the other hand the statement "receiving information which is being transmitted" doesn't describe EVS learning because here the student remains passive just as a recipient of knowledge which doesn't lead to meaningful learning.

Environmental studies are of importance not only because it informs us about the world in which we live but also because it enables us to address more effectively many of the pressing issues that confront the modem world. For this reason, environmental studies are increasingly seen as a vital tool in establishing the ground rules by which the environment may be more effectively managed in the future. 

Key Points

"A subject related to the child's environment" best describes EVS at the primary level because

• The world of the child begins with an awareness of its own body and gradually expands, in ever-widening circles to an exploration of the immediate surroundings of family and home, neighborhood, school, and beyond.
• Learning takes place first and foremost in the home and family. Even when children join the school, the learning continues to take place, not only in the school but at home and within the community.
• The immediate environment is the primary context to which the child relates. It includes not just the physical structures and outdoor spaces, but equally the social and cultural world of stories and songs, festivals and get-togethers, and family and community celebrations, and occasions.
• Valuable learning takes place through interactions with the immediate environment.
• Children, especially young children, have a natural desire to learn and make sense of the world around them. They must be provided with an environment that enables and supports this learning.​​

​Hence "A subject related to the child's environment" best describes EVS at the primary level

Gender discrimination refers to any situation where a person is denied an opportunity or misjudged solely on the basis of their sex. Gender discrimination is any unequal treatment based on gender and may also be referred to as sexism. Gender discrimination occurs when a person shows prejudice towards another that would not occur had they been the opposite sex.

 Key Points 

Measures to be taken to avoid gender prejudice

• Ensure equal access to education for all.
• Avoiding gender stereotypes like girls only should cook food and boys only should go to work.
• Empower women in the workplace.
• Stop using sentences like "stop crying like a girl" when a boy cries.
• Treat both boys and girls with equal respect and dignity.

The right to equality and non-discrimination is closely related to the right to a clean, safe, healthy, and sustainable environment. 

Hence, the question raised by Reeta relates to an issue related to EVS since it is related to equality and non-discrimination.

Water is a valuable resource. It is important because it is needed for life to exist. Many uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. 

Key PointsAsking students to prepare a water budget of how they and their family members use water will be the most appropriate activity to teach water conservation because

• Students get an idea about the amount spent on water each day.
• They also realize the percentage of their income being spent on water each month.
• The responsibility to conserve water automatically develops in children.
• Children teach the other community members the importance of the conservation of water and the disadvantages which occur in not conserving.
• Children also calculate the amount of water being used and conserved each day.

​Hence, Asking students to prepare a water budget of how they and their family members use water will be the most appropriate activity to teach water conservation.

Hint 

• On the other hand, collecting stories and poems, observing pictures, and drawing pictures of activities they can do using water and without water may not make students realize the importance of water as all these activities don't teach them about the ground reality of water and learning by doing.

Educational trip is a carefully planned combination of tours, site visits, and hands-on learning opportunities, built around clear learning objectives. An educational tour is more than a vacation. It's a tool for learning and success with fun and excitement built-in.

 Key PointsWhen students start a discussion regarding any educational topic the teacher should allow other students to share their responses because

• This leads to healthy peer discussion where learning also takes place.
• Joyful learning takes place as students gain knowledge in the discussion method, not in the lecture method.
• The teacher can clarify if the students have any misconceptions then and there.
• Not allowing students to share their responses may make them passive and meaningful learning doesn't take place.

Hence, when students start a discussion regarding any educational topic the teacher should allow other students to share their responses.

Hint 

• correcting the student by telling them that it is a voice produced by an insect may reduce the curiosity and interest of students to learn.
• accepting this explanation since they will learn in higher classes may lead to misconceptions regarding the topic.
• asking students to search from where the voice is coming may increase the indiscipline in the trip as students scatter everywhere to search and they may even get harmed by the insects.

Experiment plays many roles in science. One of its important roles is to test theories and provide the basis for scientific knowledge. It can also call for a new theory, either by showing that an accepted theory is incorrect or by exhibiting a new phenomenon that needs explanation.

 Key PointsThe results of the experiments suggested in the chapter of the EVS book must not be given since students must observe and derive inferences because

• students look at the results even before they complete the experiment and the natural way of the experiment may spoil.
• students may lose the curiosity to experiment
• meaningful learning takes place if students observe and derive inferences after the experiment.
• students may fake the results they got in their experiment after seeing the correct results.
• this does not develop a discovery and inquiry nature in the students.

​Hence, the results of the experiments suggested in the chapter of the EVS book must not be given since students must observe and derive inferences.

A Garden is a part of every school where many useful plants and trees provide many resources from shade to fruits. Every day trees shed leaves and the gardener must clean the garden. 

Key PointsWhen the gardener burns the leaves asking the students to help the gardener in collecting dry leaves and helping them to make compost is the best option because

• students get involved in making compost and learn how to make compost.
• students realize the benefits and low cost of the compost.
• environmental pollution and harm caused to the environment will also be reduced as no leaves will be burnt.
• the gardener also gets the best alternative to what to do with the leaves without burning them.
• students use that compost for the other plants and realize that nothing is wasted in this environment, everything is useful for some other purposes.

Hint On the other hand, all the remaining three options are not the correct reactions from the teacher because students will not be able to know how to use that waste leaves to their advantage.

Cooperative learning is a set of teaching strategies used to help learners meet specific learning and interpersonal goals in structured groups.

Key Points

Features of cooperative learning:

• It helps the learners to achieve two types of goals, i.e. learning goals and interpersonal goals. This implies that cooperative learning is conducive to the improvement of students' learning achievement as well as for the development of interpersonal skills.
• The members hold common aims or ideals, which to some extent bind them together. The achievement of aims is presumably one of the rewards.
• Cooperative learning takes place in structured groups, that is, the groups which are formed in a planned and systematic manner.
• The members influence and respond to each other in the process of communicating, whether they are face-to-face or otherwise deployed. The sense of "group" exists even when members are not collected in the same place. 

Members also have healthy competition with each other where they actively participate in the process of learning and acquisition of knowledge.

Hence, C & D are the correct answers.

Hint On the other hand, the options A & B are also essential ones but they are less essential as compared to the other 2 options because they just provide a general view of cooperative learning.

EVS is a subject that has many themes which are again related to the daily life experiences of the children. So it is advised to teach every topic to the children by relating that topic to their real-life experiences. 

Key Points

As indicated above the teacher asked all students to respond on how clothes are washed because

• To relate the subject knowledge to the real-life experiences of children.
• To encourage students to reflect on home experiences as they have a collection of a lot of experiences at home even before coming to school.
• To provide a varied context of how clothes can be washed where students get connected to the context as they are already familiar.
• Enhance students thinking capacity as they think to collect all their experiences regarding the topic.
• To teach the process of cleaning the clothes as it will be useful for them in future.

​Hence,  B, C & D are the correct options.

Hint 

• Social Disparity refers to disparities in other aspects of society such as the justice system, education, academe, business institutions, as well as politics. But here in the above discussion, there is no scope for social disparity so option A is wrong.

Constructivist classrooms focus on student questions and interests, they build on what students already know, they focus on interactive learning and are student-centered, teachers have a dialogue with students to help them construct their knowledge, they root in negotiation, and students work primarily in groups.

 Key PointsRole of teacher in a constructivist classroom:

• Facilitate the learning of students and assist them only when needed otherwise provide freedom for students to construct knowledge on their own.
• Make the environment of the classroom comfortable for children where they feel secure and wanted.
• The steps for learning are worked out jointly by the child and the teacher, based on the child's understanding and the teacher's knowledge. Through hints and suggestions encourage the student to build upon the conceptual structures that she/he has already built in her mind.
• The teacher should not curtail students' autonomy by presenting ready-made solutions to/him.
• Encourage students to explain what they know and what they feel.

​Hence,  B & D are the correct options.

Hint On the other hand, reading & explaining knowledge or asking questions and explaining doesn't describe the role of the teacher in a constructivist classroom as the student remains a passive recipient of knowledge here.

The teaching-learning of EVS is thus just not a study area for primary stage children but is a training ground for developing environmentally friendly attitudes, values, habits, and behaviors. One can describe EVS as a permanent investment in creating a sustainable society. 

Key Points

Characteristics of environmental studies :

• It is visualized as a composite study area drawing learning experiences/contents from physical, biological, chemical, social, cultural, and other dimensions of study. The contents are organized around curricular themes like Food, Shelter, Water, Travel, etc.
• EVS at the elementary level is an integrated subject that draws upon insights from sciences (physical, chemical, and biological), social studies (history, geography, civics, etc), and environmental education (protection and conservation).
• This helps children to develop an inter-related and connected understanding of the subject studied rather than a fragmented view of it. For each theme, a web of possible connections of concepts and skills is suggested, which are to be developed throughout primary grades.
• ​Most concepts in teaching-learning of EVS will vary from place to place and time to time. For example, teaching and learning about ‘food habits’ cannot follow the same plan and approach in different locations.
• EVS is Learner-centred and not teacher-centered. It means that children’s learning forms the core of the classroom transaction rather than teaching. This is based on the view that each child comes to school with his/her perception and understanding of the world around.

​Hence,  Environmental study is an integrated subject.

 Additional Information

An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems contain biotic or living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving parts. Each organism should support the living of others. 

Key PointsThe teacher should conduct workshops for students and parents and explain why bird's nests should not be destroyed because

• Parents will also realize the importance of shelter for birds same as for humans.
• A situation of supporting each other for living in the environment occurs.
• Parents also know about the importance of maintaining balance in the environment.
• The hard consequences birds face after losing their shelter will be discussed.
• A change may occur in the mindset of parents about destroying the nests of birds.

Hence, the teacher should conduct workshops for students and parents and explain why bird nests should not be destroyed.

Hint 

On the other hand, all the other options are wrong since they don't explain the consequences birds face after losing shelter to their parents clearly and may continue with the same behavior of destroying the nests.

Natural resources are very precious, they are useful for human beings in many ways. It is the responsibility of everyone to not only use the resources wisely but to leave sufficient resources for the next generation as well. 

Key PointsWithout turning off the vehicle at crossroads during red lights the father neglects

• Concern for the environment as the smoke from the silencer continues to come till the green signal is on which releases many harmful gases into the environment and may lead to the biggest environmental issues like global warming and acid rains.
• Judicious use of fuel because as long as the engine is running fuel gets used even if the vehicle is not moving, this leads to wastage of fuel which is a nonrenewable resource. This small neglection may cost for lack of fuel for the future generations.

​Hence, C & D are the correct options.

Hint On the other hand, ensuring road safety and following traffic rules is done by the father as he slows down the vehicle when the red signal is on but he doesn't turn off the engine.

The correct answer is 'the number of members in its social group'.

Key Points

• As we can see in the first paragraph of the passage, it is clearly mentioned that "Dunbar found that the biggest predictor of a primate's brain size is the magnitude of its social group".
• Thus, it can be concluded that according to Dunbar's study, the size of a primate's brain is dependent on the number of members in its social group.

Hence, the correct answer is option 2.

The correct answer is 'contraction of words'.

Key Points

• Refer to the line: According to University of Oxford psychologist, Robin Dunbar, they're even responsible for our massive brains.
• They're is a contraction of the words they are.
• It can only be used as a subject or a verb.
• For example:- They're the two best players on the team.

 

Hence, the correct answer is option 2.