CTET Paper 2 Social Studies February 2014 (English-Hindi-Sanskrit) (Previous Year Paper)

"Jean Piaget", a swiss psychologist, belongs to the cognitive school of psychology, is famous for his work on child development. The figure in option number (1) which is showing discontinuous stages of development based on age is correctly representing the development in the context of the question because Piaget has made a systematic study of cognitive development in his theory that is categorised in different stages. He strongly believes that children are the little scientist and they actively develop and construct their understanding of the world in distinct and separate stages.

Principles of development define the basic process of human development. It will assess the role and importance of growth processes and levels and the principles of growth and behavior in the total life span. 

Important Points

In the above-mentioned situation, the teacher's assumption is associated with the principle that 'development tends to follow an orderly sequence' which is one of the important principles of "Development and Growth".

• This principle defines that development occurs in sequence and follows a pattern. Thus teacher's assumption is right. Since a child needs to learn how to stand before he can walk, similarly the student needs to learn to draw a square before he can draw a diamond.

Additional Information

 Principles of development include:

• Development is cumulative.
• Development is a continuous process.
• Development is predictable.
• Development is the process of interaction.
• Development follows uniformity of pattern.
• Development is sequential.
• Development proceeds from general to specific.
• Development rate varies from person to person.

Hence, we can conclude that the above scenario is related to the principle of development trends to follow an orderly sequence.

• 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.

Human growth and development is 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.

Important Points

• 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 influenced their personality and intelligence.

Hidden curriculum refers to the unspoken or informal learning in educational settings such as the transmission of values, beliefs, norms and behaviours. In the context of socialization, school's hidden curriculum consists of the informal cues about social roles presented in schools through interaction and materials. It helps the children to grow better by determining the personality and directing the behaviour.

"Jean Piaget", a swiss psychologist, belongs to the cognitive school of psychology, is famous for his work on child development. He made a systematic study of cognitive development in his theory that is categorised into four stages.

Educational Implications of Piaget's theory:

• Discovery learning.
• Practical learning situation.
• Flexibility in the curriculum.
• Acceptance of individual differences.
• Simple to the complex method of teaching.
• Sensitivity to children's readiness to learn.
• Equal importance to co-curricular activities.
• The curriculum should be based on the child's developmental level.

Hence, we conclude that the need for verbal teaching​ cannot be derived from Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist, has propounded the 'theory of moral development'. The cross-cultural universality in moral development is one of the most important characteristics of his theory.

He has made a systematic study of moral development in his theory that is categorised in six culturally universal stages. It is based on Kohlberg's assumption that all people in all cultures face the basic universal moral issues, dilemmas and conflicts and use the universal concepts of morality.

Social constructivist approach is an approach of learning which gives primacy to collaborative learning & reciprocal teaching.

Key Points

• In these classrooms, students are actively involved in discussions and projects related to real-life situations and the teacher facilitates and directs the activities by providing a proper environment and material to make them learn at their own pace.
• It emphasizes collaboration with others for learning.
• It ensures the active involvement of learners and promotes peer tutoring.
• It allows learners to foster their own strategy of learning to perform an activity.
• It views learners as makers of meaning and creators of knowledge through social interaction.

Hence it could be concluded that teachers and students draw on one another’s expertise while working on complex projects related to real-world problems in a social-constructivist classroom.

Additional Information

John Dewey, an American philosopher proposed the concept of 'progressive education' which emphasizes that learning takes place only through a 'hands-on' approach so the students must interact with their environment to adapt and learn.

Key Points

• The above-mentioned term implies that all students should be provided with an education that is most appropriate to them and their future life at work.
• Progressive education promotes 'learning by doing to make children self-reliant and productive to use their knowledge, talents, and skills to sustain themselves and to promote economic growth.
• It emphasizes enhancing the skills and understanding of the learners by engaging with the contents and experiences.
• It ensures the active participation of students by working in a group and applying practical knowledge to complete an activity.

Hence, it could be concluded that in the context of progressive education, the term ‘equal educational opportunity’ implies that all students should be provided with an education that is most appropriate to them and their future life at work.

"Jean Piaget", a swiss psychologist, belongs to the cognitive school of psychology, is famous for his work on child development. He made a systematic study of cognitive development in his theory that is categorised in four stages.

In the context of language development 'social interaction' is the area which was underestimated by Piaget because he strongly believed that the child needs to first develop and mature mentally before language acquisition/development can occur.

The Stanford-Binet intelligence scale is the revised version of the Binet-Simon test. It is revised or created by Lewis Terman to diagnose developmental deficiencies in young children.

Here in this question Stanford-Binet Intelligence test score is distributed with a mu score(μ) of 100 and a standard deviation(σ) of 15 and we need to calculate z score corresponding to the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test score.

Z = x - μ/σ

= 130 - 100/15

= 2

According to the Stanford-Binet intelligence scale index 2 of Z refers to 97.7 % which is approx 98%.

The theory of Multiple Intelligence which consists of eight different kinds of intelligence is propounded by an American psychologist 'Howard Gardner'. 

The observation that damage to one part of the brain affects only a particular ability sparing others supports Gardener's theory because the theory proposed that intelligence can't be tied to a single domain, it is of several kinds rather than dominated by a general factor.

Ability grouping refers to a small group of students with similar abilities, talents or skills to perform a specific task. The statement that the teachers may use multilevel teaching to cater to different ability groups is true regarding ability grouping because multilevel teaching refers to teach a lesson to the entire group while meeting the children's diverse needs.

Assessment is a process of collecting, receiving, and using data for the purpose of improvement in the learning process. Assessment is a systematic way of collecting information to make a judgment about student learning.

Assessment can be of three types- assessment for learning (formative assessment), assessment of learning (summative assessment), and assessment as learning (authentic assessment).

Important Points

Formative assessment can sometimes be summative assessment and vice versa

• Both summative and formative assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning process which helps in facilitating student learning and improving instruction.
• Purposeful planning and implementation of formative and summative assessment in the classroom does appear to contribute towards an improvement in student learning that can be beyond the surface level.
• This can lead to a richer experience that may be reflected in a higher level of achievement than previously predicted.

Summative assessment can be used as a formative assessment.

• Summative assessment can also be used for formative purposes. For example, if students are given tests periodically throughout a subject or topic, the tests will identify areas that require attention for improvement.
• It is important that the teacher feeds the information back to the student in a constructive manner identifying the areas where further development is required, and discussing how to raise the level of performance for the next assessment.

​Formative assessment can be used as a summative assessment.

• Formative assessment can be used effectively for summative purposes, and to a degree, can offer more in terms of the feedback and feed-forward that is given as part of the formative process.

Hence, we can conclude that the formative assessment can sometimes be a summative assessment and vice versa statement is true.

Additional Information

Some more types of assessments are as follows:

To create a balanced assessment approach in teaching-learning, different types of assessment strategies should be incorporated. Assessment can be of three types- assessment for learning (formative assessment), assessment of learning (summative assessment), and assessment as learning (authentic assessment).

Key Points 

From the above-mentioned situation, it could be interpreted that the teacher is assessing the students by conducting the formative assessment as it refers to monitor the child's progress throughout the teaching-learning process. In this case, it will help the teacher to know the children's learning needs regarding that topic and then meet the needs by remedial teaching.

Important Points 

Assessment for Learning (Formative Assessment):

• It is also referred to as internal evaluation.
• In this form of assessment, a teacher embeds various forms of assessment all through the teaching and learning process. Therefore, it is an ongoing assessment that allows teachers to monitor students on a day-to-day basis and modify their teaching based on what the students need to be successful.
• Formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course.
• Effective formative assessment strategies involve asking students to answer well-thought-out, higher-order questions such as “why” and “how.”
• For students, it identifies learning errors that need to be corrected and for teachers, it provides information for modifying instructions.
• Questionnaires, quizzes, oral discussions, unit tests are some tools used for formative evaluation.

Hence, we can conclude that a teacher asks his/her students to draw a concept map to reflect their comprehension of a topic. He/She is conducting the formative assessment.

Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models that refers to the classification of educational learning objectives. In the taxonomy, Bloom identified three domains of learning which include cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. 

• In 2001 the revised version of Bloom's taxonomy was published in which the 'evaluating' domain refers to judge the logical consistency of a solution.
• In this level, the students can critically examine information, make judgments, and justify decisions related to the value of the materials they've just learned, applied, and analyzed.

Diagram

Hence, in Bloom's revised taxonomy, Judging the logical consistency of a solution represents the domain 'evaluating'.

The term 'underprivileged' refers to the disadvantaged section of people who are economically, socially and vocationally in an unfavourable situation compared to the rest of the population of society. Thus, it is a relative term. They are underprivileged to the middle-class or upper-class people of their society.

Value Concerns at the School Stage: One of the major debates around value education is which values should be inculcated among students. Values are a complex mix of understanding, attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and skills. The following are the core values that need to be inculcated:

• Responsibility: 
• Towards Self Development: It is important to awaken the consciousness of students to take responsibility for their selves and develop a quest for personal improvement
• Towards One’s Work/Duty: If students assume responsibility for their actions/behaviour then they become willing to be accountable for their actions
• Social Responsibility: This involves gradual growth of consciousness from the self to the other and knowledge of the self as a member of a family, neighbourhood, village, town, city, community, nation and global society.
• Health and Hygiene: Cleanliness; healthy eating/food habits; posture; fitness, rest/relaxation, avoiding indulgence, etc. are related attitudes and skills.
• Love, Care and Compassion: Being a humane person is an essential attribute of an educated person. Love is an essential value for nurturing humaneness and human dignity of oneself and others.
• Critical and Creative Thinking: Critical thinking is highly valued which can help students to think logically, analyze situations critically, apply the judgement of what is good and bad, and examine their values vis-à-vis the values in the world, congruence or incongruence in them.
• Appreciation for Beauty and Aesthetics: Appreciation for beauty and aesthetics is valued as it equips students with an awareness of the ability to create, and express their ideas in ways that look and feel good, in addition to what is logical and right

Hence, we conclude that teachers must believe in Personal  Accountability for Students' success in the context of dealing with disadvantaged learners.

Stuttering is a speech disorder which affects the flow of the speech by repeating the same word again and again. It can be dealt by applying the method of 'prolonged speech'. In this technique, the person having the stuttering problem is taught to say words broken down into their syllables, and the utterance of the syllables is prolonged to replace the stuttering way of speaking with the smooth and controlled one.

Embedded learning opportunities (ELOs) are short teaching episodes that teachers set up for when there is a good match between classroom activities and a child’s individual learning objectives. This refers to teaching and learning that takes place during daily classroom activation and routines. Teachers plan opportunities to embed short, systematic institutional interaction into activities and routines to enhance a child's learning of specific skills. 

Key Points

Embedded learning- 

• The above-mentioned learning technologies/strategies are associated with 'embedded learning', which provides lots of opportunities for children to be skilled in literacy, language, and numeracy with vocational and lifelong skills.
• This learning program is aimed at making learning disabled children confident, competent, motivated to succeed in life by giving the quality experience of learning in natural ongoing routines.

Thus we can conclude that the above design is related to embedded learning. 

Additional Information

Interventionist learning-

• It refers to learning problems

Universal design for learning- 

• The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning.
• These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Inclusive classroom is a part of 'inclusive education' that refers to the inclusion of all children in the education system, regardless of their differences and disabilities. It is about making school a place where all children can participate and learn.

Key Points In inclusive classroom teachers create diverse and meaningful learning experiences for every learner as:

• It values the diversity, each child brings to the classroom and facilitates all with equal opportunities to learn and grow.
• Inclusive education improves the quality and making provisions of education for all.
• Inclusive education welcomes and celebrates diversity.
• It provides a provision to include disabled children along with normal children in a regular classroom environment.
• It refers to an education system that accommodates all children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, or other conditions.

Basic Principles of Inclusive Education:

• Equity and equal opportunities for all.
• Well constructed educational plan.
• Use of multilingualism as a resource.
• Use of specific pedagogical strategies.
• Sensitization towards individual differences.

Hence, it could be concluded that an inclusive classroom is where teachers create diverse and meaningful learning experiences for every learner.

Giftedness is a characteristic of children that refers to performing a task extraordinarily when compared with others of their peer group.

A gifted child always shows novelty in expression, curiosity, creativity and independency in thought.

Creating a prototype of a new Science book based on different themes would be an appropriate assignment for gifted students because they grab things fastly than of their age-peers that's why sometimes classroom seems monotonous to them. This assignment will involve them in creative work and will make learning interesting for them.

Dropout refers to the practice of leaving schools before completing a certain level of schooling. The institutional reason for children dropping out of government schools is that there is no alternative curriculum which refers to the curriculum designed for students who are not able to make progress in general education settings. The absence of the alternative curriculum makes the child obligated to follow the compulsory curriculum which later results in the dropout of children from the schools.

Other reasons for dropouts:

• Poverty, Accessibility and Availability: Often, schools are used for other purposes rather than what a school is meant for. For example, as an election booth, relief camp. Hence, there is no place for students to study.
• The School and Teachers: Sometimes school becomes a 'toxic' place for students where he does not like to come. For example, getting expelled for "talking back to teacher". He should be provided remedial teaching in such cases. Poor teaching and a hostile environment of school also lead to the dropout of students.
• Lack of Interest: Many a time students do not take interest in studies. Reason can be many behind this, as interest in sports, music, or sometimes teachers fail to create interest.
• Excessive Academic Pressure from School and Parents: The higher expectation is something students can not cope up with. Every parent needs to understand that a child has his own capability and interest, which makes him different from other children.
• Frequent Change of School: Transfer of parents many a time leads to change in school. As a result, the child loses his dearest friends, and for him, it is not less than a trauma, which leads him to drop out of school.
• Bullying: It is something every child faces in his school life. Some students consider themselves 'superior' to others and they like to misbehave with other children which leads to the demoralization of the child, and hence, he leaves school.
• Constant Failure: Failure in exam demoralizes students and that leads them to drop out.
• To Support Family: Students give up their studies because of their poor background, they have to work as a labourer to earn money so that they can support their family.
• Delinquency: It is usually seen in adult children where they are not aware of the facets of the world, and fascination is everything for them. They commit those crimes willingly-unwillingly which can cost them in the future.
• Education Not Considered Necessary: Often, children are way too practical that they believe that doing a job will get the money and success rather than studying. In this way, they don't consider education necessary.
• The Community they belong to: Some community do not consider education useful, especially for girls. Hence, they get girl children to drop out of school to get them to marry.

Learning disability is a disorder that affects people’s ability to either interpret what they see and hear or to link information from different parts of the brain.

• It refers to the neurological disorder that causes cognitive impairment.
• It can't be attributed to emotional disturbance or cultural differences because it also presents in children with average or above-average IQ.
• It make them struggle in a particular area (reading, writing, maths) where they need remedial educational help.

Hence, it becomes clear that learning disabilities are also present in children with average or above-average IQ.

Problem-solving is a learner-centred approach that emphasizes the learner's active involvement in the learning process.

• It is more likely to succeed in schools where a flexible curriculum is in place to update itself according to the advancements and personalities of the learners.
• It helps the children to learn better by catering totality of their experiences that occur in the educational process.

Hence, Problem-solving is more likely to succeed in schools where ​a flexible curriculum is in place

Cognitive apprenticeship and instructional conversation both conceive learning as a social activity by providing children with lots of opportunities to learn in real-world settings.

Have a look for conceptual understanding:

• Cognitive apprenticeship: It is a pedagogical method that refers to involve students in authentic practices through activity and social interactions.
• Instructional conversation: It refers to the learning process where the teacher assists the learners through scaffolding to make them perform just beyond their current level.

Errors are the necessary condition in the learning process to give insight into children's thinking. It helps the teacher to be aware of their learning styles, to cater them according to their needs.

Correcting errors that interfere with the general meaning and understanding would be the right way for a teacher because it will help the teacher to develop a basic sense in children regarding the general idea of a topic.

Note: Every error of children shouldn't be corrected as it could make students hesitate to show their thought which will be a hindrance in the process of meaningful learning.

Emotion is a mental state associated with fear, anger, love, etc while emotional intelligence refers to the capability of an individual to recognise, control and manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others as well.

Key Points

Other skills involved in emotional intelligence:

• Social skills
• Self-confidence
• Conscientiousness
• Motivation and adaptability
• Self-regulation/Awareness

Note: Criticism of emotions is not a skill involved in emotional intelligence rather it indicates the lack of emotional intelligence because it is not related to the way an individual recognise and manage his/her emotions.

From the above-mentioned condition of Devika and Rajesh, it could be interpreted that their emotional experiences are most likely to differ concerning the 'level of adaption' which refers to the fact that response of an individual regarding a particular stimulus could be governed by his/her past experiences.

Here, in this case, it could be possible that Devika will have the past experience in appearing in an assessment while Rajesh won't have because adaption level theory also relates to the process which makes an individual insensitive to the effect of constant stimulant.

The Mid-day Meal Scheme, commonly known as MDMS, is a school meal programme of the Indian government designed for the better nutritional value of school children in the country.

Key Points

• This scheme is supported by the humanistic theory of motivation which refers to the fact that the basic needs of human beings affect their action.
• Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" is one of the famous humanistic theories of motivation in which he has proposed a series of needs to be fulfilled in life.
• The mid-day meal scheme is associated with the very first need of this theory which is physiological needs consisting of physical survival necessities such as food, water, and shelter.

Hence, it could be concluded that the Mid-Day Meal Scheme  is supported by the humanistic theory of motivation 

Additional Information

The above-mentioned phenomenon is related to the 'ecological system theory' of learning which was propounded by Urie Bronfenbrenner.

The theory emphasizes the fact that how the community, society, and different environments influence the development of a child throughout the lifespan.

The theory consists of five different types of systems including microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. The mesosystem is related to the context of the question because it relates the child's family experience with his/her school experience for better outcomes.

Children become inattentive in class when they are not able to understand certain topics or classroom environment seems monotonous to them. In such situations making the child sit in the most distraction-reduced area will be the best way to deal with them.

By following this idea the teacher could pay more attention to that particular child and could direct his/her activities according to the teaching-learning process which would be an appropriate strategy to regain his/her attention.

The Swadeshi movement was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism.

• The movement, begun in 1906 by Indian nationals opposed to the Partition of Bengal, was one of the most successful movements against British rule.
• Swadeshi was a focus of Mahatma Gandhi, who described it as the soul of swaraj (self-rule).
• It was the most significant movement in Bengal and was known as the Vande Mataram movement in Andhra Pradesh.
• The movement ended in 1911.
• The government's decision to partition Bengal was made in December 1903.
• The official reason was that Bengal, with a population of 78 million, was too large to be administered; the real reason, however, was that it was the centre of the revolt, and company officials could not control the protests which they thought would spread throughout India.
• Bengal was divided by language and religion: the western half would be primarily Hindu, and the eastern half would be primarily Muslim.
• This divide-and-conquer strategy sparked the Swadeshi movement.

​Hence, the correct answer is Swadeshi.

Stri Purush Tulana (A comparison between men and women) is a pamphlet/book written by feminist activist Tarabai Shinde.

Important Points

Tarabai Shinde:

• Shinde was a writer born in the Berar province of Buldhana (present-day Maharashtra) who protested against upper-caste patriarchy and the caste system in India.
• She was a member of the Satyashodhak Samaj and was also an associate of Savitribai Phule and Jyotirao Phule.
• The pamphlet was originally published in Marathi in 1882.
• The literary work is a critique of upper caste patriarchy and the gender and caste system in 19^th century India.
• The material is also considered the first modern feminist text of India.
• Shinde questions the position of women in society and their rights.
• Stri Purush Tulana was a reaction to a newspaper article in Pune Vaibhav, an orthodox newspaper that supported the caste and gender system.
• The article was written attacking a young Brahmin widow Vijayalakshmi who was sentenced for execution for aborting her illegitimate child fearing public disgrace and ostracism.
• The article also criticized women in general, for their changing morals and behaviour.
• Shinde reacted firmly against this through her work.
• Though the book received negative views from society, Jyotirao Phule appreciated Shinde's work and also referenced it in his magazine, 'Satsar'.

Hence, the correct answer is Tarabai Shinde

Additional Information

• Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati:
• She was a women's rights & education activist, a pioneer in the education and emancipation of women in India, and a social reformer.
• She was the first woman to be awarded the titles of Pandita as a Sanskrit scholar and Sarasvati after being examined by the faculty of the University of Calcutta.
• Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain:
• She was commonly known as Begum Rokeya, was a Bengali feminist thinker, writer, educator, and political activist from British India.
• She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women's liberation in South Asia.
• Rasasundari Devi:
• In 1876 Rassundari's autobiography Amar Jiban (My Life) was published.
• The book is in two parts, the first of which, consists of sixteen shorter compositions narrated her autobiography.

1. The second part, published in 1906, contained fifteen shorter compositions, each preceded by a dedicatory poem.

The 19^th century saw the consolidation of British rule and the impact of western ideas on the social, political, and religious life of Indians through the medium of the English language. Christian missionaries were pioneers in education.

Court of Directors of the East India Company in London sent an educational despatch to the Governor-General in India.

• Issued by Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the Company, it has come to be known as Wood’s Despatch.
• Outlining the educational policy that was to be followed in India, it emphasized once again the practical benefits of a system of European learning, as opposed to Oriental knowledge.
• One of the practical uses the Despatch pointed to was economic.
• European learning, it said, would enable Indians to recognize the advantages that flow from the expansion of trade and commerce, and make them see the importance of developing the resources of the country.
• Introducing them to European ways of life, would change their tastes and desires, and create a demand for British goods, for Indians would begin to appreciate and buy things that were produced in Europe.
• Wood’s Despatch also argued that European learning would improve the moral character of Indians.
• It would make them truthful and honest, and thus supply the Company with civil servants who could be trusted and depended upon.

Hence, the correct answer is to improve the moral character of the people

Industrialization is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group into an industrial society from an agrarian society, involving the extensive manufacturing reorganization of an economy.

Key Points

India had an independent economy before the advent of British rule.

• Though agriculture was the main source of livelihood for most people, yet, the country’s economy was characterized by various kinds of manufacturing activities.
• India was particularly well known for its handicraft industries in the fields of cotton and silk textiles, metal and precious stone works, etc.
• The economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India were concerned more with the protection and promotion of the economic interests of their home country than with the development of the Indian economy.
• The primary motive of Britishers behind de-industrialization was two-fold.
• To make India a net exporter of raw materials to the British industries at a cheap rate.
• To sell British products at a higher rate in the Indian market.
• The Britishers followed a discriminatory tariff policy.
• Discriminatory tariff policy signifies free export of raw materials from India, import of finished products from Britain, and heavy-duty on the export of Indian handicrafts.

​Hence, the correct answer is India became the main supplier of raw materials to British industries.

British got the Diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1765.

• The major aim of the British East India Company was to increase their land revenue collection.
• The British policies aimed at getting maximum income from the land without caring about its consequences on cultivators and peasants.

Key Points

The Permanent Settlement was introduced in 1793 by Governor-General Lord Cornwallis.

• Rajas and taluqdars were recognized as Zamindars to collect rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the company.
• The amount paid by the zamindars to the company was fixed permanently.
• The Company believed that as the revenue amount was fixed, the zamindars would benefit by investing in land improvement, which would, in turn, lead to increased production.
• Zamindars lost their right over the lands whenever they fail to make payments to the company

​Hence, the correct answer is Permanent Settlement.

Additional Information

Ryotwari Settlement:

• This System was introduced by Thomas Munro in 1820.
• This was the primary land revenue system in South India.
• Major areas of introduction include Madras, Bombay, parts of Assam and Coorg provinces of British India.
• In Ryotwari System the ownership rights were handed over to the peasants. British Government collected taxes directly from the peasants.

Mahalwari Settlement:

• This system was introduced in 1822 by Holt Mackenzie. Later, the system was reformed during the period of **William Bentick (**1833).
• This was the primary land revenue system in North-West India.
• It was introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc of British India.
• In this system, the land was divided into Mahals. Each Mahal comprises one or more villages.

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown.

After the British were routed from Delhi, there was no uprising for almost a week.

• It took that much time for the news to travel. Then, a spurt of mutinies began.
• Regiment after regiment mutinied and took off to join other troops at nodal points like Delhi, Kanpur and Lucknow.
• In Lucknow, Birjis Qadr, the son of the deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, was proclaimed the new Nawab.
• He too acknowledged the suzerainty of Bahadur Shah Zafar.
• His mother Begum Hazrat Mahal took an active part in organising the uprising against the British.

​Hence, Begum Hazrat Mahal took an active part in organizing the uprising against the British at Lucknow.

The East India Company was an English company formed for the exploitation of trade with East and Southeast Asia and India. Incorporated by royal charter on December 31, 1600, it was started as a monopolistic trading body so that England could participate in the East Indian spice trade.

Key Points

The Government of India Act 1858 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 2 August 1858.

• Its provisions called for the liquidation of the British East India Company (who had up to this point been ruling British India under the auspices of Parliament) and the transference of its functions to the British Crown.
• Lord Palmerston, then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, introduced a bill for the transfer of control of the Government of India from the East India Company to the Crown, referring to the grave defects in the existing system of the government of India.
• However, before this bill was to be passed, Palmerston was forced to resign on another issue.
• Later Edward Stanley, 15^th Earl of Derby (who would later become the first Secretary of State for India), introduced another bill which was originally titled "An Act for the Better Governance of India" and it was passed on 2 August 1858.
• This act provided that India was to be governed directly and in the name of the Crown.

Hence, the correct answer is the Act of 1858.

Additional Information

Provision of the bill:

• The Company's territories in India were to be vested in the Queen, the Company ceasing to exercise its power and control over these territories.
• India was to be governed in the Queen's name.
• The Queen's Principal Secretary of State received the powers and duties of the Company's Court of Directors.
• A council of fifteen members was appointed to assist the Secretary of State for India.
• The Secretary of State for India was empowered to send some secret despatches to India directly without consulting the Council.
• The Crown was empowered to appoint a Governor-General and the Governors of the Presidencies.
• An Indian Civil Service was to be created under the control of the Secretary of State.
• Hereto all the property and other assets of the East India Company were transferred to the Crown.

The history of Assam is the history of a confluence of people from the east, west, south, and the north; the confluence of the Tibeto-Burman (Sino-Tibetan), Indo Aryan and Austroasiatic cultures.

Key Points

The Ahom state depended upon forced labour.

• Those forced to work for the state were called Paiks.
• A census of the population was taken.
• Each village had to send a number of Paiks by rotation.
• People from heavily populated areas were shifted to less populated places.
• Ahom clans were thus broken up.
• By the first half of the seventeenth century, the administration became quite centralised.

Hence, in medieval Assam, Paiks were forced labourers.

There were administrative centres, temple towns, as well as centres of commercial activities and craft production during medieval periods.

• There were different kinds of traders in the country.
• There were traders such as Banjaras.
• Since traders had to pass through many kingdoms and forests, they usually travelled in caravans and formed guilds (associations for certain tasks).
• They were used to protect their interests.

• Manigramam and Nanadesi were two such guilds.
• Manigiramam, or Manigramam, typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, organized by itinerant ethnic Indian traders, primarily active in south India.
• The Nanadesis were a guild of traders who organized themselves into one of the biggest trading associations at the time of the Hoysala Empire.
• These guilds traded extensively both within the peninsula and with Southeast Asia and China.
• The towns on the west coast were home to Arab, Persian, Chinese, Jewish, and Syrian Christian traders.
• Trade-in horses were primarily carried here. Slaves were also brought here for sale.

Hence, 'Manigramam' and 'Nanadesi' were famous guilds of South India.

The Indus valley civilization is also known as Harappan Civilization and is famous for its systematic planning based on the grid system.

Key Points 

Over 1400 Indus Valley Civilization sites have been discovered, of which 925 sites are in India and 475 sites in Pakistan.

• Chirand:
• It is an archaeological site in the Saran district of Bihar, India, situated on the northern bank of the Ganga River.
• It has a large pre-historic mound which is known for its continuous archaeological record from the Neolithic age (about 2500–1345 BC) to the reign of the Pala dynasty who ruled during the pre-medieval period.
• The excavations in Chirand have revealed stratified Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Iron Age settlements, and transitions in human habitation patterns dating from 2500 BC to 30 AD.
• Koldihwa:
• Koldihwa is an archaeological site in Uttar Pradesh, India.
• It is situated in the valleys of Belan River near village Devghat. Along with Mahagara, it is one of the few Neolithic sites in Uttar Pradesh.
• Both are in district Prayagraj.
• Both sites are the earliest examples of Rice cultivation Oryza sativa.
• It is also the site of the finding of horse bones.
• Burzahom**:**
• The Burzahom archaeological site is located in the Kashmir Valley of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Archaeological excavations have revealed four phases of cultural significance between 3000 BC and 1000 BC.
• Periods I and II represent the Neolithic era; Period III the Megalithic era (of massive stone menhirs and the wheel turned red pottery); and Period IV relates to the early Historical Period (Post-megalithic period).
• Hallur:
• Hallur is an archaeological site located in the Haveri district (which was carved out of Dharwad district), in the Indian state of Karnataka.
• Hallur, South India's earliest Iron Age site, lies in a semi-arid region with scrub vegetation, located on the banks of the river Tungabhadra.
• The site was first discovered by Nagaraja Rao in 1962 and excavated in 1965.

​Hence, the correct answer is AH; BF; CE; DG

There are four Vedas- the Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.

• The oldest Veda is the Rigveda, composed about 3500 years ago.
• The Rigveda includes more than a thousand hymns, called Sukta or “well-said”.
• These hymns are in praise of various gods and goddesses.
• Three gods are especially important: Agni, the god of fire; Indra, a warrior god; and Soma, a plant from which a special drink was prepared.

Important Points

The rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati had great prominence in Vedas.

• Ganga and Yamuna are mentioned together for the first time in Rig Veda.
• The Yamuna is mentioned three times and Ganga is mentioned once in Rig Veda.

Thus, it is clear that option 4 is the correct answer.

The correct answer is option 1.

Key Points

• Buddhism and Jainism are two Indian religions that developed in Magadha and continue to thrive in the modern age.
• Jainism and Buddhism share many features, terminology, and ethical principles, but emphasize them differently.
• Both the Mahavira and the Buddha felt that only those who left their homes could gain true knowledge.
• They arranged for them to stay together in the sangha, an association of those who left their homes.
• The rules for Buddhist sanghas were written down in the Vinaya Pitaka.
• All men could join the sanghas, but children had to take permission from their parents.
• Men and women in the sanghas led simple lives, meditated, and begged for food. So they were also called bhikkus (beggars) and bhikkhunis.
• Buddhism says that through enlightenment (bodhi) an individual crosses the river of samsara and attain liberation.

Hence, the common feature of Buddhism and Jainism is that Only those who left their homes could gain true knowledge.

One of the most vocal amongst the “low-caste” leaders was Jyotirao Phule.

• Born in 1827, he studied in schools set up by Christian missionaries.
• On growing up he developed his own ideas about the injustices of caste society.
• He set out to attack the Brahmans’ claim that they were superior to others since they were Aryans.
• Phule argued that the Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside the subcontinent, and defeated and subjugated the true children of the country – those who had lived here from before the coming of the Aryans.
• As the Aryans established their dominance, they began looking at the defeated population as inferior, as low-caste people.
• According to Phule, the “upper” castes had no right to their land and power: in reality, the land belonged to indigenous people, the so-called low castes.
• Phule claimed that before Aryan rule there existed a golden age when warrior-peasants tilled the land and ruled the Maratha countryside in just and fairways.
• He proposed that Shudras (labouring castes) and Ati Shudras (untouchables) should unite to challenge caste discrimination.
• The Satyashodhak Samaj, an association Phule founded, propagated caste equality.

Thus, we can say that Jyotirao Phule said that, "The upper castes had no right to their land because in reality, the land belonged to indigenous people, the so-called low castes".

Shah Jahan was the fifth Mughal emperor and reigned from 1628 to 1658. Under his reign, the Mughal Empire reached the peak of its cultural glory.

Key Points

The architectural design of Shah Jahan's diwan-i Aam (audience hall) at Delhi has an image of Paradise on Earth. 

• His audience hails were specially constructed to resemble a mosque.
• The pedestal on which the Emperor's throne was placed was frequently described as the Quibia, the direction (west) faced by Muslims at prayer since everybody faced that direction when the court was in session.
• The idea of the king as a representative of God on earth was suggested by these architectural features.
• The construction of Shah Jahan's audience hall aimed to communicate that the king's justice would treat the high and the low as equals creating a world where all could live together in harmony.

Hence, the correct answer is King's justice would treat the high and the low as equals.

​

Construction of Audience Hall (Diwan-e-Aam):

• The Diwan-i-Am, or Hall of Audience, is a room in the Red Fort of Delhi where the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1656) and his successors received members of the general public and heard their grievances.
• The Diwan-i-Am is a red sandstone pavilion, open on three sides, with three aisles of cusped pillared arches once covered with polished white plaster.
• This view shows the emperor’s throne jharokha or balcony protected by iron railings, situated at the rear of the hall.
• It is an ornate structure in white marble carved with floral patterns with a curved marble canopy decorated with pietra dura work.
• In front is a low bench on which ministers sat.
• On the wall of the niche behind the throne are Italian inlaid pietra dura panels depicting flowers, birds, and lions.​

Uthiramerur is a panchayat town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is situated 90 kilometres southwest of Chennai, the capital of Tamilnadu.

The inscription lays down the following qualifications for a nominee:

• The temple inscriptions of Uthiramerur are notable for their historical descriptions of rural self-governance.
• They indicate that Uthiramerur had two village assemblies: Sabha and Ur.
• The Sabha was an exclusively Brahmin (priestly class) assembly, while the Ur was made up of people belonging to all the classes.
• Members of a Sabha should fulfil the following criteria:
• Own a tax-paying land, sized at least one-fourth of a Veli (about an acre and a half).
• The land-owning requirement was reduced to one-eighth Veli for people who had learned at least one Veda and one Bhashya.
• Residence in a house built on self-owned land.
• Age between 35 and 70 years was required.
• Knowledge of mantras and the Brahmanas (Vedic literature) was a must.

Hence, those who have not submitted their accounts cannot be a member of a Sabha.

Villages were an important part of large kingdoms. Kings extracted revenue from the villagers.

Key Points

Gramabhojaka:

• He was the village headman, and at times happened to be the largest landowner too.
• He owned a very large piece of land and got it cultivated by his slaves and hired workers.
• He also functioned as a judge and sometimes as a policeman.
• The post of a Gram-Bhojaka was hereditary. Usually, men from the same family held the position for generations.
• Generally, he had slaves and hired workers to cultivate the land.

Hence, the statement 'The king never used him to collect taxes.' is not true regarding the Grama-Bhojaka.

Soil fertility is greatly influenced by the factors of soil formation.

The 5 factors of soil formation are:

• Parent material
• Climate
• Biota
• Time
• Topography

Influence of Parent Material:

• Parent material affects soil fertility in many ways.
• First, the type of parent material determines which minerals (link to mineralogy) will predominate in the soil.
• Secondly, as parent material weathers, nutrients are released into the soil solution, which subsequently can be taken up by plants and other organisms or leached from the soil.
• Parent material is the starting point for most soil development.
• The parent material may be mineral rock and/or organic matter.
• When parent rock material is exposed to the atmosphere or when organic matter and/or minerals are deposited on the earth’s surface, soil formation begins.
• The type of parent material and how the soil is formed will greatly influence the properties of the soil.

General rules:

• There are two general rules that we may state about the influence of parent material on soil formation:
• Finely textured parent materials tend to weather into finely textured soils.
• Coarsely textured parent materials tend to weather into coarsely textured soils.
• Darker minerals tend to yield more fertile soils.
• Parent materials influence soil formation through their mineralogical composition, their texture, and their stratification (occurrence in layers).

Hence, option 4 is the correct answer.

Minerals that lie near the earth surface are simply dug out by the process known as quarrying

Key Points

Quarrying:

• Quarrying refers to extracting materials directly from the surface.
• It is the process of removing rock, sand, gravel, or minerals from the ground in order to use them to produce materials for construction or other uses.
• A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground.
• The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environmental impact.
• The word quarry can also include the underground quarrying for stone, such as Bath stone.
• The method of removal of stones from their natural bed by using different operations is called quarrying.

Methods of quarrying include:

1. Digging – This method is used when the quarry consists of small & soft pieces of stones.
2. Heating – This method is used when the natural rock bed is horizontal and small in thickness.
3. Wedging –This method is used when the hard rock consists of a natural fissure. When natural fissures are absent then artificial fissures are prepared by drilling holes.
4. Blasting – It is the process of removal of stones with the help of controlled explosives that is filled in the holes of the stones. The line of least resistance plays a very important role in the blasting process.

Hence, option 1 is the correct answer.

Additional Information

Open Cast Mining:

• Open Cast Mining is the process under which minerals are mined near the earth's surface.
• Opencast mining is the process that involves the removal of ore from seams relatively near the surface by means of an open pit.
• These mines occupy a large area of land for excavation of the ore and disposal of the overburden.

Calcination:

• Calcination, the heating of solids to a high temperature for the purpose of removing volatile substances, oxidizing a portion of the mass, or rendering them friable.
• Calcination, therefore, is sometimes considered a process of purification.

Sintering:

• Sintering is the process of fusing particles together into one solid mass by using a combination of pressure and heat without melting the materials.
• Common particles that are sintered together include metal, ceramic, plastic, and other various materials.

The oldest rocks in the world:

• Australia holds the oldest continental crust on Earth, researchers have confirmed, hills some 4.4 billion years old.
• For more than a decade, geoscientists have debated whether the iron-rich Jack Hills of Western Australia represents the oldest rocks on Earth.
• The new findings rely on atom-scale analyses of tiny crystals in rocks that solidified from lava there eons ago.
• In the study, the researchers disprove, earlier findings that had made the Jack Hills look like the oldest place on Earth.
• A belt of greenstone blocks in Canada's Hudson Bay region is thought to be a similar age.
• Dating the lead atoms directly, they found the age of the zircons was likely 4.374 billion years, give or take 6 million years.
• Radioactive dating done in a 2001 study had first suggested the hills are about 4.4 billion years old.

Hence, option 1 is the correct answer.

Economic activity:

• Human activities that generate income are known as economic activities.
• Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary activities.
• All economic activities namely primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary, revolve around obtaining and utilizing resources necessary for survival.

Activity that changes raw material into products of more value is called secondary activity.

Secondary activities:

• Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming raw materials into valuable products.
• A secondary activity is an activity performed by a unit in addition to its principal activity.
• The result of a secondary activity is called secondary production.

For example,

• Cotton in the boll has limited use but after it is transformed into yarn, becomes more valuable and can be used for making clothes.
• Iron ore, cannot be used; directly from the mines, but after being converted into steel it gets its value and can be used for making many valuable machines, tools, etc.
• The same is true of most of the materials from the farm, forest, mine, and the sea.
• Secondary activities, therefore, are concerned with manufacturing, processing, and construction (infrastructure) industries.

Hence, option 2 is the correct answer.

Primary activity:

• Primary activities are directly dependent on the environment as these refer to the utilization of the earth’s resources such as land, water, vegetation, building materials, and minerals.
• It, thus includes hunting and gathering, pastoral activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and mining and quarrying.

Tertiary activity:

• The tertiary activity consists of all occupations of service.
• Significant examples of tertiary activities include transport, networking, commerce, health, education, and administration.
• The growth of primary and secondary sectors is assisted by these tertiary activities.

The Apache and the Crow are tribes of North America.

The Apache tribe:

• The Apache tribes are Native American Indians who inhabited the areas now known as Arizona and the northwestern sections of Mexico.
• The Apache tribes may have been named after the Yavapai word for people (epache), the Zuni word for the enemy (apachu), or an unspecified Quechan word that means fighting men.
• The Apache were known for being powerful, brave, and aggressive.
• It is believed that because their language is similar, that the Apache and Navajo were once alone ethnic groups.
• The Apache were a large tribe, dating as far back as the early 1500s.​ ​

Crow tribe:

• The industrious Crow were a nomadic tribe of hunters on the Great Plains.
• The Crow tribe strongly resisted the hostile incursions of neighboring Native Indian tribes encroaching on their territory.
• The Crow tribe acted as scouts for the US army during the Sioux Wars.
• The names of the most famous chefs of the Crow tribe included Chief Plenty Coups, Chief Long Hair, Chief Sore Belly and Chief Bear Wolf.

Hence, option 1 is the correct answer.

The correct answer is IT industry.

Key Points

Sunrise Industry:

• A sunrise industry is one that is new or relatively new, is growing fast, and is expected to become important in the future.
• Examples of sunrise industries include hydrogen fuel production, petrochemical industry, food processing industry, space tourism, and online encyclopedias.
• Sunrise industry is a colloquial term for a burgeoning sector or business in its infancy stage showing promise of a rapid boom.
• Sunrise industries are typically characterized by high growth rates, numerous start-ups, and an abundance of venture capital funding.
• A new and growing industry especially in electronics and telecommunications is known as the sunrise industry.
• IT industry is called a sunrise industry as it has grown at a fast pace in the last ten years.
• It is still growing and has tremendous scope to grow in the coming years as well.

Hence, option 1 is the correct answer.

The cooking oil industry, paper industry, jute industry, etc, are agro-based as well as raw material-based industries. These are conventional and already develop their space.

Mediterranean climate is confined to the Western portions of Continental masses between 30 degrees and 45 degrees north and south of the equator.

• The basic cause of the Mediterranean climate is the shifting of wind belts.
• Most of the east and northeast margins of the continents are covered by temperate evergreen and deciduous trees.
• The west and south-west margins of the continents are different. They have Mediterranean vegetation.
• It is mostly found in the areas around the Mediterranean sea in Europe, Africa, and Asia, hence the name.
• This kind of vegetation is also found outside the actual Mediterranean region in California in the USA, southwest Africa, southwestern South America, and Southwest Australia.
• These regions are marked for hot dry summers and mild rainy winters.

Explanation:

• Citrus fruits such as oranges, figs, olives, and grapes are commonly cultivated here because people have removed the natural vegetation in order to cultivate what they want to.
• Mediterranean trees adapt themselves to dry summers with the help of their thick barks and wax-coated leaves which help them reduce transpiration.
• Mediterranean regions are known as ‘Orchards of the world’ for their fruit cultivation.
• There isn’t much wildlife here.

Hence the correct Option is Mediterranean Region.

The concept of the tide:

• The rhythmic rise and fall of ocean water twice a day are called a tide.
• It is high tide when water covers much of the shore by rising to its highest level.
• It is low tide when waterfalls to its lowest level and recedes from the shore.
• The strong gravitational pull exerted by the sun and the moon on the earth’s surface cause the tides.

Relation between high tide and navigation:

• High tides help in navigation.
• They raise the water level close to the shores.
• This helps the ships to arrive at the harbor more easily.
• Tides affect the depth and currents in and around coastal areas.
• Ships may need to navigate the waters during high tide in some areas or risk running aground.
• Pilots take into consideration the water level, width of channels, and direction of the water flow to determine the best time to travel.

Hence, option 1 is the correct answer.

Other importance of high tide:

• The high tides also help in fishing.
• Much more fish come closer to the shore during the high tide.
• This enables fishermen to get a plentiful catch.
• Tides are also used for the generation of tidal electricity.

The radio waves transmitted from the earth are reflected back to the earth by the thermosphere

Structure of the Atmosphere:

• Our atmosphere is divided into five layers starting from the earth’s surface.
• These are Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, and Exosphere.

Key Points

Thermosphere:

• In the thermosphere, the temperature rises very rapidly with increasing height.
• The ionosphere is a part of this layer.
• It extends between 80-400 km.
• This layer helps in radio transmission.
• In fact, radio waves transmitted from the earth are reflected back to the earth by this layer.

​

Hence, option 4 is the correct answer.

Additional Information

Stratosphere:

• Above the troposphere lies the stratosphere.
• It extends up to a height of 50 km.
• This layer is almost free from clouds and associated weather phenomenon, making conditions most ideal for flying airplanes.
• One important feature of the stratosphere is that it contains a layer of ozone gas.

Mesosphere:

• This is the third layer of the atmosphere.
• It lies above the stratosphere.
• It extends up to the height of 80 km.
• Meteorites burn up in this layer on entering from the space.

Exosphere:

• The uppermost layer of the atmosphere is known as the exosphere.
• This layer has very thin air.
• Light gases like helium and hydrogen float into space from here.

​

Ecological balance has been defined as "a state of dynamic equilibrium within a community of organisms in which genetic, species and ecosystem diversity remain relatively stable, subject to gradual changes through natural succession." and "A stable balance in the numbers of each species in an ecosystem."

The balance in the environment:

• The most important point is that the natural balance in an ecosystem is maintained.
• This balance may be disturbed due to the introduction of new species, the sudden death of some species, natural hazards, or man-made causes.
• In the ecological context, the disturbance is regarded as an event of intense environmental stress occurring over a relatively short period of time and causing large changes in the affected ecosystem. Disturbance can result from natural causes or from the activities of humans.
• Disturbance can be caused by physical stressors such as volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and over geological time, glacial advance, and retreat.
• Humans can also cause physical disturbances, for example, through construction activities.
• Continuous deforestation and soil erosion cause mass destruction of wildlife disrupt ecological balance.

Hence, option 4 is the correct answer.

Sustainable Development Goals:

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" in 2015, with global goals.

The 193 members of GA adopted the framework "Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" with 17 goals & 169 targets.

• These goals were aimed to wipe out poverty, fight inequality & tackle climate change in the next 15 years.
• This Agenda is a plan of action for people, the planet, and prosperity.
• It also intends to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom.
• They seek to realize the human rights of all & to achieve gender equality & the empowerment of all women.

The Division for Sustainable Development Goals in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) acts as the Secretariat for the SDG

Hence, maximum use of natural resources is not an SDG based on the above discussion.

Important Points

Those 17 goals are:

1. Take urgent action to combat climate change & its impact.
2. ​End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
3. Reduce inequalities within & among countries.
4. Achieve gender equality & empower all womens' & girls.
5. Zero hunger.
6. Good health & well-being.
7. Quality Education.
8. Clean water & sanitation.
9. Affordable & clean energy.
10. Decent work & economic growth.
11. Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure.
12. Sustainable Cities & Communities.
13. Responsible consumption & Production.
14. Life below water.
15. Life on Land.
16. Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions.
17. Partnership for the goals.

Time zones Coordinated Universal Time or UTC ( Greenwich Mean Time ) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is within about 1 second of mean solar time at 0° longitude and is not adjusted for daylight saving time. It is effectively a successor to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). There are countries having their separate time zones. Based o the UTC time zone the world is divided into 24 time zones.

• ${360º \over 15}=24$
• 360º is the total angle of the earth
• For 1º change in the value, 4 minutes will differ for time
• So, for 360º the difference of the time will be 24 hours
• Based on this concept the world is divided into 24 time zones
• The time at a longitude can be appliable up to 7.5º on both sides from the longitude.
• If 1º equivalent to 4 minutes, then 1 hour or 60 minutes for 15º longitudinal difference.
• The difference between 15° E and 15° W  is 30°
• Therefore, the difference in time ⇒ 30*4 =120 minutes or 2 hours

​

Therefore, option 4 is the correct answer.

Private companies, contractors, businesspersons normally want to make as much profit as they can.

• In the drive for profits, they might deny workers their rights and not pay them wages, for example.
• In the eyes of the law, it is illegal or wrong to deny workers their wages.
• Similarly to ensure that workers are not underpaid, or are paid fairly, there is a law on minimum wages.
• A worker has to be paid not less than the minimum wage by the employer.
• The minimum wages are revised upwards every few years.

Minimum Wages Act specifies that wages should not be below a specified minimum. 

• Many workers are denied fair wages by their employers. Because they badly need work, workers have no bargaining power and are paid low wages.
• This law is meant to protect the interests of all workers; particularly, farm labourers, construction workers, factory workers, domestic workers, etc.

Thus, we can say that option 2 is correct.

Currently, the Constitution of India has 448 articles in 25 parts and 12 schedules. There are 104 amendments that have been made in the Indian constitution up to January 25, 2020. 

Article 17. Abolition of Untouchability. - "Untouchability" is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of "Untouchability" shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

Thus, article 17 is the correct answer.

Additional Information 

Let's look at the other articles:

• Article 15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. -
• The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
• No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to-
• access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or
• the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.
• Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.
• Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
• Article 21. Protection of life and personal liberty. -
• No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
• Article 28. Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions
• This article permits educational institutions that are maintained by religious groups to disseminate religious instruction.
• This provides that no religious instruction shall be provided in State-run educational institutions.
• Educational institutions administered by the State but that were established under any endowment or trust which requires that religious instruction shall be imparted in such institutions are exempt from the above clause (that no religious instruction shall be provided).
• Any person who attends any educational institution recognized by the State or receiving State aid shall not be required to participate in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution, or also attend any religious worship in such institutions unless he/she has given consent for the same. In the case of minors, the guardians should have given consent for the same.

The Indian constitution recognises all Indians as equal before the law, it states that there should be no discrimination among people on the basis of sex, caste, religion or whether a person is rich or poor

• All adults in India have the equal right to vote during election
• Poor people do not have the resources to afford expensive private health services

• Poverty and lack of resources are the main reason for inequality among people in India
• Discrimination on the basis of caste, sex, a person’s religion is another factor for why people are treated unequally in India
• Dalit, Adivasi, and Muslim girls drop out of school, this is a combined outcome of poverty, social discrimination and the lack of good quality school facilities for these communities
• The displacement of people and communities is a problem that that has become quite widespread in our country
• There are several organisations across the country, who fights for the right to displacement
• Tawa Matsya Sangh is a federation of Fisherworker’s cooperatives an organisation that fights for the rights of displaced forest dwellers of the Satpura forest in Madhya Pradesh.

Thus, we can say that Poverty is the key reason for inequality in India.

People in democratic countries enjoy certain rights, which are protected by the judicial system of the country concerned.

• Their violation, even by the State, is not allowed by the courts.
• India respects the rights of the people, which are listed in our Constitution, under the heading “Fundamental Rights”.

Right to the constitutional remedies:

• Part III of our Constitution provides for legal remedies for the protection of the fundamental rights against their violation by the State or other institutions/individuals.
• It entitles the citizens of India to move the Supreme Court or High Courts for the enforcement of these rights.
• The State is forbidden from making any law that may be in conflict with the Fundamentals Rights.

Thus, we can say that Right to the constitutional remedies protects the Fundamental Rights of citizens.

The Hindu Succession Amendment Act (2005) came into force in September 2005. The Government of India has issued a notification to this effect.

This Act has been passed to remove gender discriminatory provisions in the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and gives the following rights to daughters under Section 6: 

• ​The daughter of coparcener (joint-heir) by birth becomes a coparcener by right in the same manner as the son.
• The daughter has the same rights in the coparcener property as she would have had if she had been a son.
• In the new law, sons, daughters and their mothers can get an equal share of the land.

Thus, it is clear that according to the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 sons, daughters and their mothers can get an equal share of family property.

Every country needs a government to make decisions and get things done.

• The government works at different levels: at the local level, at the level of the state and at the national level.

• The local level means in your village, town or locality, the state level would mean that which covers an entire state like Haryana or Assam and the national level relates to the entire country.

• To maintain a peaceful relationship with Pakistan and Bangladesh- Central Government

• The decision to discontinue the Board Examination for Class X- State Government

• Introduction of new train between New Delhi and Vasco da Gama- Central Government

• Introduction of a new design of 1000 rupee note- Central Government

Thus, we can say that decision to discontinue the Board Examination for Class X comes under the function of the State Government. It is because the matter of the public education system comes under the state government.

Additional Information

State governments have separate departments for the proper functioning of the state. States have jurisdiction over education, agriculture, public health, sanitation, hospitals and dispensaries and many other departments.

• Internal Security: The state governments have to maintain the internal security, law and order in the state. Internal security is managed through the state police.
• Public order: States have jurisdiction over police and public order
• Education: Providing a public education system, maintaining school buildings and colleges, employment of teachers, providing help to underprivileged students all come under the education department of the state.
• Agriculture: The state governments have to provide support for farmers, funds for best farming practices, disease prevention and aid during disasters such as floods or droughts.
• Finances: The state legislature handles the financial powers of the state, which include authorisation of all expenditure, taxation and borrowing by the state government. It has the power to originate money bills. It has control over taxes on entertainment and wealth and sales tax.
• Reservation of bills: The state governor may reserve any Bill for the consideration of the President.
• Transport: State government runs the trains, trams, bus and ferry services and other public transportation in the cities and towns of the States.
• Water supply: Water supply to cities and towns for drinking, including irrigation for farmers, is the responsibility of the State governments.
• Budget: State governments make budgets for states.

The Scheduled Castes, commonly known as Dalits, include those that were previously regarded as ‘outcastes’ in the Hindu social order and were subjected to exclusion and untouchability. 

• Scheduled Castes were 16.2 per cent of the country’s population.
• Areas under the Fifth Schedule belong to nine major states of the western and central region extending from Maharashtra on the West to Jharkhand in the East.

Key Points

There are several reasons why children from Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim communities leave school.

• In many parts of the country, especially in rural and poor areas, there may not even be proper schools nor teachers who teach on a regular basis.
• If a school is not close to people’s homes, and there is no transport like buses or vans, parents may not be willing to send their girls to school.
• Many families are too poor and unable to bear the cost of educating all their children.
• Boys may get preference in this situation.
• Many children also leave school because they are discriminated against by their teachers and classmates.

Thus from the above-mentioned points, it is clear that Dropout rates of Dalit and Adivasi girls are highest because of poverty and social discrimination.

Additional Information 

• The government of India as well as the state governments of different states have implemented various developmental measures for the socio-economic upliftment of the Scheduled Castes.
• The government has rightly recognized the need for education, employment and economic upliftment of the Scheduled Castes for raising their quality of life in society.

Social advertisement:

• It refers to the advertisement designed with the motive to educate people about diseases, education, sanitation and other social issues to make their life easy, healthy and cheerful.
• Here the advertisement 'Life Insurance – Zindagi Ke Saath Bhi, Zindagi Ke Baad Bhi' is not a social advertisement because the motive of this advertisement is to increase the number of customers in order to make an excessive profit.
• These advertisements are made by State or private agencies that have a larger message for society.

The media also plays an important role in deciding what stories to focus on, and therefore, decides on what is newsworthy. 

• By focusing on particular issues, the media influences our thoughts, feelings and actions, and brings those issues to our attention.
• Due to the significant influence, it plays in our lives and in shaping our thoughts, it is commonly said that the media ‘sets the agenda’.
• Murders and killings, Demolition of buildings, Gender sensitivity are the topics that are majorly focussed by the media.

There are several instances when the media fails to focus on issues that are significant in our lives.

• For example, drinking water is a major problem in the country.
• Every year, thousands of people suffer and die because they do not get safe drinking water.
• However, we hardly find the media discussing this issue.

• The doctrine of separation of powers ensures that the legislature, executive and the judiciary mind their own business without overlapping into the work area of each other that is why judges are appointed by the collegium, independent of any interference from the government.
• They can only be removed by the rigorous process of impeachment.
• All these three lines explain the doctrine of separation of power as well as the independence of judiciary but the fourth line doesn't fit altogether in the context as retirement age of judges are fixed not the tenure.

D. K. Basu Guidelines:

• It is laid down by the Supreme Court of India (in D. K. Basu vs State of West Bengal) are about the procedures to be used by various agencies for the arrest, detention and interrogation of any person.
• The need for these guidelines arose due to the writ petition filed by D K Basu(executive chairman of Legal Aid Services, WB) seeking prevention measures against custodial death in West Bengal and to compensate the family members of the victim.

Thus, option 3 is the correct answer.

Additional Information

• Prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace: Vishaka Guideline in 1997, Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act, 2013
• Protection of children from sexual offences in schools: POCSO Act, 2012

The environment is something that people over generations will share, and it could not be destroyed merely for industrial development.

Subhash Kumar vs State of Bihar (1991):

• Subhash Kumar, a businessman filed a claim against two iron and steel companies by claiming that they had created health risks by dumping the factory's waste in the form of sludge and slurry into the nearby Bokaro river.
• The company claimed that they had sufficiently adhered to the instructions of the pollution control board but the court found that slurry was not coal for the purpose of the regulatory provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act of 1957, and therefore not the property of the companies.
• The companies appealed the High Court's decision and at the same time Subhash filed the case in the Supreme Court and then-Supreme Court held that the right to life is a fundamental right under Article 21 and it includes the right to the enjoyment of pollution-free water and air for the full enjoyment of life.

Thus, option 2 is the correct answer.

School-based assessment refers to the process of assessing students on a regular basis by the teachers in the school.

• It complements traditional external examination but excludes it's one characteristic of emphasizing only the scholastic aspects of learning.
• It ensures all-round development of the learner by including both scholastic and co-scholastic aspects of their growth.
• It makes assessment an integral part of learning by stimulating continuous evaluation and giving immediate feedback to the learners.

Hence, we conclude that emphasising only on the scholastic aspects of learning' is excluded in the present school-based assessment.

Assignment refers to a piece of work allocated to students as a part of the course of study. Before assigning a new type of assignment, the teacher must tell her students about her expectations from students in terms of learning from working on the assignment.

It will motivate students to take personal responsibility and enhance learning by making them work effectively to meet the teacher's realistic expectations.

• Discussing the forthcoming assessment’s  bases doesn't help in learning
• Discussion about weightage in the final exam will be termed as biasing, also, students won’t work efficiently on them.
• Discussion about requisite previous knowledge may help a few students but can break the confidence of the students lacking it and they may not work efficiently on it with interest.

Social studies have evolved from social sciences as an instructional area in order to be taught at the school level for promoting healthy social/ democratic living among learners. 

• It aims at enabling students to adjust to their sociocultural environment which includes family, community, state, nation, and at large the entire humanity.
• The teaching of social studies aims in developing the holistic character of an individual that includes morals, values, skills, aptitudes, attitudes, and knowledge.​

Key Points

• Assignment refers to a piece of work allocated to students as part of the course of study. It significantly enhances the learning capabilities of students. The teacher gives students assignments to cover a part of the syllabus so that students could understand and enjoy it.​
• From the above-mentioned information, it could be adjudged that the most creative child is the one who is skillful and possesses a vision to convert waste materials into productive items. because creativity is the phenomenon of converting imaginative and original ideas into reality.
• Creative children are courageous enough to try new things and risk failure and they possess divergent thinking that refers to a way of solving problems with more than one approach and includes out-of-the-box thinking in it.
• In this question, the conversion of waste material into productive items is the most creative act that can help adjudge the most creative child.

Hence, it is clear that the most creative child is the one who is skillful and possesses a vision to convert waste materials into productive items.

A project refers to a series of task that needs to be done by a group of students in order to achieve a particular goal.

Projects in Social Science are useful in purposeful theme-based tasks and for the group work in class or at home because the project promotes:

• voluntary participation of students by working in a group.
• personal experiences of students as the basis of knowledge.
• applying practical knowledge to complete a thematic project.
• imparting practical knowledge to the students for quality experiences.
• active learning by association and mutual co-operation of a group of peers.

Hence, it could be concluded that projects in Social Science are useful in theme-based tasks and for group work in class or at home.

Capacity building program refers to the training process for developing and strengthening human's or institution's ability to retain skills, performing functions, solving problems and achieving goals to do their jobs effectively.

It is essential for Social Science teachers because it-

• Enriches teacher's knowledge in their discipline.
• Develops a culture of shared learning in teachers.
• Builds renewed energy and enthusiasm in teachers.
• Gives exposure to the teachers to the latest advances in S.St.
• Requirements of conceptual and pedagogical clarity in different components of the S.St.

"Survey project" is a suitable method for underlining the above-mentioned phenomenon.

 Key PointsIt helps in:

• enabling the learner to interact with the community.
• collecting accurate information by asking questions.
• drawing an authentic conclusion to make important decisions.
• making the learner being sensitized to different issues and people.
• taking students to the place of occurrence to make the right decisions.
• making learning meaningful by engaging learners with real-life situations.

Note: Presentation and discussion will not give the child the real experience to understand the phenomenon, that's why not suitable, it will act as one-way teaching where the student will act as a passive learner only.

National Education Policy(NPE) 1986 provides for a comprehensive policy framework for the development of education. The most important aspect of National Policy on Education (1986) was that along with a general policy framework and a set of guidelines, it suggested programmes of action for implementation of the policy decisions.

Key Points

• NPE, 1986 accords great importance to removing disparities and equalizing educational opportunity by attending to the specific needs of those who have been denied equality. There would be efforts to uplift weaker and neglected sections of society like women, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• The policy aspires to use education as an agent of basic change in the status of the woman.
• For the handicapped, the objective is to integrate the physically and mentally handicapped with the general community as equal partners, to prepare them for normal growth and to enable them to face life with courage and confidence. Hence, greater attention will be paid to the education of these groups in the interests of equality and social justice. They should be studied in a regular school at inclusive education.
• Policies regarding adult education have been formulated to strengthen the cause of adult education through various and systematic programmes of adult and continuing education.

Thus from above-mentioned points, it is clear that The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986 suggested the development of integrated programmes for the handicapped children to study in regular schools.

Key Points

• Teacher approach to the assignment and established a good rapport with him and made him understand, how important Social Science is. She also made him able to do some social science assignments which were directly linked with day-to-day life.
• The nature of social sciences is presented in this unit through theoretical discussions and explanations, practical examples and citations, assignments and projects etc.
• NCF, 2005, emphasises the learner-centred instructional approach in view of raising the performance level. The shift towards the continuous assessment by planning assignments, i.e. class exercises, projects, tests, in a way that will involve the pupil more in ‘analysis’, ‘application’ and ‘problem-solving’, and will require the pupil to carry out projects that help in getting pupils more involved in their own learning.
• Assignments provide a more comprehensive and more valid assessment of pupil’s ability, practical skills of presenting reports, analyzing data etc. and competencies acquired to provide a more reliable indicator of the learner’s performance in the subject.

If a student in the class have any problem in understanding and to write on a prescribed topic, a teacher advises that she may approach the assignment by breaking it into parts which are more familiar to her. The student must go at the outset, write the topic that is familiar and then add material on how the topic is related to the assignment.

Social and Political Life (SPL) is a new subject area in middle school social science that has replaced the earlier subject of Civics. SPL, as its name suggests, focuses on topics related to social, political, and economic life in contemporary India.

Key Points

Storyboards:

• One component of the feedback regarding Class VI book (Social and Political Life-I) was that teachers needed more assistance in understanding where fictional narratives began and ended and in identifying the central concepts within these.
• With this in mind, this year’s book introduces storyboards to clearly indicate which segments have been fictionalised and to draw the learner into the narrative through the use of visuals that are often more expressive than lines of text. Specific concepts raised through the storyboards are analysed in the accompanying text.
• It is a document that contains a sequential and detailed description of the screens that will constitute the instructional design of a multimedia programme.
• A storyboard is referred to by the entire project development team to deliver successful learning experience through multimedia.

Thus, from the above-mentioned points**, it is clear that Storyboard has been used extensively to familiarize students with ideas in the textbook Social and Political Life published by the NCERT.**

Additional Information 

• Some other approaches which have been used extensively to familiarize students with ideas in the textbook Social and Political Life are-
• Unit Pages
• Note on Evaluation
• Glossary
• In-text and End-text Questions

The learning of social sciences is not a new one. The learning of social sciences has become a part of the education system from the first day of the creation of civilization in this world in one way or another.

Key Points

• National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 outlines a detailed scheme for social sciences.
• At the upper primary stage, the subject-area of Social Science drawing its content from history, geography, political science, and economics will be introduced.

Simultaneously, the child may be introduced to contemporary issues and problems.

• Social sciences encompass diverse concerns of society and include a wide range of content drawn from history, geography, political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology.
• The curriculum aims at raising the students’ awareness through critically exploring and questioning familiar social reality.
• It seeks to provide the learners with the social, cultural, and analytical skills required to adjust to an increasingly interdependent world, and to deal with political and economic realities.
• Social sciences carry a responsibility, according to the NCF (2005), “of creating a strong sense of human values, namely, freedom, trust, mutual respect, and at generating in students a critical moral and mental energy, making them alert to the social forces that threaten these values”.
• The social science curriculum till now has emphasized developmental issues.
• These are important but not sufficient for understanding the normative dimension, like issues of equality, justice, and dignity in society and polity.

Thus from the above-mentioned points, it is clear that the content of Social Science should aim at raising students' awareness through critically exploring and questioning familiar social realities.

Social Sciences constitute a broad field of knowledge and deal with human beings in relation to their social behaviour. Social Sciences study the concepts or issues like culture, tradition, lifestyles, places and environment, power and authority, governance, economy, civic sense, etc. which have social implications. 

Key Points

While teaching social sciences at the school level, the following important contexts should be taken into consideration-

• Political Institution: Different dimensions of the political institution as citizenship, constitution, election, bureaucracy, public opinion, etc occupy a significant place in social sciences.
• Economic Institution: Knowledge of economic activities and the skills to deal with the economic issues are required for each individual for living in society. Hence, there is a need to study economic issues in the social sciences.
• Education System: Social sciences take into consideration the different education-related issues like literacy, basic education, mass education, education for increasing productivity, etc. in their contents and processes of teaching-learning.
• Cultural System: Knowledge and respect of diverse cultures in our society constitute an important component of social sciences.
• Religious System-
• The religious system has a strong impact on human life in society. India is a multi-religious society.
• Respect for different religions constitutes a significant part of the social science curriculum.
• Religion and morality are the influential forces that guide human behaviour in society in order to achieve social change and control.
• Religion as a cultural need of human beings has a strong impact on economic endeavours, political systems, educational tasks, artistic creation, etc. in society.
• Health and hygiene: It constitutes a significant theme for discussion and analysis at the societal level and they are considered under the scope of social sciences.
• Environment: Social sciences interface with different environment-related issues and try to incorporate such climate, landforms, soils, temperature etc.

Thus, from the above-mentioned points, it is clear that to make textbooks representatives of all regions and social groups contents relating to all regions and social groups should be added in textbooks.

Gender refers to the socially constructed differences between men and women. Gender-responsive pedagogy refers to teaching and learning processes that pay attention to the specific learning needs of girls and boys. It refers to the masculine and feminine qualities, behavior, roles, and responsibilities that society upholds.

Key Points

Sensitize students about gender issues and the role of socialization in gender discrimination:

• Giving equal opportunity to boys and girls in the classroom
• Teach both genders equally and ensure the participation of both genders
• Teachers should use case studies and give concrete examples for teaching sensitized gender topics in class. By this, the students will respect the opposite gender.
• Build coalitions to advocate for gender equality in the planning stages
• Motivate each student to take part in roles irrespective of traditional gender roles.
• Encouraging students to participate in all the activities organized by school and society.
• Making a team for group discussion by students to understand their own social roles and responsibilities.

Hint

• By making rules that boys are not allowed to practice discrimination against girls, will act a negative impact.
• By organizing seminars on gender sensitivity by inviting eminent speakers may or may not sensitize students about gender issues and role of socialization in gender discrimination.
• By encouraging team teaching and including male as well as female teachers will not aware the students of gender concepts.

Hence, we can conclude that to sensitize students about the gender issues and role of socialization in gender discrimination, schools should ask teachers to use case studies and give concrete examples.

To teach different topics in social sciences and to achieve learning objectives associated with these topics, you use a number of teaching-learning methods or techniques which constitute various teaching-learning strategies.

Key Points

Teaching through Discussion-

• Discussion is one of the widely used group-centered learning techniques. It can be used in a variety of situations in the secondary school context.
• It is a process of thinking together that breaks down if one member or group dominates it.
• It is the responsibility of the teacher to encourage the more relevant students to participate.
• For example, situations like "functions of the State Government, issues related to health, water, transport, etc" helps to understand the issue, clarify the doubts of students in discussion, generate alternative solutions to a classroom problem, and give feedback on student's view and misconceptions are some of the situations in which the discussion technique could be used.
• Through discussion, students-
• become open-minded, respect and accept the contributions of others, but think independently.
• assume responsibility for the discussion and be able to support ideas with factual evidence.
• recognize the problem of semantics in arriving at group decisions or in discussing a controversial issue.

Thus, from the above-mentioned points, it is clear that while discussing the functions of the State Government, issues related to health, water, transport, etc. may be discussed to allow learners to understand these issues and express their critical views.

Social science is one of the curricular areas of school education. It enables students to develop a critical understanding of the society which encompass diverse concerns of society by including a wide range of contents drawn from the disciplines of History, Geography, Political Science, Economics and Sociology. 

Key Points

• Geography is the discipline which seeks to explain the character of places and the distribution of features and events as they occur and change the surface of the earth.
• Geography is concerned with human-environment interactions in the context of specific places and locations.
• The National Curriculum Framework, 2005 proposes the following major objectives at this stage are as under- 
• understand and appreciate the diversities in land and people of India in relation to their own place in the larger canvas.
• understand the process of economic and social change and development in their own surrounding and relate it with contemporary India.
• understand the process of change and development in India in relation to the world economy and polity.
• understand the need for judicious utilisation of resources as well as the need for conservation of the natural environment.
• appreciate the rights of local communities in relation to their environment.

Thus from above-mentioned points, it is clear that The National Curriculum Framework, 2005 proposes that Geography should be taught to instruct the role of diverse geographical features of India in its economic growth.

The social sciences encompass diverse concerns of society and include a wide range of content drawn from the disciplines of history, geography, political science, economics, and sociology. The selection and organisation of material into a meaningful social science curriculum, one that will enable students to develop a critical understanding of society. 

Key Points

Certain broad aims of education have been identified in the National Curriculum Framework-2005 (NCF-2005) seeking guidance from the constitutional vision of India as a secular, egalitarian and pluralistic society.  

• These include the independence of thought and action, sensitivity to others well-being and feelings, learning to respond to new situations in a flexible and creative manner, a predisposition towards participation in democratic processes, and the ability to work towards and contribute to economic processes and social change.
• The National Curriculum Framework emphasises that curriculum, syllabus and textbooks should enable the teacher to organise classroom experiences in consonance with the childís nature and environment and provide opportunities to all children.
• One major concern of NCF 2005 is education tends to suppress the natural creativity and curiosity of children. This clearly requires that the school system should be flexible, allowing innovation and promoting creativity among children. The overall development of the child should be emphasised.
• Another major concern is to promote critical thinking.
• It is an approach of teaching in which children are encouraged to question, to argue and to debate on the topic being taught.
• They are helped in forming their own opinions and not accepting theories and practices of the subjects without reflections.
• Critical pedagogies facilitate collective decision making through open discussion and by encouraging and recognising multiple views.

Thus from above-mentioned points, it is clear that teaching of Social Science must adopt methods that promote creativity and critical perspective.

Learning for construction of knowledge is the basic presumption of constructivism which is a paradigm contrary to traditional objectivist approach. National Curriculum Framework-2005 emphasized that there is a ‘need to recognize the child as a natural learner, and knowledge as the outcome of the child’s own activity.’ The emphasis is on such a learning environment where children can construct their own knowledge, develop their capacities and remain an active learner.

Key Points 

Scaffolding in Social Science classroom-

• Scaffolding can be defined in simpler terms as “a technique to provide the right kind of support in the right amount at right time to increase child’s competence.”
• It helps a learner to move from a Zone of Actual Development to Zone of Proximal Development and finally reach to Zone of Desired Development, with the help of a more experienced person like peers, elders in the family, or teachers.
• When a teacher starts supporting learner initially for learning, and gradually reduce the support till the learner reaches a situation, where s/he can develop his/ her own meaning, thinking and understanding independently. The teacher is scaffolding the learner.
• scaffolding is not only a technique to support the learner to achieve their goals but it also helps in filling the ‘learning gaps’ i.e. what a learner has learnt and what was expected to learn.

Thus from above-mentioned points, it is clear that Scaffolding in a Social Science classroom primarily intends to help the students till the time-independent thinking is possible.

Important Points

• Vygotsky’s idea of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) has explained the role of interaction in learning. It is an area where a child cannot solve a problem alone but can do successfully if an opportunity to interact with a more experienced peer is given.

In order to solve the problems, there is a need to identify the nature of the problems, collection of information from different sources, analyse and interpret the information to arrive at a solution of the problems. Therefore the problem-solving method is a process that involves the collection, organise, analysis and interpret skills of information for arriving at the solution. 

Key Points

Analytic Method of Problem-Solving-

• In Analytic method, we break up the unknown problem into simpler parts and then see how these can be recombined to find the solution.
• So we start with what is to be found out and then think of further steps or possibilities that may connect the unknown built the known and find out the desired result.
• The nature of the analytic method is that-
• it leads from conclusion to hypothesis
• it proceeds from unknown to known
• Analytic statements are not considered as the statements of proofs for the problem. Rather analysis is considered as the means of discovering the proof.
• Solving problems effectively requires a controlled mixture of analytical and creative thinking.

Thus from above-mentioned points, it is clear that the ability to break down information into smaller pieces and to establish relationships among parts and the whole is analyzing.

Teaching methods and approaches play an important role during the teaching of content. The teacher must be capable enough to decide which method will suit the learners. The teacher is guided to impart education with a correct approach of teaching. For these primary grades, the natural and social environments will be explained as integral parts of languages and mathematics. Children should be engaged in activities to understand the natural and social environments through illustrations from the physical, biological, social, and cultural spheres. 

Key Points

• Classroom Management consists of the teacher’s thoughts, plans and actions that create an orderly environment and promote learning.
• Classroom management stands for management of resources, pupils’ learning activities and behaviours in the classroom. It is essentially a human relation skill.
• Classroom management is complex and many variables need to be considered when making decisions about specific situations.
• Planning and organisations, procedures used for handling various types of behaviours of learners are all parts of classroom management.
• In order to optimize the time students spend on academic activities, a teacher should plan, teach, and impose a timetable for transition times and classroom activities.
• Classroom procedures establish the routines that learners will follow in ‘their daily activities. They help students understand how to carry out routine classroom tasks and what is expected of them during different activities and at different times.

Thus from above-mentioned points, it is clear that in order to optimize the time students spend on academic activities, a teacher should plan, teach, and impose a timetable for transition times and classroom activities.

Inductive learning: It involves learning by example – a general form is induced from a set of observed instances. In inductive learning, we are given examples of functions in form of data and output of the function. It learns the functions to form new data. It is also known as a consistent hypothesis.

The expository approach emphasizes on-

• The expository Approach is also known as the Transmission Approach. In this approach, the teacher is communicating maximum information to the students in a minimum of time.
• This approach helps the teacher to cover the content to be taught to the students.
• This approach is widely used across all the subjects and different levels of education by the teacher.
• The word expository is derived from exposition which means an explanation or interpretation in which commentary by the teacher is given that seeks to clarify the meaning of and implications of the object of exposition.
• In this approach there are various methods such as Expository Method, Tell and do the method, deductive method, etc. are included.
• The approach is totally teacher-centered.

Hence, we can conclude that Inductive learning is contradictory to Expository teaching.

Key Points 

• Reflection is a process in which an experience is recalled, considered and evaluated in relation to some broad purpose. It is a response to past experience and includes an examination of past experiences for evaluation and decision making in search of new meaning and interpretation.
• For the preparation of reflective classroom where there is space for inquiry and critical thinking, one needs to understand that uniformity of programmes and methods will not promote a culture of inquiry.
• As the case may demand, constant reference to the central idea of diversity, and self-direction towards deepening our understanding of the world and ourselves, will alone make education effective.
• Effective reflection process must include those links to conceptual frameworks that motivate inquiry and problem-solving skills in students.
• Ina reflective classroom a teacher must create an atmosphere, which built on trust, freedom, recognition of rules and fun. And try to maintain the strength and flexibility of the curriculum.

Thus from above-mentioned points, it is clear that reflection must exclude those links to conceptual frameworks that limit inquiry and problem solving is true statements.

The correct answer is teachers'.

Key Points

• Refer to the line: Have you ever wondered what the qualities of a really professional teacher are? I know that all teachers want their students to like them, but being liked isn't the be-all and end-all really, is it? I mean teachers have to make some unpopular decisions sometimes.
• Thus, it can be conclude that from the writer's point of view, being liked isn't the be-all and end-all really.
• Thus, option 1 is the most appropriate answer choice.

Hinglish

• पंक्ति का संदर्भ लें: Have you ever wondered what the qualities of a really professional teacher are? I know that all teachers want their students to like them, but being liked isn't the be-all and end-all really, is it? I mean teachers have to make some unpopular decisions sometimes.
• इस प्रकार, यह निष्कर्ष निकाला जा सकता है कि लेखक के दृष्टिकोण से, पसंद किया जाना वास्तव में सब कुछ और अंत नहीं है।
• इस प्रकार, विकल्प 1 सबसे उपयुक्त उत्तर विकल्प है।

The correct answer is good teachers are.

Key Points

• Refer to the line: Indeed, a fallback position is part of good planning. It stands to reason also that a teacher must observe punctuality and appropriate tidiness and dress : it is not possible to demand such behaviour from students if the teacher doesn't set the standards.
• The fallback position is the system where teachers are well dressed and punctual.
• Thus, we can conclude that option 2 is the most appropriate answer choice.

Hinglish

• पंक्ति का संदर्भ लें: Indeed, a fallback position is part of good planning. It stands to reason also that a teacher must observe punctuality and appropriate tidiness and dress : it is not possible to demand such behaviour from students if the teacher doesn't set the standards.
• फॉलबैक स्थिति वह प्रणाली है जहां शिक्षक अच्छी तरह से तैयार होते हैं और समय के पाबंद होते हैं।
• इस प्रकार, हम यह निष्कर्ष निकाल सकते हैं कि विकल्प 2 सबसे उपयुक्त उत्तर विकल्प है।

The correct answer is teachers should be confident enough to own up to their unpreparedness.

Key Points

• Refer to the line: A professional teacher needs to be confident without being arrogant. Nobody can expect to have all the answers, so, if a student asks a real stinker, the professional teacher should be able to admit defeat but offer to find out more for the student. And they must carry that promise out.
• Here, able to admit defeat means that the teacher if not able to answer each and everything, should accept this thing and be confident enough to tell the students that he/she will make every effort to find the answer to the student's problems.
• Thus, we can conclude that option 4 is the most appropriate answer choice.

Hinglish

• पंक्ति का संदर्भ लें: A professional teacher needs to be confident without being arrogant. Nobody can expect to have all the answers, so, if a student asks a real stinker, the professional teacher should be able to admit defeat but offer to find out more for the student. And they must carry that promise out.
• यहाँ, हार मानने में सक्षम होने का अर्थ है कि यदि शिक्षक हर बात का उत्तर देने में सक्षम नहीं है, तो उसे इस बात को स्वीकार करना चाहिए और छात्रों को यह बताने के लिए पर्याप्त आश्वस्त होना चाहिए कि वह छात्र की समस्याओं का उत्तर खोजने का हर संभव प्रयास करेगा।
• इस प्रकार, हम यह निष्कर्ष निकाल सकते हैं कि विकल्प 4 सबसे उपयुक्त उत्तर विकल्प है।