Jeeva · Syllabus
NCERT biology, class 9 to 12
Every biology chapter in the current NCERT textbooks, with its topics, how the CBSE exam weighs each unit, and the practicals. This is the map Jeeva's labs will follow.
Secondary · Class 9
Class 9 biology
Textbook: Exploration: Textbook of Science for Grade 9. A new NCERT book, published April 2026, replacing the old Class 9 Science book. Science is taught as one book, so only some chapters are biology.
Section headings are not yet confirmed from the book itself; the topics below are from published summaries of each chapter.
How the exam is weighted
| CBSE unit | Marks |
|---|---|
| I · World of Living | 27 |
| II · Matter: Its Nature and Behaviour | 25 |
| III · Motion, Force, Work and Sound | 23 |
| IV · Earth as a System | 5 |
| Theory total | 80 |
Chapters
-
2
Cell: The Building Block of Life
- Cell structure and cell theory
- Unicellular and multicellular organisms
- Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
- Cell organelles and their functions
- Cell division (introduction)
-
3
Tissues in Action
- Plant tissues
- Animal tissues
- How structure suits function
- Tissue culture (introduction)
-
11
Reproduction: How Life Continues
- Asexual reproduction
- Sexual reproduction in plants and animals
- Pollination and fertilisation
- Reproductive health (introduction)
-
12
Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification
- Biodiversity
- Five kingdoms of life
- Binomial nomenclature
- Biodiversity hotspots
-
13
Earth as a System: Energy, Matter, and Life
- Earth's spheres
- Biogeochemical cycles
- Greenhouse effect and climate
Secondary · Class 10
Class 10 biology
Textbook: Science (Class X). NCERT's rationalised Science book, reprint 2026-27. Biology is five of its 13 chapters.
How the exam is weighted
| CBSE unit | Marks |
|---|---|
| I · Chemical Substances: Nature and Behaviour | 25 |
| II · World of Living | 25 |
| III · Natural Phenomena | 12 |
| IV · Effects of Current | 13 |
| V · Natural Resources | 5 |
| Theory total | 80 |
Earlier editions of this book had a chapter on evolution; the rationalised book's Heredity chapter no longer does. Check the latest CBSE circular for whether evolution is still asked.
Practicals (4)
- Stomata in a leaf peel
- Carbon dioxide given out in respiration
- Binary fission in Amoeba and budding in yeast
- Parts of the embryo in a dicot seed
Chapters
-
5
Life Processes
- What are life processes?
- Nutrition: autotrophic and heterotrophic, photosynthesis, human digestion
- Respiration: aerobic and anaerobic, breathing in humans
- Transportation: blood, heart and vessels, lymph; xylem and phloem in plants
- Excretion in humans (kidney, nephron, dialysis) and in plants
-
6
Control and Coordination
- The nervous system: receptors, neurons, reflex action, the human brain
- Coordination in plants: tropisms and plant hormones
- Hormones in animals and feedback mechanisms
-
7
How do Organisms Reproduce?
- Modes of asexual reproduction: fission, fragmentation, regeneration, budding, vegetative propagation, spores
- Sexual reproduction in flowering plants
- Reproduction in human beings: male and female systems, fertilisation, menstrual cycle
- Reproductive health
-
8
Heredity
- Accumulation of variation during reproduction
- Heredity and Mendel's experiments
- How traits are expressed
- Sex determination
-
13
Our Environment
- Ecosystem: producers, consumers, decomposers
- Food chains, food webs and trophic levels
- Ozone layer and how our activities affect the environment
- Managing waste
Senior secondary · Class 11
Class 11 biology
Textbook: Biology (Class XI). NCERT's rationalised Biology book, reprint 2026-27. 19 chapters in five units.
How the exam is weighted
| CBSE unit | Marks |
|---|---|
| I · Diversity of Living Organisms | 15 |
| II · Structural Organisation in Plants and Animals | 10 |
| III · Cell: Structure and Function | 15 |
| IV · Plant Physiology | 12 |
| V · Human Physiology | 18 |
| Theory total | 70 |
Digestion and Absorption is not a chapter in the current NCERT book. CBSE keeps it in its reading material and tests it only through formative assessment (digestive system and enzymes, GI hormones, peristalsis, absorption, calorific values, egestion and disorders).
Practicals (11)
- Study of local flowering plants (Solanaceae; Poaceae, Asteraceae or Brassicaceae may substitute): floral parts, root, stem and leaf types
- T.S. of dicot and monocot roots and stems (primary)
- Osmosis using a potato osmometer
- Plasmolysis in epidermal peels
- Stomatal distribution on the leaf surfaces
- Comparing transpiration on the upper and lower leaf surface
- Tests for sugar, starch, proteins and fats
- Separating plant pigments by paper chromatography
- Rate of respiration in flower buds, leaf tissue or germinating seeds
- Tests in urine: urea, sugar, albumin and bile salts
- Spotting: compound microscope; bacteria, Oscillatoria, Spirogyra, Rhizopus, mushroom, yeast, liverwort, moss, fern, pine, a monocot, a dicot, a lichen; virtual specimens or models of animals from Amoeba to rabbit; mitosis in onion root tip and grasshopper cells; cymose and racemose inflorescences; the human skeleton and joint types
Chapters
-
1
The Living World
Unit I
- Biodiversity and the need for classification
- Three domains of life
- Taxonomy and systematics; species and the taxonomic hierarchy
- Binomial nomenclature
-
2
Biological Classification
Unit I
- The five-kingdom system
- Monera, Protista and Fungi: features and major groups
- Lichens
- Viruses and viroids
-
3
Plant Kingdom
Unit I
- Algae, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae and Angiospermae: features and examples
-
4
Animal Kingdom
Unit I
- Non-chordates classified to phylum, chordates to class, with examples
- (No live animals or specimens are to be displayed)
-
5
Morphology of Flowering Plants
Unit II
- Root, stem, leaf
- Inflorescence, flower, fruit, seed
- Description of the family Solanaceae
-
6
Anatomy of Flowering Plants
Unit II
- Tissue systems and their functions in dicots and monocots
-
7
Structural Organisation in Animals
Unit II
- Frog: morphology, anatomy and functions of the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, nervous and reproductive systems
-
8
Cell: The Unit of Life
Unit III
- Cell theory
- Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells; plant and animal cells
- Cell envelope, membrane and wall
- Organelles: endomembrane system, ER, Golgi, lysosomes, vacuoles, mitochondria, ribosomes, plastids, microbodies
- Cytoskeleton, cilia, flagella, centrioles; the nucleus
-
9
Biomolecules
Unit III
- Structure and functions of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids
- Enzymes: types, properties and action
Not asked: the nature of bonds linking monomers in a polymer, the dynamic state of body constituents (metabolism), the metabolic basis of living, the living state.
-
10
Cell Cycle and Cell Division
Unit III
- Cell cycle
- Mitosis
- Meiosis
- Significance of cell division
-
11
Photosynthesis in Higher Plants
Unit IV
- Autotrophic nutrition; site of photosynthesis and pigments (elementary)
- Photochemical and biosynthetic phases
- Cyclic and non-cyclic photophosphorylation; chemiosmotic hypothesis
- Photorespiration; C3 and C4 pathways
- Factors affecting photosynthesis
-
12
Respiration in Plants
Unit IV
- Exchange of gases
- Glycolysis, fermentation, TCA cycle, electron transport system
- ATP yield; amphibolic pathways
- Respiratory quotient
-
13
Plant Growth and Development
Unit IV
- Seed germination; phases and rate of growth; growth conditions
- Differentiation, dedifferentiation and redifferentiation
- Plant growth regulators: auxin, gibberellin, cytokinin, ethylene, ABA
-
14
Breathing and Exchange of Gases
Unit V
- Respiratory organs in animals (recall only); the human respiratory system
- Mechanism and regulation of breathing; exchange and transport of gases
- Respiratory volumes
- Disorders: asthma, emphysema, occupational respiratory disorders
-
15
Body Fluids and Circulation
Unit V
- Blood: composition, groups, coagulation; lymph
- Structure of the heart and blood vessels; cardiac cycle, cardiac output, ECG
- Double circulation; regulation of cardiac activity
- Disorders: hypertension, coronary artery disease, angina, heart failure
-
16
Excretory Products and their Elimination
Unit V
- Ammonotelic, ureotelic and uricotelic excretion
- The human excretory system; urine formation and osmoregulation
- Regulation of kidney function: renin-angiotensin, ANF, ADH; diabetes insipidus
- Role of other organs in excretion
- Disorders: uraemia, renal failure, renal calculi, nephritis; dialysis, artificial kidney, kidney transplant
-
17
Locomotion and Movement
Unit V
- Ciliary, flagellar and muscular movement
- Skeletal muscle and contraction
- The skeletal system and joints
- Disorders: myasthenia gravis, tetany, muscular dystrophy, arthritis, osteoporosis, gout
-
18
Neural Control and Coordination
Unit V
- Neurons and nerves
- The central, peripheral and visceral nervous systems
- Generation and conduction of the nerve impulse
-
19
Chemical Coordination and Integration
Unit V
- Endocrine glands and hormones: hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreas, gonads
- Hormone action (elementary); hormones as messengers and regulators
- Hypo- and hyperactivity disorders: dwarfism, acromegaly, cretinism, goitre, exophthalmic goitre, diabetes, Addison's disease
Senior secondary · Class 12
Class 12 biology
Textbook: Biology (Class XII). NCERT's rationalised Biology book, reprint 2026-27. 13 chapters in five units (the book numbers them VI to X).
How the exam is weighted
| CBSE unit | Marks |
|---|---|
| VI · Reproduction | 16 |
| VII · Genetics and Evolution | 20 |
| VIII · Biology and Human Welfare | 12 |
| IX · Biotechnology and its Applications | 12 |
| X · Ecology and Environment | 10 |
| Theory total | 70 |
Environmental Issues (air and water pollution, solid and radioactive waste, agrochemicals, greenhouse effect and global warming, ozone depletion, deforestation) is read from CBSE's reading material and assessed only through formative assessment, not in the summative paper.
Practicals (5)
- Temporary mount to observe pollen germination
- Plant population density and frequency by the quadrat method
- Temporary mount of onion root tip to study mitosis
- Isolation of DNA from plant material (spinach, green pea, papaya, banana)
- Spotting: flowers adapted to wind, insect and bird pollination; pollen germination on a stigma; T.S. of testis and ovary; meiosis in onion bud or grasshopper testis; T.S. of mammalian blastula; Mendelian inheritance with seeds; pedigree charts; emasculation, tagging and bagging; disease-causing organisms and symptoms (Ascaris, Entamoeba, Plasmodium, ringworm); symbiosis in lichens, legume root nodules and Cuscuta; homologous and analogous organs
Chapters
-
1
Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants
Unit VI
- Flower structure; development of the male and female gametophytes
- Pollination: types, agents, examples; outbreeding devices; pollen–pistil interaction
- Double fertilisation; development of endosperm and embryo; formation of seed and fruit
- Apomixis, parthenocarpy, polyembryony; significance of seed dispersal
-
2
Human Reproduction
Unit VI
- Male and female reproductive systems; microscopic anatomy of testis and ovary
- Spermatogenesis and oogenesis; the menstrual cycle
- Fertilisation; embryo development up to the blastocyst; implantation
- Pregnancy and placenta; parturition and lactation (elementary)
-
3
Reproductive Health
Unit VI
- Need for reproductive health; prevention of STDs
- Birth control methods, contraception and MTP
- Amniocentesis; infertility and assisted reproduction (IVF, ZIFT, GIFT)
-
4
Principles of Inheritance and Variation
Unit VII
- Mendelian inheritance; incomplete dominance, co-dominance, multiple alleles, blood groups, pleiotropy; polygenic inheritance (elementary)
- Chromosome theory; sex determination in humans, birds and honey bees
- Linkage and crossing over; sex-linked traits (haemophilia, colour blindness)
- Mendelian disorders (thalassemia); chromosomal disorders: Down's, Turner's, Klinefelter's
-
5
Molecular Basis of Inheritance
Unit VII
- DNA as the genetic material; structure of DNA and RNA; DNA packaging; replication
- The central dogma: transcription, genetic code, translation
- Gene expression and regulation: the lac operon
- Human and rice genome projects; DNA fingerprinting
-
6
Evolution
Unit VII
- Origin of life; evidences for evolution
- Darwin's contribution; the modern synthetic theory
- Variation (mutation, recombination) and natural selection; gene flow and genetic drift
- Hardy–Weinberg principle; adaptive radiation; human evolution
-
7
Human Health and Disease
Unit VIII
- Pathogens and parasites: malaria, dengue, chikungunya, filariasis, ascariasis, typhoid, pneumonia, common cold, amoebiasis, ringworm, and their control
- Basic immunology and vaccines
- Cancer; HIV/AIDS
- Drug and alcohol abuse in adolescence
-
8
Microbes in Human Welfare
Unit VIII
- Microbes in food processing, industry, sewage treatment and energy generation
- Biocontrol agents and biofertilisers
- Antibiotics and their judicious use
-
9
Biotechnology: Principles and Processes
Unit IX
- Recombinant DNA technology
-
10
Biotechnology and its Applications
Unit IX
- Human insulin and vaccine production; stem cells; gene therapy
- GM crops (Bt); transgenic animals
- Biosafety, biopiracy and patents
-
11
Organisms and Populations
Unit X
- Organism interactions: mutualism, competition, predation, parasitism
- Population growth, birth and death rates, age distribution
-
12
Ecosystem
Unit X
- Patterns and components; productivity and decomposition
- Energy flow
- Pyramids of number, biomass and energy
-
13
Biodiversity and Conservation
Unit X
- Concept, patterns and importance of biodiversity; loss of biodiversity; conservation
- Biodiversity hotspots, endangered organisms, extinction, the Red Data Book
- Sacred groves, biosphere reserves, national parks, sanctuaries, Ramsar sites
Where this comes from
- Chapter titles and numbers for classes 10, 11 and 12 are from the contents pages of the NCERT textbooks (reprint 2026-27).
- Class 9 uses NCERT's new textbook Exploration (April 2026). Its biology chapter titles are confirmed; its section headings are still to be checked against the book.
- Topics, unit marks and practicals for classes 11 and 12 follow the CBSE curriculum for 2026-27. CBSE can revise these, so the official documents win if they ever differ.