Environmental Studies for Bihar STET Paper I
Environmental Studies carries 30 marks and is an integrated subject at the primary stage, drawing on science and social science. Questions test basic concepts about the child's immediate environment and the pedagogy of observation, inquiry and local-context teaching.
Core content
- Living and non-living things; plant parts and functions; animal habitats and adaptations.
- Food chain and web: producers, consumers, decomposers; arrows show energy flow.
- Water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection; transpiration from plants.
- Air, weather and seasons; maps, symbols and directions; community, transport, health and safety.
- Biodegradable versus non-biodegradable waste.
Pedagogy
NCF 2005 organises primary EVS around themes such as family and friends, food, shelter, water, travel, and things we make and do. Start from the local environment; use observation, classification, questioning, prediction, project work and field visits. Assess through observation and portfolios, not only recall tests.
Worked example
Grass → grasshopper → frog → snake. Reasoning: grass is the producer that photosynthesises; grasshopper is the primary consumer, frog the secondary consumer and snake the tertiary consumer. The arrows show the direction of energy flow. If frogs disappear, grasshoppers increase and grass cover declines.
Traps
Evaporation occurs below boiling point; condensation is vapour turning to liquid, precipitation is falling water. Rotation causes day and night; revolution causes years. Vegetable peel is biodegradable, plastic is not. On maps, north is conventionally at the top.