BPSC Special Teacher cheat sheet

Bihar has 38 districts; the state was divided in 2000 when Jharkhand was carved out of its southern portion.

Bihar's legislative bodies: Vidhan Sabha with 243 seats and Vidhan Parishad with 75 seats; the state sends 40 members to the Lok Sabha and 16 to the Rajya Sabha.

Bihar Diwas is observed on 22 March, marking the separation of Bihar from Bengal in 1912; Bihar was part of the Bengal Presidency before that.

Key Bihar rivers: Ganga (main axis), Gandak, Kosi (known as the 'sorrow of Bihar' for shifting course), Son, Bagmati, and Falgu.

Nalanda, Vikramshila, and Odantapuri were ancient Buddhist mahaviharas in Bihar; Nalanda is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bihar's major thermal and industrial sites include Barh, Kahalgaon, Barauni refinery, and the Bhimbandh and Valmiki Tiger Reserve protected areas.

Constitutional bodies: Election Commission, UPSC, CAG, Finance Commission (Article 280), and NCSC/NCST/NCBC; the NHRC is a statutory, not constitutional, body.

Current affairs anchors: G20 presidency 2023 (India), Chandrayaan-3 lunar south pole landing 2023, and the 2024 simultaneous Lok Sabha and Bihar Assembly-related political developments.

Area formulas: circle πr²; triangle ½×base×height; trapezium ½(a+b)h; parallelogram base×height; sector (θ/360)πr².

Volume formulas: cylinder πr²h; cone ⅓πr²h; sphere (4/3)πr³; cuboid lbh; cube a³; hemisphere (2/3)πr³.

Pythagorean triples to recognise: (3,4,5), (5,12,13), (7,24,25), (8,15,17), (9,40,41); scale multiples preserve the triple.

Simple interest SI = PRT/100; compound interest A = P(1+R/100)^T; difference between CI and SI for 2 years = P(R/100)².

Profit/loss percentage is always computed on cost price unless the question states otherwise; discount is computed on marked price.

Speed–time–distance: distance = speed × time; unit conversion 1 km/h = 5/18 m/s; average speed for equal distances = 2xy/(x+y).

Divisibility: by 3 if digit sum divisible by 3; by 9 if digit sum divisible by 9; by 11 if alternating digit sum is 0 or a multiple of 11.

LCM × HCF = product of the two numbers; for fractions, LCM of numerators / HCF of denominators gives LCM of fractions.

Mean = sum/n; median is the middle value of ordered data; mode is the most frequent value; range = max − min.

Newton's laws: inertia (first), F = ma (second), equal and opposite reaction (third); weight = mg and differs from mass.

Ohm's law V = IR; power P = VI = I²R = V²/R; resistors in series add, in parallel reciprocals add.

Photosynthesis equation: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂, occurring in chloroplasts with chlorophyll.

Human digestive order: mouth → oesophagus → stomach → small intestine → large intestine; bile from liver emulsifies fats.

Blood groups ABO with Rh factor; O negative is the universal donor for red cells, AB positive the universal recipient.

pH scale 0–14: below 7 acidic, 7 neutral, above 7 basic; litmus turns red in acid and blue in base.

Cell organelles: mitochondria (ATP production), ribosome (protein synthesis), nucleus (genetic material), chloroplast (photosynthesis in plants).

Periodic table: groups are vertical columns with similar valence electrons; periods are horizontal rows; atomic number = protons.

Indian National Congress founded 1885 (A.O. Hume); Partition of Bengal 1905 triggered the Swadeshi Movement; Jallianwala Bagh 1919; Quit India 1942.

Key dates: Revolt of 1857, Dandi March 1930, Government of India Act 1935, Independence and Partition 1947, Constitution adopted 26 November 1949 and enforced 26 January 1950.

Fundamental Rights are in Part III (Articles 12–35); Directive Principles in Part IV (36–51); Fundamental Duties in Part IVA (51A, added by the 42nd Amendment 1976).

The Preamble declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic; the words socialist and secular were added by the 42nd Amendment.

Monsoon mechanism: differential heating of land and sea, ITCZ shift, and jet stream influence; the Western Ghats cause orographic rainfall on the windward side.

Soil types in India: alluvial (most extensive), black/regur (cotton, Deccan trap), red, laterite, arid, and mountain soil.

Latitudes and longitudes: 1° latitude ≈ 111 km; IST is based on 82°30′E, roughly 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT.

Panchayati Raj: 73rd Amendment (1992) for rural bodies with three tiers - gram panchayat, panchayat samiti, zila parishad.

Hindi vowel categories: स्वर (11) and व्यंजन (33 core consonants); अनुनासिक uses chandrabindu, अनुस्वार uses bindu.

Hindi sandhi types: स्वर संधि, व्यंजन संधि, विसर्ग संधि; e.g., विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय (दीर्घ स्वर संधि).

Hindi samas types: तत्पुरुष, कर्मधारय, द्विगु, द्वंद्व, बहुव्रीहि, अव्ययीभाव; अलंकार split into शब्दालंकार and अर्थालंकार.

English parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection; a clause contains a subject and finite verb, a phrase does not.

English voice and tense rules: passive = be + past participle; reported speech shifts tense back one step unless the reporting verb is present.

Urdu script is right-to-left Nastaliq; letters change form by position (isolated, initial, medial, final); Urdu grammar uses gender for all nouns.

Sanskrit cases (vibhakti) number eight: prathamā, dvitīyā, tṛtīyā, caturthī, pañcamī, ṣaṣṭhī, saptamī, sambodhana; three numbers and three genders.

Sanskrit sandhi: svara, vyañjana, visarga; common rule - a + i = e (guṇa) as in na + iti = neti.

Piaget's stages: sensorimotor (0–2), preoperational (2–7), concrete operational (7–11), formal operational (11+); conservation appears in concrete operational.

Vygotsky's ZPD is the gap between independent performance and assisted performance; scaffolding supports that gap and is later withdrawn.

Kohlberg's moral levels: preconventional (punishment/obedience), conventional (social approval, law and order), postconventional (social contract, universal principles).

Erikson's psychosocial stages pair a crisis with a virtue, e.g., industry vs inferiority (6–12) yielding competence.

Learning theories: behaviourism (stimulus–response, reinforcement), cognitivism (information processing), constructivism (learner builds knowledge), social learning (Bandura, modelling).

Assessment types: formative (during learning, feedback-oriented) and summative (end of unit, judgement-oriented); CCE emphasises continuous and comprehensive assessment.

Motivation: intrinsic versus extrinsic; Maslow's hierarchy orders physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, self-actualisation needs.

Language acquisition: Chomsky's LAD (innate), Skinner's reinforcement account, and the critical period hypothesis.

Mathematics method: concrete–representational–abstract (CRA) sequence; use manipulatives before symbolic algorithms.

Mathematics: Polya's four steps - understand the problem, devise a plan, carry out the plan, look back and verify.

Science: 5E model - Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate; inquiry and demonstration are preferred over pure lecture.

Science lab safety: goggles and aprons for chemicals, wafting to smell, never adding water to concentrated acid (add acid to water).

Social Science: use timelines, maps, and primary sources; case study and project methods build historical and geographic thinking.

Language teaching: LSRW order (listening, speaking, reading, writing); communicative approach prioritises real use over grammar drills.

Language: phonics for decoding, whole-word recognition, and graded readers for fluency; error correction should be selective and delayed in fluency tasks.

Lesson plan components: objectives in behavioural terms, prior knowledge, teaching aids, presentation, recapitulation, and evaluation.

RPwD Act 2016 recognises 21 specified disabilities and mandates inclusive education, reasonable accommodation, and barrier-free access.

RTE Act 2009 guarantees free and compulsory education for ages 6–14, prohibits discrimination, and bars physical punishment and screening procedures.

Inclusive education places the child in a general classroom with support; integration expects the child to adapt to the mainstream.

Specific learning disability: dyslexia (reading), dysgraphia (writing), dyscalculia (mathematics); normal intelligence with unexpected academic lag.

Visual impairment: Braille, tactile aids, audio materials, and orientation-and-mobility training; large print for low vision.

Hearing impairment: total communication, sign language, lip reading, and preferential seating near the teacher with visual cues.

Gifted learners need enrichment and acceleration, not just extra work; intellectual disability is measured by adaptive functioning plus IQ limits.

UDL (Universal Design for Learning) offers multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression; IEPs set individualised measurable goals.

Classical conditioning (Pavlov): neutral stimulus paired with unconditioned stimulus produces a conditioned response; extinction removes it.

Operant conditioning (Skinner): positive/negative reinforcement increase behaviour; punishment and extinction decrease it; reinforcement schedules shape persistence.

Bloom's taxonomy revised order: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyse, Evaluate, Create.

Memory: sensory register → short-term/working memory → long-term memory; chunking and rehearsal improve retention.

Classroom management: preventive strategies (rules, routines, proximity) precede corrective ones; praise specific behaviour rather than the person.

Attention and motivation decline with long uninterrupted lectures; vary stimulus and use active participation to sustain on-task behaviour.

Standardised tests report reliability (consistency) and validity (measuring what is intended); a test can be reliable but not valid.

Individual differences: Gardner's multiple intelligences and Sternberg's triarchic theory counter a single general-intelligence view.