FPSC TGT key terms

The process green plants use to turn sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen inside chloroplasts. It is the main route by which energy enters food chains.

The principle that whenever one body exerts a force on a second, the second exerts an equal force in the opposite direction. It explains recoil, walking and rocket propulsion.

A community of living organisms interacting with each other and with their non-living surroundings such as soil, water and climate. Energy flows through it and matter is recycled.

A whole number that can be positive, negative or zero, with no fractional part. Integers are closed under addition, subtraction and multiplication but not under division.

A finite, ordered set of unambiguous steps for solving a problem or completing a task. It must produce a result and terminate after a limited number of steps.

The force that holds atoms together in a compound by sharing, gaining or losing electrons. The bond type determines properties such as melting point, conductivity and reactivity.

A testable, tentative statement predicting a relationship between variables. Researchers accept, reject or refine it after collecting and analysing evidence.

An economic model showing how the quantity producers offer and the quantity buyers want respond to price. Their interaction sets the market price and the quantity traded.

A teacher's written outline of what learners will achieve in a single lesson, the activities and resources to be used, and how learning will be checked.

A clear statement of what students should be able to do by the end of a lesson or unit, usually written with an observable action verb and a measurable standard.

A hierarchical classification of thinking skills, running from remembering and understanding up to analysing, evaluating and creating. Teachers use it to set questions at varied levels of difficulty.

Ongoing, low-stakes checking of learning while teaching is in progress, used to adjust instruction and give learners feedback. Results usually do not count towards a final grade.

Evaluation carried out at the end of a unit, term or course to judge how much learning has occurred, often through tests, projects or examinations that carry grades.

Planning teaching so that content, process or product is adjusted to learners' readiness, interests and learning profiles, while all students work towards the same essential outcomes.

Temporary support a teacher gives a learner to complete a task beyond independent reach, gradually withdrawn as competence grows. Examples include models, prompts and worked examples.

Vygotsky's term for the gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with skilled help. Teaching is most effective when aimed at this gap.

A learning theory holding that learners build new understanding by connecting new information to existing knowledge and experience, rather than passively receiving facts from the teacher.

A scoring guide that lists the criteria for a task and describes different levels of performance on each. It makes marking consistent and shows learners what quality looks like.

A scaled-down practice session in which a trainee teaches a short lesson to a small group, often recorded and reviewed, to build one specific teaching skill at a time.

The smallest unit of sound that can change meaning in a language, such as the /p/ in 'pat' versus the /b/ in 'bat'. Phonemes are sounds, not written letters.

The smallest meaningful unit of a word, such as 'un-', 'play' or '-ed'. Free morphemes can stand alone; bound morphemes must attach to another unit.

A group of words containing a subject and a finite verb that forms part of a sentence or a whole sentence. Clauses may be independent or dependent.

The sentence pattern in which the subject performs the action, as in 'The teacher marked the papers'. It is usually clearer and more direct than the passive alternative.

The way a speaker retells someone else's words without quoting them directly, typically shifting tense, pronouns and time expressions, as in 'She said she was tired'.

A fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as 'break the ice'. Idioms are learnt and taught as whole units.

A bound morpheme attached to a base word to change its meaning or word class, such as the prefix 're-' in 'rewrite' or the suffix '-ness' in 'kindness'.

Reading quickly to get the general idea or gist of a text without attending to every detail. It is often used to decide whether a text is worth reading closely.

An approach that treats language as a tool for real communication, so lessons prioritise meaningful interaction, fluency and authentic tasks over memorising grammar rules in isolation.

An international organisation founded in 1945 to maintain peace, protect human rights and promote development. Its main organs include the General Assembly and the Security Council.

The right of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to block a substantive resolution by a single negative vote. It shapes how the Council makes decisions.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, set up in 1985, with Pakistan and seven other South Asian states as members. It promotes cooperation in trade, education and social development.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a programme of road, rail, port and energy projects linking Gwadar in Pakistan to China's western region. It forms part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Seventeen global targets adopted by the United Nations in 2015 for achievement by 2030, covering poverty, education, health, equality and environmental protection. Goal 4 concerns quality education.

A sustained rise in the general price level, which reduces the purchasing power of money. It is usually measured by changes in a consumer price index over time.

The supreme law of Pakistan, adopted in 1973, establishing a federal parliamentary system with Islam as the state religion. It defines the powers of the executive, legislature and judiciary and guarantees fundamental rights.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a grouping of Muslim-majority states that coordinates political, economic and cultural cooperation. Its secretariat is based in Jeddah.

The International Monetary Fund, an institution that lends to member countries facing balance-of-payments difficulties, often attaching conditions on fiscal, monetary and exchange-rate policy.