Chapter 1: The Living World

Biodiversity; Need for classification; Three domains of life.

Taxonomy and systematics; Concept of species and taxonomic hierarchy; Binomial nomenclature.

Chapter 2: Biological Classification

Five Kingdom Classification: Salient features and classification of Monera, Protista, and Fungi.

Brief overviews of Lichens, Viruses, and Viroids.

Chapter 3: Plant Kingdom

Classification of plants into major groups: Algae, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, and Gymnosperms.

(Note: Angiosperms and alternation of generation cycles are excluded from core evaluation).

Chapter 4: Animal Kingdom

Salient features and classification of non-chordates up to phyla level, and chordates up to class level.