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The Living World

NCERT Class 11 Biology Chapter 1

The Living World for Class 11 Biology and NEET: biodiversity, binomial nomenclature, taxonomy, systematics and the taxonomic categories.

3 topics Updated 8 Nov 2026

For: Class 11 and NEET, unless a topic says otherwise

In the syllabus: NEET Class 11 syllabus

With your textbook

NCERT Biology (Class 11), Chapter 1 “The Living World”, reprint 2026-27.

Open the official NCERT chapter (PDF, 2.3 MB, ncert.nic.in)

Checked on 19 Oct 2026.

Learn in this order

  1. What is living?

    Growth, reproduction, metabolism, cells and consciousness, which of them define life, living vs non-living, with solved examples.

    NEET only 13 min read 6 solved examples 12 practice questions

  2. Diversity in the living world

    Binomial nomenclature for Class 11 Biology and NEET: its rules with examples, biodiversity, ICBN and ICZN, taxa, and taxonomy vs systematics.

    NCERT Section 1.1 13 min read 6 solved examples 13 practice questions

  3. Taxonomic categories

    Taxonomic hierarchy for Class 11 Biology and NEET: the seven taxonomic categories from species to kingdom, NCERT examples, Table 1.1 and a ladder diagram.

    NCERT Section 1.2 11 min read 6 solved examples 12 practice questions

Key formulas in this chapter

What is living?

  • defining: cellular organisation, metabolism, consciousness (response)
  • not defining alone: growth, reproduction
  • growth: irreversible permanent increase in size, from inside
  • non-living size increase: accretion, swelling or expansion, no new protoplasm
  • cell theory: cells and products of cells; cells from pre-existing cells
  • viruses: non-cellular, inert outside a host cell

Diversity in the living world

  • scientific name = generic name + specific epithet
  • genus: capital first letter; specific epithet: small first letter
  • printed in italics; handwritten: each word underlined separately
  • ICBN (now ICN): plants; ICZN: animals
  • taxonomy: characterisation, identification, classification, nomenclature
  • one taxon, two or more taxa
  • NCERT’s cited described-species count: about 1.7–1.8 million

Taxonomic categories

  • species → genus → family → order → class → phylum (division) → kingdom
  • in NCERT’s seven-rank hierarchy: lowest species; highest kingdom
  • going up: fewer common characters
  • plants: division in place of phylum
  • only genus and species names in italics

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