Biology in School Curriculum- its claims for inclusion

        Biology has emerged a bit late though schools were teaching hygiene and human physiology for a long time. After some years biology was replaced by Botany and Zoology. At the end of last century, the separate courses of Botany, zoology and human physiology were unified into a course known as “Biology”. It was right to think of biology At the end of last century, the separate courses of Botany, zoology and human physiology were unified into a course known as “Biology Some isolated experiments were also added.

            In the last twenty years, the situation has changed drastically. Not only has the content of biology been brought up-to-date in the schools, but the teaching approach has also been changed from taxonomic to inquiry approach. Today it is not sufficient to teach cell or tissue. It needs teaching of D.N.A. and the process, which helps in its replication. Today biology need not be a simple grouping of phenomena for the sake of description, classification and correlation. Biology students are no longer concerned with memorization of facts alone. They are interested in relating facts to the understanding of a given process. A problem-solving attitude prevails among the students. Hence, biology should be learnt and taught as a process of inquiry. Biology teaching should be consistent with the nature of biology.  This needs an acquisition of concepts, doing the processes of biology and understanding the relationship of biology with society. Today biology teaching is based upon broad conceptual schemes, feeling a touch of methodologies biology occupies an important place. Since it is the only subject that deals with living organisms pupils are attracted towards this subject.