The Living World – NCERT Summary with NEET MCQ Tips & Mnemonics

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Introduction:

"The Living World" is the first chapter of NCERT Class 11 Biology, and it sets the stage for all other chapters. It’s a theory-based chapter, but NEET often asks direct questions from scientific terms, taxonomic categories, and binomial nomenclature.



1. What is ‘Living’?

Living beings show:

Growth – Increase in mass and number (exception: sand mountain grows)

Reproduction – Sexual or asexual (exception: mule, sterile worker bees)

Metabolism – Sum of all biochemical reactions

Consciousness – Awareness to stimuli (definitive property of living organisms)


💡 NEET TIP: Metabolism is the most universal feature of living organisms.


2. Taxonomy & Systematics

Taxonomy: Study of classification, identification, nomenclature

Systematics: Study of diversity + evolutionary relationships

Term by Carl Linnaeus



Taxonomic Aids:

Herbarium: Store of dried, pressed plants

Botanical Garden: Cultivation of live plants

Museum: Preserved specimens

Keys: Based on similarities/differences

Flora, Manuals, Monographs: Info about plants in a region


3. Taxonomic Hierarchy (Ranks)

🧠 Mnemonic:
“King Philip Came Over For Good Soup”
= Kingdom → Phylum → Class → Order → Family → Genus → Species

4. Binomial Nomenclature

Proposed by Carl Linnaeus

Two-word scientific naming:

Genus + Species

e.g., Homo sapiens, Mangifera indica



✅ Rules (ICBN):

Italicized (typed) or underlined (handwritten)

Genus: Capitalized, Species: lowercase

Name in Latin



5. NCERT Examples to Memorize

Organism Genus Species

Mango Mangifera indica
Man Homo sapiens
Housefly Musca domestica
Wheat Triticum aestivum


6. NEET Favorite Keywords

Species: Basic unit of classification

Taxon: Group at any level (e.g., class Mammalia)

Classification: Arrangement in groups

Identification: Finding correct group


Quick Facts for NEET:

ICBN – International Code for Botanical Nomenclature

ICZN – Zoological Nomenclature

Linnaeus – Father of Taxonomy

Biological concept of species – Mayr

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