Living World Class 11 Notes | NEET & CBSE Botany Chapter 1 Summary in Hinglish

By Botany Sir Himansu
Tags: #LivingWorld #Class11Botany #NEET2026 #BotanySirHimansu

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🧭 Outline 1: What is “Living”? — Understanding the Meaning

Have you ever thought — plants, animals, and microorganisms are living, but why?
Science kehta hai — living organisms are those that show life processes like growth, reproduction, metabolism, and response to stimuli.

In simple words, living organisms are:

• Made up of cells

• Show metabolism (chemical reactions inside cells)

• Can respond to the environment

• And can reproduce (most of the time)

👉 Important Tip:
Not every feature is defined. For NEET, focus on what always applies to living organisms.

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🌱 Outline 2: Features of Living Beings — Which Are Defining and Which Are Not?

Let’s go one by one 👇

1. Growth

• Increase in cell size and number.

• Plants grow all their life; animals grow till a certain stage.

• Non-living things (like mountains or crystals) also “grow” by deposition.
  ✅ So, growth = feature but NOT a defining feature.

2. Reproduction

• A biological process that makes new organisms.

• Many organisms (like bacteria, fungi, and algae) reproduce asexually.

• Mules, sterile workers in honey bees → don’t reproduce.
  ✅ So, reproduction = feature but NOT defining (not universal).

3. Metabolism

• All chemical reactions happen inside cells (anabolic + catabolic).

• Can happen only inside living cells → test tube reactions = non-living.
  🔥 Defining feature! Metabolism proves life exists in cells.

4. Response to Stimuli / Consciousness

• Living beings sense changes around them — light, heat, sound, touch, etc.

• Humans = the highest level of consciousness.

• Plants also respond (example: phototropism).
  🔥 Second defining feature — all living things show consciousness.

Summary Chart:

Feature	Living Show	Non-living Show	Defining?
Growth	Yes	Yes	❌
Reproduction	Mostly	No	❌
Metabolism	Yes	No	✅
Response to Stimuli	Yes	No	✅

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🌎 Outline 3: Diversity in the Living World — So Many Forms of Life!

• Our planet has millions of species — from tiny microbes to huge trees.

• Around 1.7–1.8 million species have been identified so far (NCERT fact).

• The variety of living beings is called Biodiversity.

• Scientists study and classify these organisms to make learning easy.

Example:
If you explore a garden in different seasons, you’ll see different plants, insects, and birds — that’s biodiversity in action!

👉 Fun fact: The more area you explore, the more species you’ll find.

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📚 Outline 4: Classification, Taxonomy & Nomenclature — The Scientific System

🔹 1. What is Taxonomy?

It’s the science of naming, identifying, and classifying living organisms.

Steps in Taxonomy:

1. Characterization

2. Identification

3. Classification

4. Nomenclature

🔹 2. Binomial Nomenclature

• Developed by Carl Linnaeus.

• Each organism has two names — Genus and Species.
  👉 Example: Mangifera indica (Mango)

• Rules:

  • Both names italicised (underline if handwritten).

  • Genus → Capital letter, Species → Small letter.

  • Author’s name not italicised.

🔹 3. Taxonomic Hierarchy (From highest to lowest)

Kingdom → Phylum/Division → Class → Order → Family → Genus → Species

💡 Trick to remember:
King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup

🔹 4. Example for Plants & Animals

• Plants: Solanum tuberosum, S. nigrum, S. melongena → Family Solanaceae.

• Animals: Panthera leo (lion), Panthera tigris (tiger), Felis catus (cat).

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🧠 Quick Revision Box (for Last-Minute NEET Prep)

✅ Defining Features: Metabolism + Response to Stimuli
❌ Not Defining: Growth + Reproduction
📖 Nomenclature Rule: Genus + species (italicized)
🌿 Taxonomy Steps: Characterize → Identify → Classify → Name
🌏 Biodiversity: ~1.8 million species discovered

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🎯 Final Words from Botany Sir Himansu

"Living World chapter chhota hai, par bahut scoring!
Bas NCERT lines aur table 3–4 times revise karo, diagrams practice karo —
aur NEET ke 2 questions yahaan se fix hain."