Glossary

Aesthetic Sensibility - Aesthetic sensibility refers to our ability to perceive beauty, arrive at considered judgements regarding the good and beautiful, and strive towards a sense of refinement and elegance in artistic and creative processes across fields.. 2.* Alternative Conceptions* - Ideas which students use to explain various scientific concepts that do not match with the generally accepted scientific explanation of those concepts.
Amrita Virtual Lab – Online repository of science education simulations for Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, and Biotechnology set up under the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) initiative of MHRD.
Anganwadis - A childcare centre that provides health, education, and nutrition services to children less than six years, mothers, and adolescents throughout the country; set up under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme.
Balvatikas - A one-year preparatory class before Grade 1 for children aged 5-6 years; it can be in an Anganwadi, a pre-school, primary school, or any other configuration.
Biodiversity Collapse – Described as the loss of life on Earth at various levels, going from reductions in genetic diversity to the collapse of entire ecosystems.
Capacity -That we refer to in this document, is procedural knowledge – ‘knowing how’.
Carbon Credits – A permit which allows a country or organization to produce a certain amount of carbon emissions, and which can be traded if the full allowance is not used.
Carbon Offsets – A carbon offset is a credit that a person or organization can buy to decrease its carbon footprint.
Circle Time - A period in the school day when students gather in a circle to participate in a guided discussion or group activity.
Cognition - Knowledge of students related to concepts as well as process capacities.
Cognitive – Any mental activity relating to or involving the processes of thinking and reasoning. 13.* Cognitive Development* – Any mental activity relating to or involving the processes of thinking and reasoning.
Contact Comfort – A term coined by psychologist Harry Harlow. It is the positive and soothing physical and emotional feelings an infant experience from being in physical contact with the mother or caregiver.
Coordination Abilities - An ability to perform difficult movements quickly and purposefully.
*Curricular Goal *– Statements that give direction to curriculum development and implementation.
Displacement – The displacement of human populations refers to the relocation of large numbers of people from their homes due to environmental causes and development.
Disposition - Dispositions are the attitudes and perceptions that form the basis for behaviour.
Diverse Needs – Different students learn in different ways – learning needs of students vary based on their social, emotional, and physical contexts, and current learning levels.
Domains of Development - The areas of growth and progress. The major domains of development are physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional.
Domain – Broad area of work that encompasses similar kinds of vocations.
Dribble - In soccer, hockey, and basketball an act of taking the ball forward with repeated slight touches or bounces.
Ecology – The study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment.
Ecosystem – The physical environment where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape work together.
Empirical Evidence – Observations and data obtained using senses and extension of senses.
Environmental Degradation – Environmental degradation refers to the loss of biodiversity through the depletion and exploitation of natural resources.
Environmental Literacy – Having the knowledge, capacities, and dispositions to solve problems and resolve issues individually and collectively that sustain ecological, economic, and social stability.
Ethics – Judgements or principles informed by value systems which direct behaviour.
Fine Motor Skills - The ability to make movements using the small muscles in our hands and wrists.
Foundational Stage – The stage of schooling for children aged 3 – 8 years.
Free Play - Child-led, child-directed play in a stimulating environment developed by the teacher.
Gross Motor Skills - Skills involving large-muscle activities, they are key skills developed during infancy and include control of posture and walking.
Home Curricular Goal – Goal related to students’ engagement in home-based tasks.
Humanism – Approach in which all beings are treated with dignity, humanity, and compassion.
Hypothesis – A statement suggesting a possible explanation for a phenomenon that is yet to be verified.
Indigenous Knowledge – The knowledge that an indigenous (local) community accumulates over generations of living in a particular environment.
Information, Communication and Technology - (ICT) – A diverse set of technological tools and resources used to create, store, transmit, share, or exchange information.
Integrated Approach – Approach to learning in which different subject areas are integrated, intertwining, and permeating each other.
Jal Jeevan – An initiative or mission led by the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
Job - The work that you do regularly to earn money.
Knowledge - That we refer to in this document, is descriptive knowledge – ‘knowing that’.
Learning Outcomes - These are statements summarising the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that all children must possess and demonstrate upon the completion of a learning experience or sequence of learning experiences.
Locomotor - A physical action that propels an object or individual from one place to another.
Manipulative Skills - Movement skills that require the ability to handle an object or piece of equipment with control.
Mentor – A person who focuses on including students in an activity, supports them in case of questions and helps them learn work-related skills.
Middle Stage – The stage of schooling for children aged 11 - 14 years.
Mitigation of Environmental Issues – Environmental mitigation means an action or activity intended to remedy, reduce, or counter known negative impacts on the environment.
Moro Reflexes - When the baby gets started by an unexpected sound, light, or movement.
Motor skills - A function that involves specific movements of the body’s muscles to perform a certain task.
Multidisciplinary – Combining or involving more than one discipline or field of study.
Muscle Memory - The ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired because of frequent repetition of that movement.
Peripheral vision - The ability to see things where you are not directly looking.
Phenomenon – An observable fact or event that typically is unusual or difficult to understand or explain.
Predisposition - Hold a particular attitude, or act in a particular way.
Preparatory Stage – The stage of schooling for children aged 8 – 11 years.
Prevocational - Prevocational education is mainly designed to introduce participants to the world of work, and to prepare them for entry into further vocational or technical programmes.
Procedural Knowledge – Knowledge to accomplish a task acquired by ‘doing science’.
Replicability – Process that can be repeated and results in similar outcomes.
Resource Person – A person with expertise in a certain area who may be called upon as necessary to perform a task or provide information.
Scaffolding – Specific and structured form of support provided to help children learn a particular concept.
Scepticism – Questioning the validity of any idea, process.
Science Kit – A set of scientific tools or devices (like ruler, thermometer, wire, battery, magnets, metal box, litmus paper, microscope, digital weighing machine etc.), chemicals and lab manuals put together to carry out experiments from school curriculum.
Secondary Stage – The stage of schooling for children aged 14 - 18 years.
Skeletal Health - Healthy framework of bones and cartilage that supports and protects the soft tissues and the internal organs of the body.
Skill Lab - specifically equipped practice rooms functioning as training facilities offering skill-based training for the practice of skills prior to their real life application.  
Socio Cultural – It is related to the different groups of people in society and their habits, traditions, and beliefs.
Static exercise - Performed by increasing tension in a muscle while keeping its length constant.
Static Movement - Movement in which you stand, sit, or lie still and hold a single position for period, up to about 45 seconds.
Stimulation – Simple activities such as playing, reading, and singing with children that improve young children’s ability to think, communicate, and connect with others.
Sustainability – The degree to which a process or enterprise can be maintained or continued while avoiding the long-term depletion of natural resources.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan – The national-wide Clean India mission or campaign launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2014 on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 145th birth anniversary.
Tinkering Laboratory – A space to work with materials and instruments to design and execute ideas in a flexible environment.
Triple Planetary Crisis – The triple planetary crisis refers to the three main interlinked issues that humanity currently faces – climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. It is considered that each of these issues has its own causes and effects, and each issue needs to be resolved to have a viable future on this planet.
Values - Values are beliefs about what is right and what is wrong, while dispositions are the attitudes and perceptions that form the basis for behaviour.
Visual Cues - Concrete objects, pictures, symbols, or written words that provide a child with information about how to do a routine, activity, behaviour, or skill.
Vocation – A type of work or a way of life that you believe to be especially suitable for you.
Work - To do something which needs physical or mental effort, in order to earn money or to achieve something.
Yoga - An ancient Indian discipline, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures; widely practised for health.
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) - The Zone of Proximal Development is a concept developed by psychologist Lev Vygotsky. It is the gap between a student’s current level of ability or knowledge and their potential level of development with assistance. It refers to the potential for learning a range of knowledge and skills that a student can achieve with guidance and support from a teacher.