Q1.
What were the most commonly observable changes among students, as mentioned on the slips? List these in Table 6.1.
Answer
When the slips from the whole class are unfolded and read out, the same few changes come up again and again. They are the changes of adolescence — the stage between childhood and adulthood that starts around 10 years of age. Here is Table 6.1 filled with the observations a Grade 5-to-8 class usually collects.
| Table 6.1: Most common changes during growing up | ||
|---|---|---|
| S.No. | Changes | Your observations |
| 1. | Height | Almost everyone has become taller; the jump is sudden, and many girls shoot up a year or two before the boys of the same class. |
| 2. | Weight and strength | Weight increases along with height. Boys' shoulders and chest become broader. Both boys and girls can run longer, lift heavier bags and play harder than in Grade 5. |
| 3. | Appearance | Hair appears in the armpits and the pubic region. Boys get a thin moustache and other facial hair. Pimples (acne) appear on the face. Girls develop breasts. |
| 4. | Voice | Boys' voices become hoarse and deeper, and a bump — the Adam's apple — shows in the throat. Girls' voices change only slightly. |
| 5. | Behaviour and emotions | Mood swings, stronger likes and dislikes, feeling shy or self-conscious, wanting more privacy, spending more time with friends, deeper interest in new hobbies. |
Why the slips are kept nameless: these are personal changes, and no one should feel singled out or teased. Writing without names lets the class talk about the changes honestly and scientifically — which is exactly the point of the activity.
Key point: the timing, nature and extent of every one of these changes vary from person to person. A classmate who is still short, or who has no facial hair yet, is developing perfectly normally.