Q1.
What were the most commonly observable changes among students, as mentioned on the slips? List these in Table 6.1.
Table 6.1: Most common changes during growing up (page 75) — reproduced blank.
| S.No. | Changes | Your observations |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Height | |
| 2. | Weight and strength | |
| 3. | Appearance | |
| 4. | … |
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.