Skip to content
Log inBook a free demo

A guide for parents

One topic. Six kinds of questions. Each one asks your child to think a little deeper.

Take plants and their food in Class 7 Science. A child can name what a leaf needs to make food, and still be unable to say what happens to a plant kept in the dark. Both questions come from the same chapter. They are very different kinds of knowing.

A laughing girl in a yellow dress holds a small potted plant against a yellow background

Watch the questions climb

Tap each step to see the same chapter asked in a new way, starting from "not yet". The lower steps check what your child knows. The higher steps check what your child can do with it. Every question here is our own, written from NCERT's Curiosity (Grade 7), Chapter 10, "Life Processes in Plants". Each lesson climbs only as high as the curriculum asks for that class, so not every lesson reaches the top steps.

Your child has not yet got hold of the basics. This is not a mark. It is where a person steps in to help.

Class 7 · Science · Life Processes in Plants (NCERT Curiosity, Ch 10)

Before we begin: what do you already know about how plants get their food?

Your child can recall a fact, a definition or a formula.

Class 7 · Science · Life Processes in Plants (NCERT Curiosity, Ch 10)

Name the two raw materials a leaf uses to make food.

Your child can explain the idea in their own words and give an example.

Class 7 · Science · Life Processes in Plants (NCERT Curiosity, Ch 10)

Explain in your own words why leaves are called the "food factories" of a plant.

Your child can use the idea to solve a question they have not seen before.

Class 7 · Science · Life Processes in Plants (NCERT Curiosity, Ch 10)

One plant was kept in sunlight and one in the dark for 36 hours. Predict which plant's leaf will turn blue-black in the iodine test, and say why.

Your child can compare, find the pattern and find the cause.

Class 7 · Science · Life Processes in Plants (NCERT Curiosity, Ch 10)

Three pots: A in sunlight with water, B in sunlight without water, C watered but kept in the dark. After a week only A is healthy. What does comparing A with B, and A with C, tell you?

Your child can choose the better answer and explain why it is better.

Class 7 · Science · Life Processes in Plants (NCERT Curiosity, Ch 10)

Two students repeat the caustic soda test. One first kept the plant in the dark for three days; the other did not. Whose result can you trust, and why?

Your child can design or make something new with the idea.

Class 7 · Science · Life Processes in Plants (NCERT Curiosity, Ch 10)

Plan a fair test to find out whether a plant makes more starch in bright light or in dim light.

This ladder has a name: Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy is a way of sorting the kinds of thinking that school tasks ask for, from remembering a fact to creating something new. "Taxonomy" simply means a system for sorting things into groups.

In 1956 a committee of American university examiners, with Benjamin Bloom as editor and Max Engelhart, Edward Furst, Walker Hill and David Krathwohl as co-authors, published the first version. The group had met about twice a year since 1949. Its six categories were Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation, ordered, as Krathwohl later put it, "from simple to complex and from concrete to abstract".

In 2001 Lorin Anderson, David Krathwohl and colleagues revised it. The categories became verbs, because each one names something a learner does: Knowledge became Remember and Comprehension became Understand. Synthesis was renamed Create and moved above Evaluate, to the top. That gives the six steps used today: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyse, Evaluate and Create.

SelfEnabler teaches and checks each topic on these steps, and adds one more below them: "not yet". That step is our addition, not part of Bloom's Taxonomy. It is not a grade. It is the moment a person steps in to help.

A teacher at a green board with a chalk sketch of a leaf turns to ask her class a question
The six categories in 1956 and in the 2001 revision
19562001What changed
KnowledgeRememberrenamed
ComprehensionUnderstandrenamed
ApplicationApplynow a verb
AnalysisAnalysenow a verb
SynthesisCreaterenamed, moved to the top
EvaluationEvaluatenow a verb, one step lower

Bloom's Taxonomy, in everyday moments

Six kinds of thinking, from remembering to creating, shown in everyday learning moments.

What Bloom's Taxonomy means for your child · 68 seconds · captions

The six steps, one at a time and the step below them

For each step: what it means, what it looks like when your child can do it, the question words that usually ask for it, a sign you can notice at home, and one question from the same Class 7 chapter on plants. Below Remember sits "not yet", where help begins.

  1. Below the ladder

    Not yet

    Getting started

    What it means
    The starting point, below the first step. It is SelfEnabler's own addition, not one of Bloom's six, and it is where help begins.
    When your child can do it
    Your child has not yet got hold of the basics. This is not a mark. It is where a person steps in to help.
    A sign at home
    Asked about the chapter, your child guesses, goes quiet or says "we haven't done that". It is a signal to help, not to worry.
    On the plants chapter
    Before we begin: what do you already know about how plants get their food?

  2. Step 1

    Remember

    Recall

    What it means
    Bringing back a fact, a word, a definition or a formula from memory, as it was learnt. Every other step stands on it.
    When your child can do it
    Your child can recall a fact, a definition or a formula.
    Question words
    nameliststatedefinerecall
    A sign at home
    Without opening the book, your child can tell you the key words of the chapter and what each one means.
    On the plants chapter
    Name the two raw materials a leaf uses to make food.

  3. Step 2

    Understand

    Make meaning

    What it means
    Knowing what the fact means, not just how it sounds. The test is saying it in one's own words, with an example that is not the book's.
    When your child can do it
    Your child can explain the idea in their own words and give an example.
    Question words
    explaindescribesummarisegive an example
    A sign at home
    Your child can explain the idea to a younger cousin or a grandparent, and give an example of their own.
    On the plants chapter
    Explain in your own words why leaves are called the "food factories" of a plant.

  4. Step 3

    Apply

    Use

    What it means
    Using what is understood in a situation your child has not met before: a new sum, a new case, a new set-up.
    When your child can do it
    Your child can use the idea to solve a question they have not seen before.
    Question words
    solveusecalculatepredict
    A sign at home
    Your child can solve a question that looks different from the solved examples in the book, without being shown how first.
    On the plants chapter
    One plant was kept in sunlight and one in the dark for 36 hours. Predict which plant's leaf will turn blue-black in the iodine test, and say why.

  5. Step 4

    Analyse

    Take apart

    What it means
    Taking an idea or a situation apart: comparing cases, spotting the pattern and working out what caused what.
    When your child can do it
    Your child can compare, find the pattern and find the cause.
    Question words
    comparecontrastclassifyfind the patternfind the cause
    A sign at home
    Your child asks "why did that happen?" and compares two cases to find the reason, such as two plants on the balcony.
    On the plants chapter
    Three pots: A in sunlight with water, B in sunlight without water, C watered but kept in the dark. After a week only A is healthy. What does comparing A with B, and A with C, tell you?

  6. Step 5

    Evaluate

    Judge

    What it means
    Judging: choosing the better answer, method or argument, and giving a reason that holds up.
    When your child can do it
    Your child can choose the better answer and explain why it is better.
    Question words
    judgejustifyarguechoose and defend
    A sign at home
    Your child can tell you which of two answers is better, and why, rather than "because the teacher said so".
    On the plants chapter
    Two students repeat the caustic soda test. One first kept the plant in the dark for three days; the other did not. Whose result can you trust, and why?

  7. Step 6

    Create

    Make

    What it means
    Putting ideas together to make something new: a plan, a design, an experiment or a piece of writing.
    When your child can do it
    Your child can design or make something new with the idea.
    Question words
    designplancomposeconstruct
    A sign at home
    Your child starts something of their own with the idea: a small experiment, a model, a story or a plan.
    On the plants chapter
    Plan a fair test to find out whether a plant makes more starch in bright light or in dim light.

Question words are clues, not proof. "Explain" asks for understanding, but a child can still answer it from memory if the explanation was learnt by heart. What matters is whether the question is new to your child.

The questions are our own. Based on NCERT Curiosity (Grade 7), Chapter 10, "Life Processes in Plants" (opens in a new tab) · archived copy of this source, saved 2026-04-21 (opens in a new tab).

The same ladder, in every subject

Here is how the steps look in other subjects and classes. Each lesson climbs only as high as the curriculum asks for that class and subject: in Class 6, Mathematics stops at Analyse, while Social Science reaches Create. Each set names the NCERT book and chapter it comes from. Where a set above Class 6 reaches the top two steps, those questions show the kind of thinking, not a promise that every lesson goes that far.

Class 6 · Mathematics · NCERT Ganita Prakash, Ch 7

Fractions

  1. RememberIn the fraction 5/6, which number is the numerator and which is the denominator?
  2. UnderstandOne roti is shared equally by 2 children, and another by 4. Explain, with a drawing, why half a roti is more than a quarter of a roti.
  3. ApplyA roti is cut into 8 equal pieces and you eat 3. What fraction of the roti is left?
  4. AnalyseArrange 2/3, 3/4 and 5/8 from smallest to largest, and explain how you compared them.

Class 6 · Social Science · NCERT Exploring Society, Ch 11

Local government in villages

  1. RememberWhat is the Gram Sabha?
  2. UnderstandExplain in your own words what a Gram Panchayat does for a village.
  3. ApplyThe hand pump in your village is broken. Whom would you approach, and how?
  4. AnalyseCompare the Gram Panchayat, the Panchayat Samiti and the Zila Parishad. What does each look after?
  5. Evaluate"Only the Sarpanch needs to attend Gram Sabha meetings." Do you agree? Give reasons.
  6. CreatePlan the agenda for a Gram Sabha meeting about clean drinking water in your village.

Class 9 · Science · NCERT Exploration, Ch 6

How forces affect motion

  1. RememberState Newton's first law of motion.
  2. UnderstandExplain, using the idea of inertia, why a seat belt protects a passenger when a car stops suddenly.
  3. ApplyCalculate the force needed to give a 2 kg ball an acceleration of 3 m/s².
  4. AnalyseA fielder pulls the hands back while catching a fast ball. Compare this with catching with stiff hands, and explain the difference using force and time.
  5. EvaluateHelmet X has only a hard shell; helmet Y has a hard shell with a soft foam lining. Which protects a rider better in a fall? Justify your answer using force and time.
  6. CreateDesign a container that keeps an egg safe when dropped, and explain the physics.

Class 10 · Social Science · NCERT Contemporary India II, Ch 1

Resources and soils

  1. RememberName four types of soil found in India.
  2. UnderstandExplain why black soil is also called "black cotton soil".
  3. ApplySuggest a suitable crop for a farmer on alluvial soil in the northern plains, and give a reason.
  4. AnalyseCompare the main causes of soil erosion on a hill slope and in a dry, windy region.
  5. EvaluateOne farmer works a steep hill slope; another has large, flat, windy fields. Which method suits each: terrace farming or strip cropping? Justify your answer.
  6. CreateMake a one-page plan to reduce soil erosion around your school or village.

Class 9 · English · CBSE writing skills, with NCERT Kaveri

Writing a letter to the editor

  1. RememberList the parts of a formal e-mail.
  2. UnderstandSummarise the main idea of a given paragraph in two sentences.
  3. ApplyWrite a letter to the editor about plastic waste in your local park, in the correct format, in 120 to 150 words.
  4. AnalyseCompare two letters to the editor on the same issue. What makes one more convincing?
  5. EvaluateWhich of two opening lines is stronger for your letter? Say why.
  6. CreateWrite a magazine article proposing a new idea to cut plastic use in your school.

Four things the ladder does not mean

Bloom's Taxonomy is easy to misread. These are the four misunderstandings parents meet most often.

The steps describe questions, not children

No child is "a Remember child" or "an Analyse child". The steps tell you what kind of question your child can answer today, topic by topic, so you know what to practise next. They are not a measure of intelligence, and not a label.

Your child can be on different steps in different places

The same child may apply ideas easily in Mathematics and still be finding the pattern in History. Even inside one subject, a confident chapter can sit next to a shaky one. That is normal, and it is why the steps are followed topic by topic, not once for the whole child.

Real thinking mixes the steps

To plan a fair test of starch in bright and dim light, the Create question above, your child must remember the iodine test, understand why light matters and compare the results. Hard questions carry the lower steps inside them. The ladder sorts a question by the main thing it asks for.

Higher is not "better" than lower

Each step rests on the one below. A child who cannot name what a leaf needs cannot judge whose experiment to trust. Remembering well is not a weak result; it is what the climb stands on. And not every lesson needs the top: each one climbs only as high as the curriculum asks for that class.

A teenage boy works through a reasoning problem at a library table

Why this matters for board exams now

CBSE designs its own question papers with these steps. Its Secondary Curriculum for 2026–27 says that about 50% of the questions in Class 10 board papers are competency-focused: case-based, source-based or data questions that ask a student to apply, analyse and evaluate. The subject designs use Bloom's level names. In Class 10 Mathematics (Standard), 43 of 80 marks go to remembering and understanding, 19 to applying, and 18 to analysing, evaluating and creating. In Class 10 Social Science, 40 of 80 marks go to analysing, evaluating and creating. In Class 11 and 12 Mathematics the split is 44, 20 and 16 marks. And since 2026, Class 10 students can sit a second board exam on the full syllabus to improve their result, so understanding that lasts is what counts.

Sources

How SelfEnabler is built on Bloom's Taxonomy from the first page to the moment your child is stuck

Every lecture follows seven steps. Three of them are built directly on the ladder, and two kinds of help are there when your child gets stuck on it.

  1. Step 2 of 7

    Study Material

    The topic, page by page, built up level by level on Bloom's Taxonomy: first remember, then understand, then use.

    Each topic is written up the ladder in order: first what to remember, then what it means, then how to use it, and higher where the curriculum asks for that class. Nothing is checked at a step that was not taught first.

  2. Step 4 of 7

    Dynamic Assessment

    An adaptive test that climbs Bloom's levels as your child succeeds. A wrong answer brings a hint and another try.

    It starts at Remember. Each time your child succeeds, the questions climb one step; a wrong answer brings the idea behind the mistake and another try. Where the climb stops is the finding: not a mark, but the step where your child is stuck, such as "can use the idea, cannot yet compare two set-ups". It never climbs above what the curriculum asks for that class.

  3. Step 5 of 7

    Personalised Notes

    Notes built from what the Dynamic Assessment found: what your child missed, at the level where they got stuck.

    The notes are built from what the assessment found: what your child missed, at the step where they got stuck, the most important gap first. A child who can explain how plants make food but cannot yet compare the three pots gets notes about comparing. Two children on the same lecture usually read different notes.

When your child is stuck on a step

  1. At any moment

    AI Guru

    AI Guru explains the step again, in your child's own medium, makes your child retry, and gives remedials until the idea clicks.

    It teaches from the lesson's own material and pitches its explanation to your child's class, without jumping ahead. A child stuck on comparing the pots might be walked through A and B together, then asked to try A and C alone.

  2. If it still has not clicked

    3AM Friend

    3AM Friend connects a vetted human tutor, one to one, whenever one is online.

    A real person, one to one, when AI Guru is not enough. No waiting for tomorrow's teacher, and no running from pillar to post.

See all seven steps of a lecture

What you see, and what your child reads

You see how deeply your child understands each topic, step by step, beside what is going well and what needs help. You see only your own child, never comparisons with others.

Children never see the words "level" or "Bloom". When a check ends, they read one short sentence about what they can now do. The steps stay on your screen, where they help you.

The sentences your child reads

  • You can remember the main ideas from this lesson.
  • You can say these ideas in your own words.
  • You can use these ideas to solve new questions.
  • You can find the pattern and explain why it happens.
  • You can say which answer is better, and why.
  • You can use these ideas to make something new.
A boy grins quietly with pride as he reads something on a tablet lying on the table

Bloom's Taxonomy at home: four questions that take a minute

You do not need to know the chapter, or the answer. Each of these habits nudges your child one step up the ladder, in any subject. Keep it light: one question at dinner, not a test.

A girl explains a leaf to her grandmother on a sunlit terrace garden

  1. "How do you know?"

    Remember to Understand

    After your child gives an answer, ask how they know. A reason in their own words is understanding; the book's sentence repeated is remembering.

  2. "Can you teach me?"

    Understand

    Ask your child to explain the idea to you, or to a grandparent, as if you had never heard of it. Where the explanation wobbles is the part to look at again.

  3. "What if…?"

    Apply and Analyse

    Change one thing: "What if the plant were kept in a cupboard for two days?" A new situation shows whether the idea can be used, not just repeated.

  4. "Which is better, and why?"

    Evaluate

    When there are two ways to solve a sum, or two answers to a question, ask which is better and why. Any reason your child can defend counts.

Questions parents ask about Bloom's Taxonomy

What is Bloom's Taxonomy, in simple words?

A ladder of six kinds of thinking, from remembering a fact to creating something new. Teachers use it to write questions at each step. It was first published in 1956 and revised in 2001.

How many levels does Bloom's Taxonomy have?

Six, in both the 1956 and the 2001 versions. SelfEnabler adds "not yet" below them, where a person steps in to help.

What are the six levels, in order?

Remember (recall a fact), Understand (explain it in your own words), Apply (use it on a new question), Analyse (compare and find the cause), Evaluate (judge which answer is better, and why) and Create (make something new with it).

What changed between the 1956 and 2001 versions?

The names became verbs: Knowledge became Remember and Comprehension became Understand. Synthesis became Create and moved above Evaluate, to the top. The revision also added a second dimension, the kind of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive.

What are Bloom's three domains?

Cognitive (thinking, 1956), affective (feelings and values, 1964) and psychomotor (physical skills, described later by other authors). This page, and SelfEnabler, use the cognitive domain.

What do L1, L2 and L3 mean?

They number the steps: L1 is Remember, L2 Understand, L3 Apply, up to L6 Create. L3 means your child can use the idea on a question they have not seen before.

Does CBSE use Bloom's Taxonomy?

CBSE's 2026–27 question-paper designs use Bloom's level names. For example, the Class 10 Mathematics design divides its 80 marks into Remembering and Understanding, Applying, and Analysing, Evaluating and Creating.

What are competency-based questions?

Questions that ask a student to use what they know in a new situation: case-based, source-based or data questions. CBSE's 2026–27 curriculum says about 50% of the questions in Class 10 board papers are competency-focused.

Does NCF-SE 2023 talk about Bloom's Taxonomy?

Not by name. It asks for board exams that assess "competencies rather than months of coaching and memorisation", which is what the upper steps of the ladder describe.

Must my child reach Create in every subject?

No. Each lesson climbs as high as the curriculum asks for that class and subject. In Class 6, Mathematics stops at Analyse and Social Science reaches Create.

Will my child see these levels?

No. Children read a short sentence about what they can do. The levels stay on your screen, where they help you.

What does "not yet" mean?

It is not a grade. It is the point where a person steps in to help.

What are Bloom's Taxonomy verbs?

Question words that usually ask for each kind of thinking: name, list or define (Remember); explain or summarise (Understand); solve or calculate (Apply); compare or classify (Analyse); judge or justify (Evaluate); design or plan (Create). A verb is a clue, not proof: what matters is whether the question is new to the child.

Is a higher level better than a lower one?

No. Each level rests on the one below: a child who cannot remember the facts cannot judge between two answers. Real questions also mix levels. And each lesson climbs only as high as the curriculum asks for that class.

How does SelfEnabler use Bloom's Taxonomy?

Its Study Material is written level by level. The Dynamic Assessment climbs the levels and finds where your child is stuck, and the Personalised Notes are built for that level. AI Guru helps at that moment, and 3AM Friend brings in a human tutor if needed.

How can I use Bloom's Taxonomy at home?

Ask four questions, lightly: "How do you know?", "Can you teach me?", "What if…?" and "Which is better, and why?" You do not need to know the answer; your child's reasoning is the point.

What is Bloom's Taxonomy called in Hindi?

It is often called Bloom ka vargikaran.

See the ladder with your child's own lessons

Book a free demo and we will walk you through one lesson, step by step.

Book a free demo