ICSE Class 9 syllabus is available to download from the official website for the 2026-27 board examination. Students can also find a direct link to download the official ICSE Class 9 Environmental Applications syllabus PDF from below. The syllabus contains aims, course structure, chapter details, etc. to help students prepare for the 2026-27 board exams.
To help students strategize for the board exam, we have provided an outline of the syllabus detailing the theory part and internal assessment. Students and teachers can utilize it to understand the contents expected to be covered throughout the academic year.
ICSE Class 9 Environmental Application Syllabus 2026-27: Key Highlights
The table shared below contains ICSE Class 9 Environmental Application-related information. Students can find details like the board exam expected date and website information to check and explore subject area etc.
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Events
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Description
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Examination Name
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Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)
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Board Name
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Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
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Syllabus Release
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Officially released in June 2026 on the official website.
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Main Subjects
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Wide range of subjects including English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology), Social Science (History, Geography, Civics, Economics), Computer Science, Art, Music, Physical Education, etc.
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Board Exams
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Conducted in February-March for Class 9.
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Website
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cisce.org
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ICSE Class 9 Environmental Application 2026-27: Aims
The board assigns aims and objectives for each subject. It is to promote deeper understanding and knowledge of the subject. Here are key aims of Enviromental Application for 2026-27 session, as per ICSE baords:
1. To acquire knowledge of the origin and functioning of the natural system and its correlation with the living world.
2. To develop an understanding that human beings, plants and animals are part of a natural phenomenon and are interdependent.
3. To appreciate the influence of human activity on natural processes.
4. To develop an awareness of the need and responsibility to keep the natural system in a condition that it sustains life.
5. To develop sensitivity in personal attitudes to environmental issues.
6. To develop an understanding of how local environments, contribute to the global environment.
7. To develop a sense of responsibility and concern for welfare of the environment and all life forms which share this planet.
8. To develop a keen civic sense.
9. To develop a sound basis for further study, personal development and participation in local and global environmental concerns.
ICSE Class 9 Environmental Application Syllabus for Board Exam 2026-27: Download PDF
The ICSE board has designed the Class 9 Environmental Application syllabus to expand students' understanding of the interdependence of living things and the effects of human demands on renewable and non-renewable resources, their availability in nature, and other sustainable environmental paradigms.
The curriculum follows an 80-mark theory pattern, along with 20 marks of internal assessment. The exam for this subject will be conducted for two hours. Check the table below to access a detailed breakdown of syllabus.
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Units
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Decriptions
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1. Understanding our Environment
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(a) Environmental Science.
What do we understand by ‘Environment’?
What does the study of Environmental Science
involve?
(b) Our main environmental problems.
Environmental problems to be studied in
terms of resource depletion, pollution and
extinction of species.
(c) A global perspective of environmental
problems.
To be studied with reference to the developed
and developing countries.
(d) The root of environmental problems.
Population crisis and consumption crisis
should be covered.
(e) A sustainable world.
Concept of sustainability to be explained;
sustainable societies to be discussed.
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2. Living things in Ecosystems
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(a) Ecosystem.
Concept of ecosystems to be explained; biotic
and abiotic structures, organisms and
species; populations, communities.
(b) Habitat and ecological niche.
To be discussed in terms of address and
function.
(c) How species interact with each other.
Interaction of species should be covered in
terms of - predation, competition, parasitism,
mutualism and commensalism. Law of
Limiting Factors; synergisms.
(d) Adapting to the environment.
Evolution by natural selection; co-evolution,
extinction.
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3. How Ecosystems work
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(a) Energy flow in ecosystems.
An explanation of how life depends on the sun;
who eats what; respiration: burning the fuel.
Energy transfer: food chains, food webs and
trophic levels.
(b) The cycling of materials.
The water cycle, the carbon cycle (how
humans are affecting the carbon cycle) and
the nitrogen cycle; Not to be tested, for
knowledge and understanding only.
Interdependence of natural cycles.
(c) How ecosystems change.
Succession- secondary and primary.
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4. Kinds of Ecosystems
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(a) Forests.
Tropical rainforests and threats to
rainforests; temperate rainforests; temperate
deciduous forests; Taiga.
(b) Grasslands, Deserts and Tundra.
Tropical savannas; temperate grasslands:
prairies, steppes and pampas; deserts;
Tundra. Threats to the temperate grasslands,
deserts and Tundra.
(c) Freshwater ecosystems.
The study to cover - lakes and ponds; wetlands
- marshes and swamps; rivers. Threats to
wetlands and rivers must also be highlighted.
(d) Marine ecosystems.
Estuaries, coral reefs, oceans and how each is
threatened should be discussed. Polar
ecosystems of the Arctic and the Antarctic and
the threats to them must also be covered.
Only threats to the specifically mentioned
ecosystems will be tested for the purpose of
the examination. The rest are for knowledge
and understanding
(e) Biogeographic zones of India.
The different biogeographic zones/ regions of
India and predominant wildlife in these zones/
regions.
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5. Water
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(a) Our water resources.
Water resource in the form of frozen solid in
polar ice caps, surface water (rivers of
controversy, dams), groundwater (aquifers
running low). Solutions to water shortages
must be covered in terms of desalting the sea,
towing water, water conservation and water
harvesting.
(b) Freshwater pollution.
Point pollution and non-point pollution;
wastewater treatment plants, pathogens. The
manner in which water pollution affects
ecosystems; artificial eutrophication, thermal
pollution. Cleaning up water pollution. The
special problem of groundwater pollution;
bottled water.
(c) Ocean pollution.
How pollutants get into oceans; preventing
ocean pollution; who owns the oceans?
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6. Air
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(a) Causes of air pollution.
Air pollution due to - natural disasters;
domestic combustion; air pollution on
wheels; industrial air pollution.
Major air pollutants - carbon monoxide,
oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulphur, ozone,
lead, hydrocarbons, benzene and particulates
-their sources, health effects and the
environmental effects must be studied.
Classification of air pollutants based on
composition - gaseous pollutants and
particulate matter (grit, dust, smoke and lead
oxide); broader classification - primary and
secondary pollutants.
Aerosols (smog), sources – natural
(continental, oceanic and anthropogenic);
their effect on our lives.
Air pollution episode - the Bhopal gas
tragedy.
(b) Thermal inversions, photochemical smog and
acid precipitation.
Thermal inversions (Los Angeles),
Photochemical Smog (Mexico City) and Acid
Precipitation (Mumbai) - how acid
precipitation affects ecosystems.
(c) Impact of air pollution.
Impact of air pollution should be covered in
terms of economic losses, lowered
agricultural productivity and health
problems.
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7. Atmosphere and Climate
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(a) The atmosphere.
Balance between photosynthesis and
respiration; layers of the atmosphere. Not to
be tested, for knowledge and understanding
only.
(b) Climate.
What determines climate (latitude,
atmospheric circulation patterns, ocean
circulation patterns, local geography,
seasonal changes in climate). Not to be tested,
for knowledge and understanding only.
(c) Greenhouse earth.
The Greenhouse Effect, rising carbon dioxide
levels, GHGs and the earth’s temperature
(global warming); effect on weather,
agriculture and sea-levels; slowing the
temperature change.
(d) The Ozone layer.
Ozone in the troposphere, ozone in the
stratosphere; detection of the damage to the
ozone layer; causes and consequences of
ozone thinning; alternatives to CFCs.
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8. Soil and Land
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(a) Deforestation.
Causes and consequences of rapid and
progressive deforestation in the developing
world - fuel crisis, competition for land, land
exploited for cash and food crops, population
pressures, increasing demand for timber to
meet the needs of the developed world,
grazing and its link with desertification.
Effects of deforestation on climate,
atmosphere and soil process.
(b) Soil erosion and desertification.
Causes and consequences of soil erosion and
desertification - removal of vegetation,
overgrazing, overculture, clearance of slopes,
drought, heavy rainfall, bad farming
practices.
(c) Land pollution.
Causes and consequences of land pollution -
salinization, fertilizers, pesticides, toxic
wastes, nuclear wastes, domestic wastes,
ground water contamination.
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7. Atmosphere and Climate
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(a) The atmosphere.
Balance between photosynthesis and
respiration; layers of the atmosphere. Not to
be tested, for knowledge and understanding
only.
(b) Climate.
What determines climate (latitude,
atmospheric circulation patterns, ocean
circulation patterns, local geography,
seasonal changes in climate). Not to be tested,
for knowledge and understanding only.
(c) Greenhouse earth.
The Greenhouse Effect, rising carbon dioxide
levels, GHGs and the earth’s temperature
(global warming); effect on weather,
agriculture and sea-levels; slowing the
temperature change.
(d) The Ozone layer.
Ozone in the troposphere, ozone in the
stratosphere; detection of the damage to the
ozone layer; causes and consequences of
ozone thinning; alternatives to CFCs.
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8. Soil and Land
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(a) Deforestation.
Causes and consequences of rapid and
progressive deforestation in the developing
world - fuel crisis, competition for land, land
exploited for cash and food crops, population
pressures, increasing demand for timber to
meet the needs of the developed world,
grazing and its link with desertification.
Effects of deforestation on climate,
atmosphere and soil process.
(b) Soil erosion and desertification.
Causes and consequences of soil erosion and
desertification - removal of vegetation,
overgrazing, overculture, clearance of slopes,
drought, heavy rainfall, bad farming
practices.
(c) Land pollution.
Causes and consequences of land pollution -
salinization, fertilizers, pesticides, toxic
wastes, nuclear wastes, domestic wastes,
ground water contamination.
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9. People
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(a) World poverty and gap between developed
and developing countries.
Dimensions of world poverty and gap between
developed and developing countries using
development indicators such as per-capita
incomes, housing, levels of disease and
nutrition.
(b) Poverty in developed countries, poverty in
developing countries.
Rural poverty and urban poverty.
(c) The implications of poverty trap for the
environment in developing countries.
Self-explanatory.
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10. Urbanisation
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(a) Causes of urbanisation.
The push-pull factors to be discussed.
(b) Manifestations of urbanisation.
Growth of slums, growth of informal sector,
pressure on civic amenities; degradation of
human resources; growing sense of despair.
(c) Social, economic and environmental
problems.
Problems of housing, congestion, pollution,
loss of agricultural land and provision of
services to be covered.
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11. Agriculture
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(a) Unsustainable patterns of modern
industrialised agriculture.
Monocultures, disappearance of traditional
crop varieties, pollution risk due to use of
pesticides and inorganic fertilizers; problems
of irrigation – surface and ground water.
(b) Environmental damage due to large farm
units.
Self-explanatory.
(c) Food mountains in developed countries.
Surplus and waste.
(d) The Green Revolution.
Discussion on whether Green Revolution is a
success or a failure.
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To access a detailed curriculum, students can click on the link shared below to download the ICSE Class 9 Environmental Application syllabus PDF.
Check: ICSE Class 9 Environmental Application Syllabus, 2026-27 PDF
ICSE Class 9 Environmental Application Syllabus: Internal Assessment
As prescribed by the ICSE board for class 9, students have to pick any one project or assignment shared in the syllabus. The internal assessment will be evaluated based on any of the assignments shared below.
1. Make a survey of any one threat to the local environment with suggestions as to how the impact of the threat could be gradually reduced.
2. Make a functional model of an apparatus/equipment that could be used to alleviate the impact of any pollutant and, make a survey to study the effectiveness of this apparatus/equipment. (The report of the study is to form a part of the Project Work.)
The course structure and the curriculum shared above suggest students focus on building theoretical knowledge of environmental backgrounds. Class 9 students are suggested to follow through with the latest syllabus as prescribed by the ICSE to prepare and strategize for the 2026-27 board examination.