The 8th class science book is actually two separate NCERT textbooks: Science and Science – Curiosity. Both official editions are linked below, and this page is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session.
Both books number their chapters from 1 to 13, so a chapter number alone cannot tell you which book you need. Several topics — microorganisms, forces, light and electric current — appear in both books under different titles, and your school prescribes just one of the two.
The table below shows both textbooks with their chapter counts, printed page counts, and the way into each book’s own page.
| Book | Chapters | Printed pages | Book page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curiosity | 13 | 228 | Curiosity (coming soon) |
| Science | 13 | 182 | Science (coming soon) |
Which NCERT Class 8 Science book is yours, and what is its price?
One question settles the routing: what does your homework — or your teacher — call the chapter? Match the chapter title, never the chapter number, because both books restart at Chapter 1.
- Read the exact chapter title from the homework or the teacher’s instruction.
- Match that title to one of the two books using the chapter list and overlap table below.
- Confirm the prescribed book before ordering — the two textbooks are sold separately.
The common mistake to avoid: “Chapter 5” is Exploring Forces in Science – Curiosity (p. 62), but Conservation of Plants and Animals in Science (p. 53). A chapter number alone never identifies the book — only the title does.
NCERT prints the two books separately, and each shows its own cover price on the back cover, so ordering the wrong one wastes money. Always confirm which book the school prescribed before you buy.
Class 8 Science chapter list: two books, two numberings
Some chapter titles exist in only one of the two books, so they identify it at once.
- Science only: Crop Production and Management (pp. 1–16), Coal and Petroleum (pp. 32–39), Reaching the Age of Adolescence (pp. 79–92), Sound (pp. 123–137).
- Science – Curiosity only: Bulletin Board (pp. 28–45), Pressure, Winds, Storms, and Cyclones (pp. 80–97), Particulate Nature of Matter (pp. 98–115), Keeping Time (pp. 170–189), Our Home (pp. 210–228).
Topics that appear in both books are the real routing trap — the table below maps each overlap, so you can check which book holds the version your school set.
| Topic | Science – Curiosity | Science |
|---|---|---|
| Microorganisms | Ch 2, p. 8 — The Invisible Living World: Beyond Our Naked Eye | Ch 2, p. 17 — Microorganisms |
| Forces | Ch 5, p. 62 — Exploring Forces | Ch 8, p. 93 — Force – A Push or a Pull; Ch 9, p. 112 — Force of Friction |
| Electric current | Ch 4, p. 46 — Electricity: Magnetic and Heating Effects | Ch 11, p. 138 — Chemical Effects of Electric Current |
| Light | Ch 10, p. 152 — Light: Mirrors and Lenses | Ch 13, p. 165 — What makes Things Visible |
| Storms and lightning | Ch 6, p. 80 — Pressure, Winds, Storms, and Cyclones | Ch 12, p. 150 — Some Natural Phenomena |
If a title could belong to either book, check the neighbouring chapters on that book’s own page — the book links in the table above put you one click away.
Class 8 Science chapters and pages: the two books compared
Together the two textbooks run to 26 chapters across 410 printed pages, holding 203 named syllabus sections and 327 verified numbered figures indexed from the textbook.
Each book has 13 chapters, but they are not the same size. Science runs to 182 printed pages with chapters of 8–19 pages; Science – Curiosity runs to 228 pages with chapters of 7–20 pages. Curiosity’s longer chapters match its question-led, inquiry-style sections, which simply need more room than the classic lesson format.
What each Science NCERT Class 8 PDF covers
Science (182 pages) is the established textbook — the familiar school-science journey: crop production and food from animals; microorganisms; coal and petroleum; combustion; forest and wildlife conservation; reproduction; adolescence; force and friction; sound; chemical effects of electric current; natural phenomena such as lightning and earthquakes; and how we see things.
It is the book most schools have used for years, and it closes each chapter with an exercise set for quick revision.
Science – Curiosity (228 pages) is the newer, inquiry-based route through the same Class 8 territory: cells and the invisible living world, health and disease, electromagnets and batteries, pressure and cyclones, what matter is made of, solutions and density, mirrors and lenses, the Moon and calendars, ecosystems, and Earth as our home.
Its chapter names are the quickest way to recognise it: Keeping Time, Bulletin Board and Our Home are Curiosity chapters, not classic Science-lesson titles.
Where to get the official NCERT Class 8 Science book PDF
Both PDFs are official and free on NCERT’s portal and linked in the table above — there is no need to pay a third-party site. The two books use different PDF file codes: hesc for Science and hecu for Science – Curiosity, so the code in the address bar instantly identifies which book you are viewing.
Because both books number their chapters 1 to 13, a search for something like “class 8 science chapter 5 pdf” cannot work by number alone — the book pages linked in the table are the reliable route.
The official NCERT textbook portal is the authoritative source for confirming the current editions and downloading the Class 8 Science PDFs free of charge.
To preview the newer book’s style before choosing, open the first chapter of Science – Curiosity, Exploring the Investigative World of Science (official PDF).
To see the classic format that most schools still prescribe, open the first chapter of the Science textbook, Crop Production and Management (official PDF).
Related resources
These directories cover the NCERT subjects on this page, not the full CBSE subject scheme. Start from any of them to reach a class or subject hub.
- NCERT books by class — the starting point for every class-level hub on this site.
- All Class 8 NCERT books — every Class 8 subject hub, including this one.
- Class 8 Mathematics books — a sibling hub showing how the same directory structure serves another subject.
Sources and data verification
Four things about where these figures come from, plainly stated:
- The counts come from the NCERT textbook editions on this page: Science and Science – Curiosity (Class VIII), using the official PDFs published on ncert.nic.in.
- This page covers chapter counts, page ranges, named sections and verified numbered figures for the 26 chapters of this subject. It does not cover CBSE syllabus weightage, exam patterns, exercise-question totals (13 chapters carry a suspected extraction failure), or other publishers’ books.
- The academic session for which this listing is maintained is named in the introduction; re-check the label against ncert.nic.in when you download or buy.
- NCERT settles textbooks, editions and PDFs; CBSE settles the curriculum, the syllabus and the examinations. For an edition or a PDF, check NCERT, never CBSE.
Keep in mind that the contents of a textbook and the syllabus prescribed for an exam are not always the same — always check the current official syllabus before your exam. In the NCERT Science textbook, Chapter 3 is printed as Coal and Petroleum, but the chapter opens with an activity and is sometimes listed under that activity’s label, Activity 3.1.
For the exact chapter titles, the official NCERT PDF remains the final authority.
Reference: NCERT Class 8 Science textbooks, official editions on ncert.nic.in.
Class 8 Science book FAQs
How many NCERT books are there for Class 8 Science?
Two: Science and Science – Curiosity, 13 chapters each. Both are linked in the table above.
Which book is my chapter in?
Match the title, not the number. Sound, Coal and Petroleum and Reaching the Age of Adolescence are Science-book chapters; Keeping Time, Bulletin Board and Our Home are Curiosity chapters. For topics that appear in both books (microorganisms, forces, light, electric current), use the overlap table above or check the neighbouring chapters on that book’s page.
Are these Class 8 Science book PDFs official and free?
Yes — both are official NCERT PDFs, free on ncert.nic.in and linked in the table above. The file codes hesc (Science) and hecu (Science – Curiosity) confirm them instantly.
Why do both books have similar chapters?
Science – Curiosity is the newer inquiry-based textbook, while the older Science book keeps the classic chapter set. Your school prescribes one of the two, so confirm which before buying.
Is the Class 8 Science book available in Hindi?
NCERT publishes its textbooks in multiple languages. The English editions indexed here are linked above; Hindi and other language editions are available from ncert.nic.in.