Std 6 Social Science Textbook PDF: Inside the NCERT Book

The Std 6 Social Science textbook PDF is NCERT’s single Social Science book for Class 6 — Exploring Society: India and Beyond — and every chapter’s official file is linked on this page. The book runs 14 chapters across 208 printed pages, from “Why Social Science?” to “Economic Activities Around Us”.

This page also maps the book itself. Each chapter below shows its page range, its own topic headings, and the verified numbered figures indexed from the textbook, so you can see at a glance which chapters are visual and which are text-heavy. Use the topic lookup table to jump straight to the chapter that answers your question.

Download the official Class 6 Social Science chapter PDFs

These chapter PDFs are NCERT’s own files, hosted on ncert.nic.in — the same 14 files that the official NCERT textbooks portal at ncert.nic.in/textbook.php publishes, and they are free to download.

The Class 6 SST book PDF at a glance

• 14 chapters, one official PDF per chapter.
• 208 printed pages in the official edition.
• 50 verified numbered figures indexed from the textbook.
• 0 numbered section headings — the book is organised by themes and topic boxes rather than numbered sections.
• 3 questions counted in Chapter 11, and most chapters close with a “Questions, activities and projects” section.
• Chapter study pages: the chapter-pages section further down shows which chapters have a study page on this site — Available, Drafting, or Not yet built.

What each chapter actually contains

The directory above counts three things per chapter. A “section” is one of NCERT’s own numbered headings — this book has none, because it is organised by themes and named topic boxes instead. A “figure” is a numbered figure indexed from the book with its printed caption.

A “question” is an exercise counted from the book: the directory records 3, all in Chapter 11.

Chapter 1: Why Social Science? (pp. 1-26)

Chapter 1 does two jobs. It opens the book by asking what social science studies — history, geography, political life and economic life — and it teaches the map basics the geography chapters assume: maps, their components, coordinates and latitudes.

1. Theme B – Tapestry of the Past
2. Theme D – Governance and Democracy
3. Theme E – Economic Life Around Us
4. Locating Places on the Earth
5. A Map and Its Components
6. Mapping the Earth
7. a) Understanding coordinates
8. b) Latitudes

With 9 of the book’s 50 verified figures across 26 pages, it is the longest chapter and the volume’s map-skills lesson in one — from map symbols (Fig. 1.2, p. 12) to the Ujjayinī prime meridian (Fig. 1.5, p. 18).

Chapter 2: Oceans and Continents (pp. 27-40)

This chapter studies the Earth as one connected surface of water and land: the five oceans and the continents, with their conventional boundaries on a world map. It then turns to ocean life, the part oceans play in disasters, and how oceans support life.

1. Ocean Life
2. Oceans and disasters
3. Oceans and Life

Its 3 indexed figures carry most of the lesson — the Earth photographed from space (Fig. 2.1, p. 27) and the world map of oceans and continents (Fig. 2.3, p. 32) — so the chapter reads through maps more than through diagrams.

Chapter 3: Landforms and Life (pp. 41-58)

Chapter 3 covers the three big landforms — mountains, plateaus and plains — and the ways life adapts to each. Mountain animals, terrace farming, flash floods as a mountain hazard, and life in the plains with the Ganga plain and river transportation all appear here.

1. Mountain environment
2. Life in the mountains
3. Flash flood
4. Life in the plains

With 10 indexed figures — from the six-mountain height sketch (Figs. 3.2-3.3, pp. 44-45) to terrace farming (Fig. 3.5, p. 48) and the Nohkalikai Falls (Fig. 3.7, p. 52) — it is the book’s second most visual chapter after Chapter 6.

Chapter 4: Timeline and Sources of History (pp. 59-74)

Chapter 4 explains how historians measure the past. It introduces timelines, the beginnings of human history, and the first crops, along with the kinds of evidence — geologists among them — that let us reconstruct events.

1. The Beginnings of Human History
2. The First Crops

A 16-page chapter with only 2 indexed figures — a panel of geologists (Fig. 4.2, p. 61) and the timeline of events since 300,000 BCE (Fig. 4.3, p. 62) — it is the shortest history chapter and a text-first read.

Chapter 5: India, That Is Bharat (pp. 75-84)

The chapter is about the land’s names: “India, that is Bhārata” are the opening words of the Constitution, and they frame the Subcontinent’s physical geography here — its rivers, its northwest region, and regions named in the Mahābhārata. Five figures carry the entire chapter.

A short 10-page chapter carried entirely by 5 figures, from the Sanchi stupa rural scene (Fig. 5.1, p. 75) to the first page of the Constitution (Fig. 5.5, p. 82).

Chapter 6: The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation (pp. 85-104)

Chapter 6 introduces the Indus-Sarasvatī civilisation of about 2600 to 1900 BCE as archaeology tells its story: the move from village to city, the Sarasvatī river, and water management — the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira’s reservoir. It also covers a brisk trade (carnelian beads, the Lothal dockyard, seals) and the lives of the ancients.

1. From Village to City
2. The Sarasvati River
3. Water Management
4. A Brisk Trade
5. The Lives of the Ancients

With 13 indexed figures — the most of any chapter — this is where the book’s archaeological evidence concentrates, running from Dholavira’s gate (Fig. 6.1, p. 85) to the ‘Priest King’ statuette (Fig. 6.15, p. 101).

Chapter 7: India’s Cultural Roots (pp. 105-124)

This chapter traces the Vedas and Vedic culture, Vedic society, and the schools of thought that grew from them. Much of it is told through the book’s own stories: Śhvetaketu and the seed of reality, Nachiketa and his quest, the debate of Gārgī and Yājñavalkya, and a Jain story.

1. The Vedas and Vedic Culture
2. b. Vedic society
3. c. Vedic schools of thought
4. Śhvetaketu and the seed of reality
5. Nachiketa and his quest
6. The debate of Gārgī and Yājñavalkya (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad)
7. A Jain story

It is the book’s most text-heavy stretch — 20 pages with 0 indexed figures — so revising it means reading and retelling the stories rather than studying maps.

Chapter 8: Unity in Diversity, or (pp. 125-136)

Chapter 8 shows how India’s diversity appears in everyday life: food (cereals and pulses), textiles and clothing (the sari and its many uses), and festivals with different regional names around the same date. It closes with the shared epics, including an 18th-century Rāmāyaṇa painting, that tie the regions together.

1. A Rich Diversity
2. Food for All
3. Textiles and Clothing
4. Festivals Galore
5. An Epic Spread

With 7 indexed figures, from regional grains (Fig. 8.1, p. 127) to the 18th-century Rāmāyaṇa painting (Fig. 8.6, p. 134), the chapter is a visual survey of the Subcontinent’s variety.

Chapter 9: Family and Community (pp. 137-148)

This chapter turns to the social units everyone lives in — families and the communities around them. It explores the roles and responsibilities that hold people together, through the chapter’s big questions about how people live with one another.

1. Roles and Responsibilities

A text-based chapter — 12 pages, 0 indexed figures — so its ideas ride entirely on the prose and the chapter’s closing questions.

Chapter 10: Grassroots Democracy – Part 1 (pp. 149-162)

Chapter 10 explains how government works in a democracy: the three organs of government and the three levels of government. It uses Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s life as the human example of a citizen engaging with these institutions.

1. Three Organs of Government
2. Three Levels of Government
3. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Another text-only chapter (0 indexed figures, 14 pages); it sets up the next two chapters, which carry the same theme to the village and the city.

Chapter 11: Grassroots Democracy – Part 2 (pp. 163-172)

This is the village-level democracy chapter. It covers the Panchayati Raj system from the Gram Panchayat upwards, with exemplary sarpanchs, a child-friendly panchayat initiative, and the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad above the village.

1. Panchayati Raj System
2. Gram Panchayat
3. Exemplary Sarpanchs
4. Child-Friendly Panchayat Initiative
5. Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad

Among the book’s shortest chapters (10 pages) with 0 indexed figures, it is the only chapter whose question count appears in the directory above — 3 questions on the Panchayati Raj system.

Chapter 12: Grassroots Democracy – Part 3 (pp. 173-182)

The governance run ends in the city. Chapter 12 covers urban local bodies — municipalities and municipal corporations — with the Indore Municipal Corporation’s services as the worked example and the 1865 Bombay Municipal Corporation as the historical anchor.

1. Urban Local Bodies
2. Services Under The Indore Municipal Corporation

A 10-page chapter with a single indexed figure — the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, created in 1865 (Fig. 12.1, p. 173) — closing the book’s three-part governance run.

Chapter 13: The Value of Work (pp. 183-194)

Chapter 13 builds the vocabulary of economic life: the difference between economic and non-economic activities and why non-economic activities matter. It also introduces sevā (selfless service) and the strength of community participation.

1. Types of Economic Activities
2. The Importance of Non-Economic Activities
3. Sevā: selfless service
4. The strength of community participation

A text-first chapter (0 indexed figures, 12 pages) that builds the vocabulary the final chapter then applies to the economy at large.

Chapter 14: Economic Activities Around Us (pp. 195-208)

The closing chapter sorts economic activities into economic sectors. It names primary activities and secondary activities, each with its own sector label, and explains how the classification works.

1. The Classification of Economic Activities into Economic Sectors
2. A. Primary activities
3. Primary sector
4. Economic Sectors
5. B. Secondary activities
6. Secondary sector

The book’s closing chapter — 14 pages, 0 indexed figures — and the only one devoted entirely to how work is grouped into economic sectors.

Finding a topic in the Class 6 Social Science book

Came here with one question? Use the lookup below to find the chapter that answers it. Every row is a full chapter range from the book.

The Indus-Sarasvatī (Harappan) civilisation is the topic students most often search for in this book — Chapter 6 (pp. 85-104) is where it lives.

Chapter pages on this site

The rows below open a study page for individual chapters of this book where one exists on this site.

How to use the Class 6 SST book through the year

1. Start with Chapter 1. Its map skills — map components, coordinates, latitudes, time zones — are assumed by Chapters 2 and 3, so getting them right first makes the geography chapters faster.
2. Read the history strand in the book’s own order: Chapter 4 (timeline and sources) first, then Chapter 5 (the land) and Chapter 6 (the civilisation). The BCE/CE vocabulary of Chapter 4 is needed to read Chapter 6’s timeline.
3. Treat Chapters 10, 11 and 12 as one unit — the titles literally say Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 of Grassroots Democracy, moving from national government to the village to the city.
4. Pair Chapter 13 (value of work, sevā) with Chapter 14 (economic sectors): the first builds the vocabulary the second uses.
5. For revision, use the figure-heavy chapters (6, 3, 1) for visual recall and the text-only chapters (7, 9, 10, 13) for reading practice.

Because the book has no numbered sections, its own boxes — “Think About It”, “Let’s Explore”, “Don’t Miss Out” — double as revision checkpoints. Each box asks you to pause and respond, so a quick pass through the boxes is a quick pass through the chapter.

Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical — check the current official syllabus before deciding what to revise. For the other Class 6 NCERT books, start from the Class 6 hub on this site.

Other NCERT Class 6 books on this site

This page sits inside the site’s NCERT books collection. Use the links below to reach the full books list and the Class 6 hub, where the other Class 6 NCERT books are listed alongside this one.

• All NCERT books on this site — the books root, from Class 1 to Class 12.
• Class 6 NCERT books hub — the starting point for the other Class 6 subjects this site covers.

Sources and data verification

This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.

• The textbook described on this page is NCERT’s Class 6 Social Science book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, official edition. Figure captions and section titles are quoted from the textbook; page references are to the official PDF.
• This page indexes that one NCERT book — not the full CBSE Class 6 scheme of studies, which is larger.
• The listing is maintained for the current NCERT edition of this book available to the site, for the current academic session.
• NCERT settles the textbooks, editions and PDFs; CBSE settles the curriculum, syllabus and examinations. For a textbook edition, NCERT is the authority.

Reference: NCERT Class 6 Social Science textbook, official edition on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles quoted from the textbook; page references are to the official PDF.

Common questions about this book

How many chapters are in the Class 6 Social Science NCERT book?

14 chapters, running 208 printed pages in the official edition. The book opens with “Why Social Science?” and closes with “Economic Activities Around Us”, with one official PDF per chapter.

Is the Class 6 Social Science textbook PDF official and free?

Yes. The chapter PDFs are NCERT’s own files, hosted on ncert.nic.in, and they are free to download. Every link in the table above points to the official edition of the book.

Which chapter covers the Panchayati Raj system?

Chapter 11, “Grassroots Democracy – Part 2” (pp. 163-172). It takes the Panchayati Raj system from the Gram Panchayat up to the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad, and it is the chapter whose 3 questions appear in the directory above.

Where are latitudes, longitudes and time zones taught in the Class 6 Social Science book?

Chapter 1, “Why Social Science?” (pp. 1-26), under “Locating Places on the Earth” and “Mapping the Earth”. The chapter’s figures include the Ujjayinī prime meridian (Fig. 1.5, p. 18) and a time-zone world map (Fig. 1.8, p. 22).

Why is Class 6 Social Science one textbook instead of separate History, Geography and Civics books?

The current NCERT textbook for Class 6 organises the themes of history, geography, governance and economic life as 14 chapters in one volume, titled Exploring Society: India and Beyond. What the examinable syllabus requires in a given session is a separate matter — check the current official syllabus.