The NCERT Books Class 8 Vocational Education subject ships as the official Kaushal Bodh textbook — 7 chapters across 164 printed pages — and every chapter’s official PDF is linked on this page, inside the first table below. This page belongs to the Class 8 hub of the NCERT books directory, where the other Class 8 textbooks we index are listed too.
What this page adds is what the PDF alone cannot show: the real topics hidden inside chapters literally titled Project 2, Project 4 and Project 6; how many numbered figures each chapter carries; every figure caption with its page number; and a working order for using the book across the year.
Every count on this page is measured from the textbook itself, so you can check it against the tables below.
NCERT Books Class 8 Vocational Education: Chapter-wise PDFs
These are NCERT’s own files, hosted on ncert.nic.in. Each row links directly to the official PDF for that chapter (hekb101.pdf through hekb107.pdf), so you can open or download the exact chapter you need without searching elsewhere. The full set also lives on the official NCERT textbook portal if you prefer to browse.
| Ch. | Chapter | Pages | Official PDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Work with Life Forms | 30 | |
| 2 | Project 2 | 28 | |
| 3 | Work with Machines and Materials | 24 | |
| 4 | Project 4 | 24 | |
| 5 | Work in Human Services | 28 | |
| 6 | Project 6 | 27 | |
| 7 | Planning for Kaushal Mela | 3 |
The book at a glance
- 7 chapters in the English edition of Kaushal Bodh, covering life forms, machines, human services and three numbered projects.
- 164 printed pages across the whole book.
- 7 verified official PDFs — one per chapter, linked in the table above.
- 72 verified numbered figures indexed from the textbook, with their printed captions and page numbers in the figure index below.
- 0 extracted exercise questions — this is a project-based book; chapters close with Think and Answer and Reflect on your learnings prompts rather than numbered exercises.
The book’s closing chapter, Chapter 7, is titled “Planning for Kaushal Mela.”
What’s inside each chapter
The directory below carries the per-chapter counts read out of the textbook: a section is one of NCERT’s own numbered headings, an activity is a printed activity prompt, a figure is a numbered figure indexed from the book, and a question is an end-of-chapter exercise.
The chapter outlines below follow the book’s project-and-activity structure. Because several chapters carry only project-style titles — Project 2, Project 4 and Project 6 — the topic lists are the clearest way to see what each chapter actually teaches, from hydroponics and farm-animal care to woodworking, home automation, water management and advertising.
The figure index below records the numbered figures with their captions and the textbook page on which each appears.
| Ch. | Chapter | Sections | Activities | Figures | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Work with Life Forms | — | — | 9 | — |
| 2 | Project 2 | — | — | 11 | — |
| 3 | Work with Machines and Materials | — | — | 16 | — |
| 4 | Project 4 | — | — | 11 | — |
| 5 | Work in Human Services | — | — | 15 | — |
| 6 | Project 6 | — | — | 10 | — |
| 7 | Planning for Kaushal Mela | — | — | — | — |
Chapter 1: Work with Life Forms (pp. 1-30)
This opening chapter teaches hydroponics — growing plants without soil — through a field visit and hands-on setups, and it is for students curious how farming becomes a skilled, technology-based craft that also covers the wick method, DWC hydroponics, the NFT system and microgreens.
The chapter’s printed topics run from the project itself through the technique:
- Project 1
- Hydroponics: Growing Plants without Soil
- New technologies related to farming
- Activity 1: Field visit to a farm
- Reflect on your learnings
- Think and Answer
The key diagrams are Fig. 1.1 (a do-it-yourself hydroponics setup, p. 3), Fig. 1.4 (the Dal Lake floating farm in Srinagar, p. 13), Fig. 1.6 (growing plants by the wick method, p. 16), Fig. 1.8 (the DWC hydroponic system, p. 20) and Fig. 1.9 (the NFT system, p. 23).
With 9 indexed figures, the setup and monitoring guidance in this chapter is carried mostly by diagrams.
Chapter 2: Project 2 (pp. 31-58)
Despite its bare title, this numbered Project chapter is about feeding and caring for farm animals — housing, vaccination, respiration rate checks, body measurements that estimate weight, and the science of silage — for students who want to learn livestock care as a hands-on skill.
Its distinctive tools are mobile applications: one for animal feed calculation and one for identifying pests and diseases.
- Feeding and Caring for Farm Animals
- Visual Observations of the Animal
- Checking Respiration Rate
- Using a Mobile Application for Animal Feed Calculation
- Science of Silage Making
- Using Mobile Application to Identify Pests and Diseases
Standout figures are Fig. 2.2 (the Bhimbetka caves showing humans riding horses, p. 32), Fig. 2.6 (Kasargod Dwarf Cattle, p. 38), Fig. 2.8 (the flank region of a goat and a cow, p. 43) and Figs. 2.9-2.10 (taking body measurements, p. 45).
With 11 indexed figures, the health-check and measurement procedures in this chapter are almost entirely visual.
Chapter 3: Work with Machines and Materials (pp. 59-82)
This chapter teaches working with wood and bamboo — measuring, cutting, joining parts with nails and screws, fitting hinges for moving parts, and building simple prototypes — for students who learn best by making things with woodworking tools.
- Project 3
- Working with Wood and Bamboo
- Joining parts using nails and screws
- Joining moving parts
- Basic skills for working with Wood
The build instructions are visual: Fig. 3.2 (Padmanabhapuram Palace, p. 62), Fig. 3.5 (tools used for woodworking, p. 64), Fig. 3.6 (common joints, p. 68), Fig. 3.7 (hinges, p. 69), Fig. 3.10 (a prototype of a hinge, p. 71) and Figs. 3.15-3.17 (bamboo structure, bamboo objects and product-making steps, pp. 77-78).
With 16 indexed figures — the highest count in the book — the figures here effectively are the instructions.
Chapter 4: Project 4 (pp. 83-106)
This numbered Project chapter teaches home automation — sensing an input, processing a decision and driving an output with a microcontroller — and ends in a model automatic street light, for students who want a first taste of electronics and programmable devices such as the Arduino Uno and Raspberry Pi.
The input-processing-output trio is the chapter’s organising idea: every circuit the class builds follows the same three stages, supported by sensors and output devices.
- Home Automation
- Electrical and Electronics Components
- Input (Sensing)
- Processing (Decision making)
- Output (Action/Execution)
- Output Devices
- Making simple circuits using microcontrollers
- Automatic Street Light
One printed warning matters before anything else: electronic circuits must not be connected directly to the AC mains (Fig. 4.5, p. 89). The key diagrams are Fig. 4.2 (the journey of automation, p. 85), Fig. 4.3 (electrical and electronic components, p. 86), Fig. 4.4 (sensors, p. 88), Figs. 4.9-4.10 (microcontrollers, p. 96) and Fig. 4.12 (the Arduino Uno, p. 98).
With 11 indexed figures, the chapter teaches by showing circuits rather than by long text.
Chapter 5: Work in Human Services (pp. 107-134)
This chapter teaches community water management — conducting a water audit, separating primary and secondary data, cutting wastage, groundwater recharge and reusing wastewater through a reed bed system — for students who want skills that serve a neighbourhood rather than only a workshop.
The primary-versus-secondary-data distinction is unusual in a Class 8 skills book, and the chapter folds it directly into the water audit.
- Project 5
- Managing Water as a Source: a Major Challenge
- Primary and Secondary Data
- Water storage capacity in the society
- Sources of Water
- Reduce the use of water
- Groundwater recharge
The audit is documented visually: Fig. 5.1 (carrying out a water audit, p. 109), Fig. 5.3 (graduated cylinders for measuring water, p. 114), Fig. 5.8 (wastage from a dripping tap, p. 126), Fig. 5.9 (steps to fix a leaking tap, p. 127), Fig. 5.10 (water flow with and without a flow cap and aerator, p. 128), Figs. 5.11-5.13 (contour lines, a check dam and a percolation tank, p. 129) and Figs. 5.15-5.16 (reed bed setup and reuse system, p. 131).
With 15 indexed figures, the chapter’s methods — measuring, fixing, recharging and reusing — are all shown step by step.
Chapter 6: Project 6 (pp. 135-161)
This numbered Project chapter teaches how advertisements persuade — logos, taglines, visual elements, emotional appeal and a call to action — and takes the class through planning a real ad campaign, making it the chapter for students more drawn to language and design than to machines.
The working method is a brief: the class plans its advertisement by answering the product or service questions, the customer (target audience) profile questions and the medium questions one by one — down to advertisements made without technology, such as hoardings.
- Understanding types of advertisements
- Logos and Taglines/slogans
- Connect to emotions
- Call to action
- Product/service related questions
- Customer (target audience) profile-related questions
- Medium for making the advertisement
- Advertisements without using technology
The persuasion techniques are illustrated with real examples: Fig. 6.2 (an advertisement from the late 18th century, p. 136), Fig. 6.3 (a drum announcement, p. 137), Fig. 6.4 (hoardings in a market place, p. 138), Fig. 6.5 (a polio vaccine campaign in different languages, p. 143) and Fig. 6.6 (visual elements of an advertisement, p. 144).
With 10 indexed figures, the chapter’s examples are real campaigns a student can analyse rather than invent.
Chapter 7: Planning for Kaushal Mela (3 pages)
This closing 3-page chapter covers planning the Kaushal Mela — the school’s skills fair where students present the work made in Chapters 1-6 — for students and teachers who need the event itself to run.
Its ledger is still flagged for review, so the chapter’s start and end pages are unverified; only the 3-page length, the planning focus and 0 indexed figures are confirmed. The official PDF (hekb107.pdf) is linked in the download table above regardless. In practice, the mela is the book’s assessment event — the projects themselves are the exam.
How the book is organised: themed chapters and numbered projects
The table below separates the two kinds of chapters the book alternates between.
| Chapter | Kind | Skill domain | What you make or do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ch 1 | Themed chapter | Life forms | Grow plants without soil (hydroponic setups) |
| Ch 2 | Numbered project | Farm animals | Health checks, feed plans, silage |
| Ch 3 | Themed chapter | Machines and materials | Wooden joints, prototypes, bamboo products |
| Ch 4 | Numbered project | Home automation | Circuits, sensor input, automatic street light model |
| Ch 5 | Themed chapter | Human services | Water audit, leak fixing, wastewater reuse |
| Ch 6 | Numbered project | Advertising | An ad campaign from brief to execution |
| Ch 7 | Culmination | Event planning | The Kaushal Mela showcase |
The alternation is the book’s rhythm: a themed chapter builds a skill, then a numbered Project puts it to work. Chapter 1 grows plants and Chapter 2 runs the farm; Chapter 3 works wood and Chapter 4 automates a street light; Chapter 5 audits water and Chapter 6 sells a message; Chapter 7 displays all of it.
Every chapter repeats the same loop — a field visit or observation, hands-on making, Reflect on your learnings, then Think and Answer — which replaces the exercise sets of an ordinary textbook. Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical, so check the current official syllabus before exam season.
Figures indexed from the book: 72 captions with page numbers
The table below lists each numbered figure on this page, with NCERT’s printed caption and the PDF page it appears on. Captions are quoted exactly as printed, including odd markers such as ** and (a), and page numbers refer to the official PDF layout.
| Chapter | Figure | Caption (quoted) | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fig. 1.1 | Do-It-Yourself Hydroponics | 3 |
| 1 | Fig. 1.2 | Hydroponic setup in a polyhouse | 5 |
| 1 | Fig. 1.3 | (d): DWC hydroponic setup | 7 |
| 1 | Fig. 1.4 | Dal Lake in Srinagar with floating farm | 13 |
| 1 | Fig. 1.5 | ** Steps for growing microgreens | 14 |
| 1 | Fig. 1.6 | shows the process of growing plants using wick method. | 16 |
| 1 | Fig. 1.7 | DWC hydroponics | 19 |
| 1 | Fig. 1.8 | Growing plants using DWC hydroponic system | 20 |
| 1 | Fig. 1.9 | ** Growing plants using NFT hydroponic system | 23 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.1 | ** Feeding and caring for farm animals | 31 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.2 | Bhimbetka caves showing humans riding on horses | 32 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.3 | Cows and Goats are some of the commonly found livestock in India | 33 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.4 | Tools and materials to be used for various activities | 34 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.5 | Proper housing, shelter, feed, healthcare and clean environment are essential for animals | 35 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.6 | Kasargod Dwarf Cattle | 38 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.7 | Animal vaccination drive in the community** | 40 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.8 | Flank region of a goat and a cow | 43 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.9 | Taking body measurements of large farm animals to estimate weight | 45 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.10 | Taking the body measurements of a goat | 45 |
| 2 | Fig. 2.12 | Preparing dry fodder mixture* | 53 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.1 | Making useful products with wood | 61 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.2 | Padmanabhapuram Palace | 62 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.3 | A traditional south Indian house with wood used for building roofs, doors, windows and pillars | 63 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.4 | Bamboo grows in almost all parts of India, except for the extremely hot and cold desert regions of Rajasthan and Ladakh, respectively | 64 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.5 | Tools used for woodworking | 64 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.6 | Common joints used in wooden products | 68 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.7 | Hinges allow movement while ensuring the durability of wooden objects | 69 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.8 | ** Simple objects for making prototypes | 70 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.9 | shows the steps in making the prototype of an object or product. | 71 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.10 | Prototype of a hinge | 71 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.11 | Wooden coasters | 73 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.12 | Designs that you can use for making coasters | 73 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.14 | Small items that you can make out of wood | 76 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.15 | Structure of bamboo | 77 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.16 | Objects made of bamboo | 77 |
| 3 | Fig. 3.17 | Steps for making products from bamboo | 78 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.1 | Making things operate automatically using circuits and programmes | 83 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.2 | A journey of automation showing transformation from manual tasks into automated systems | 85 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.3 | Electrical and electronic components | 86 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.4 | Sensors used in automation | 88 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.5 | It is harmful to connect Electronic circuits directly to the AC Mains | 89 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.6 | Using simulation to build and test circuits | 92 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.9 | Microcontroller handles both input and output to make decisions | 96 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.10 | Arduino Uno (a) and Raspberry Pi (b) microcontrollers | 96 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.12 | Arduino Uno | 98 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.13 | LED off | 99 |
| 4 | Fig. 4.15 | Some sensor modules (a), microcontroller (b), and motor toy (c) | 99 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.1 | Carrying out a water audit in the community | 109 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.2 | Data is information in many forms collected for a specific purpose | 110 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.3 | Graduated cylinders and cups for measuring water | 114 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.5 | Water tanks store water and taps supply it to the community | 116 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.6 | Mapping water sources in a locality | 117 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.7 | (a) Washing machine | 119 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.8 | Recording wastage of water due to a dripping tap | 126 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.9 | Steps to fix a leaking tap | 127 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.10 | Comparison of water flow with and without flow cap and aerator | 128 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.11 | Contour lines hold the water at the same level | 129 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.12 | Check dam on a water stream used for irrigating fields | 129 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.13 | Percolation tank for groundwater recharge | 129 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.14 | Using left over water for watering plants | 130 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.15 | Reed bed setup | 131 |
| 5 | Fig. 5.16 | Reed bed system for reusing wastewater | 131 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.1 | Advertisements are creative and fun ways of communicating messages | 135 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.2 | An advertisement from late 18th century | 136 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.3 | Using a drum to draw attention and providing information | 137 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.4 | Hoardings for advertisement in market place | 138 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.5 | Advertisement for polio vaccine campaign in different languages. | 143 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.6 | Visual elements of an advertisement | 144 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.7 | Advertisement designed to inspire young people to join the army | 147 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.8 | Advertisement that reminds us of road safety by emphasising that life is precious | 147 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.9 | Advertisements that inspire people to act, to go and cast their vote | 148 |
| 6 | Fig. 6.10 | An advertisement with different messages | 149 |
| Ch. | Chapter page |
|---|---|
| 1 | Work with Life Forms (coming soon) |
| 2 | Project 2 (coming soon) |
| 3 | Work with Machines and Materials (coming soon) |
| 4 | Project 4 (coming soon) |
| 5 | Work in Human Services (coming soon) |
| 6 | Project 6 (coming soon) |
| 7 | Planning for Kaushal Mela (coming soon) |
Reference: NCERT Class 8 Vocational Education textbook, official edition on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles quoted from the textbook; page references are to the official PDF.
Chapter study pages
Where a chapter has its own study page on this site, it is linked below.
How to use this book: a working order for the year
- Read Chapter 1 first. It establishes the book’s loop — observe, make, reflect — and introduces the most unfamiliar idea, hydroponics, before any project begins.
- Treat Chapters 2, 4 and 6 as the year’s three projects — animal care, automation and advertising — with the odd-numbered chapters supplying the skills behind them.
- In Chapter 3, work from the figures outward. With 16 indexed figures, the diagrams are the instructions, so study them before the prose.
- Make Chapter 5 a group project. A water audit needs a neighbourhood to measure, not a desk.
- Start planning Chapter 7 (Kaushal Mela) in the first term. Fix the mela date, then work backwards to decide which project each team will showcase.
Roughly three weeks per chapter fits an academic year. There are no extracted exercise answers to consult — the Think and Answer prompts and the mela itself are the assessment. What the exam will actually test is set by the official syllabus, which can differ from the full textbook contents, so verify it early.
Related resources
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.
- All NCERT books indexed on this site — the directory this page belongs to.
- Class 8 hub — every Class 8 textbook on this page, with the same chapter-by-chapter treatment.
Sources and data verification
- Where the numbers come from. Figures, topics and counts are drawn from the NCERT Class 8 Vocational Education textbook (Kaushal Bodh), English edition, as published on ncert.nic.in and linked above.
- What this page covers. The 7 chapters and 164 printed pages of this edition. It does not cover every skill subject a school may offer, and Chapter 7’s ledger is still flagged for review, so its page range is unverified.
- Session. This listing is maintained for the current academic session using the NCERT information available to us.
- Who settles what. NCERT settles the textbook, its editions and the official PDFs; CBSE settles the curriculum, syllabus and examinations. For an edition or file question, NCERT — not CBSE — is the authority to check.
No expert review is claimed beyond this: every number on this page is reproducible from the tables on this page, and that reproducibility is the verification.
FAQs
How many chapters are in the NCERT Class 8 Vocational Education book?
Seven, across 164 printed pages: Work with Life Forms, Project 2, Work with Machines and Materials, Project 4, Work in Human Services, Project 6 and Planning for Kaushal Mela.
Is the Class 8 Vocational Education book PDF free and official?
Yes. NCERT publishes this book as Kaushal Bodh and hosts the official chapter files on ncert.nic.in, and each one is linked in the chapter-wise PDF table above.
Which chapter of the Class 8 Vocational Education book covers hydroponics?
Chapter 1, Work with Life Forms (pp. 1-30). It covers growing plants without soil, the wick method, DWC hydroponics, the NFT system and microgreens.
Which chapter teaches home automation and microcontrollers?
Chapter 4, Project 4 (pp. 83-106). It covers sensors, the Arduino Uno and Raspberry Pi microcontrollers, simple circuits, and a model automatic street light.
Where are the exercises and answers for the Class 8 Vocational Education book?
The book has no extracted end-of-chapter exercise sets: each chapter closes with Think and Answer and Reflect on your learnings prompts instead, and the Kaushal Mela in Chapter 7 is the showcase where the projects are assessed.
Reference: NCERT Class 8 Vocational Education textbook, official edition on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles quoted from the textbook; page references are to the official PDF.