4 tips to score well in class X Board Geography exam

With just a month left for the Social Science class X Board exam, it is time students tightened their belts. This can be a tough task since this subject is all about rote learning. And with subjects like Math and Science, Hindi weighing heavily on most students, Social Science appears to be a daunting task to handle since the question paper has four sections – Geography, History, Political Science and Economics.

Most students don’t know where to start and what to study. Should it be agriculture? Rabi and Kharif crops and where do they grow? Or should it be the rich mineral states of India? Or states where iron ore is found? Or should they concentrate on the sea, road, or air routes? Or should it be the rivers? Or should they study the rich forest reserves and National Parks and sanctuaries? The list is endless.

But fret not. Smita Sharma, Social Science teacher at Apeejay School, Pitampura, who teaches classes X, XI, and XII, breaks down the Geography syllabus making it easy for students to score well in the Board exam. “I would not advise students to do selective study; I would recommend that they do a thorough study of the NCERT book. Students must read every page of the book very carefully. It will not only help them to answer multiple-choice questions but also picture-based questions,” Sharma explained.

Tips on how to study for class X Board exams

One of the easiest but most extensive reads is needed when it comes to map work. “While the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) can ask anything from anywhere in the book, they have made it extremely easy for students when it comes to questions on Maps. The CBSE has given a list of map work that the student must know for each chapter. The questions will be based on the list,” Sharma said.

For example in the  Chapter Resources and Development students are expected to know major soil types or from the chapter Agriculture, the students must know the major wheat areas of rice and wheat and the largest/major producer states of Sugarcane, Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Cotton and Jute,

“While wanting to memorise a map, students should either do it first thing when they sit down to study with a fresh mind or do it right at the end to give the mind a break and go for light reading. It is advised that students make a table of the map (as given by the CBSE) when they sit down to read a chapter and note it in the tabular format: Name, zone, area when it comes to dams or climate, state, soil when it comes to crops. This will make it easy to revise right at the end,” Sharma explained.

How to study the chapters?

The most important thing to remember is that the CBSE has made the questions on the chapters application-based – some of them are recalling. “The strategy should be by the NCERT book. Students must be well-versed in all kinds of MCQs; these can be reason assertion, correcting the statement, picking the odd one out, or even picture-based MCQs. This means that the student must read the chapters thoroughly. This will help the student answer MCQs and short-answer questions,” Sharma said.

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Students must not leave out any chapter since the questions can be asked from any chapter. “What they can do is memorise the more important topics from the chapter and give a couple of readings to the other topics so that if there is a question from that topic, the student is not lost

–Smita Sharma, Social Science teacher at Apeejay School, Pitampura

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Then there are competency-based questions. Let’s take an example. “If there is a question on tourism in the book – it is to define the term and how tourism is important. But in competency-based questions, the paper can be: Give two questions about heritage tourism or ecotourism. Only if there is concept clarity will the student be able to write the exam. Giving examples in the answer will fetch marks,” Sharma said.

The students must also be told about rationalised syllabi. Most schools do this – topics that are not important must be told to the students so that they don’t waste time learning them; they can instead give it just a quick read.

1.       Resources and Development is an important chapter – what is resource planning, why is it important, tips for the conservation of resources, and why is there uneven distribution of resources in the sub-continent.

2.       Forest and Wildlife Resources chapter read about various projects like Project Tiger or Project Rhino to name a few. Read about the National Parks.

3.       From the chapter on Water Resources read up on reasons for scarcity, what steps can be taken to mitigate this, and how to source fresh water. These are application-based questions.

4.       From the Lifelines of National Economy, students must learn about the balance of trade, means of communication, merits and demerits of roadways or railways and or airways.

5.       Agriculture is yet another important chapter.

6. Minerals and Energy Resources and Manufacturing Industries need to be given a good read although some topics have been deleted from these chapters. Here students must read the chapters with a map on the side. This will help them not only learn the chapter but also make it easy for them to attempt the map questions.

No selective study

Students must not leave out any chapter since the questions can be asked from any chapter. “What they can do is memorise the more important topics from the chapter and give a couple of readings to the other topics so that if there is a question from that topic, the student is not lost. The CBSE has not given any weightage to the chapters; the questions paper is based on the entire book. Each section has been given weightage.

1.       Do read the instructions given right at the top of the question paper properly.

2.       Don’t waste time writing lengthy answers for a question that is only for 2 marks – stick to the word limit

3.       Don’t attempt questions for the visually challenged. Most students end up attempting them; the examiner will not give any marks even if the answer is correct.

4.       Attempt questions section-wide. You can start with Section C but finish it before going to Section A or B. Write the question number attempted clearly.