Meritnation launches Friends Zone!

Now study together with your friends using Meritnation.com’s Friends Zone. Meritnation’s special feature Friends Zone will help you learn topics better as you share your understanding of concepts with your online Meritnation friends. This will help strengthen your grasp over topics and help you do well in school. With Meritnation.com’s Friend Zone you can-

• Create your own online study group on Meritnation.
• Clear your doubts in all subjects with the help of your online friends on Meritnation.
• Teach & learn difficult concepts together with your friends.
• Discuss & share ideas with your friends on Meritnation to prepare better school projects & assignments

So what are you waiting for? Log on to www.Meritnation.com using your unique username & password and click on the ‘Friends Zone’ tab in the blue band to start studying with your friends on Meritnation now. Needless to say your personal information such as phone number, e-mail etc. will remain confidential and will not be visible to other users.

We at Meritnation hope that you will enjoy using Friends Zone and make the most of it to learn from each other.

Cheers!

Team Meritnation

Online NCERT textbooks

Online NCERT textbooks! Even imagining something like this about 10 years back would have been difficult. This must surely be the best thing that has happened for students, parents and teachers in a while! The NCERT textbooks online are available for classes I through XII for almost all the subjects. These textbooks available in both Hindi and English languages are in downloadable PDF format.

These online NCERT textbooks come in very handy for students of classes X and XII who wish to start reading the books, during the summer vacations and are sometimes unable to do so due to non-availability of these NCERT books in the stores before the month of July. Further, with online NCERT textbooks the teachers too can refer to textbooks of higher or lower grades for any clarifications, with ease without having to physically scout around for the textbooks. Then, there are those students who are more inquisitive than their peers and are on the constant search for more information on a given topic. It is for such students that the online NCERT textbooks can be a real boon. Now they can readily access NCERT textbooks of a higher grade and read up more on a topic that they may be currently studying. One of the objectives that the NCERT had in mind in making NCERT textbooks available online is to make the teaching-learning process organize itself around meaningfully structured units or sections (of topics) rather than treating the topics in a sequential approach. Doing so, it is hoped, would encourage students to try and comprehend a given topic/subject in its totality and see the inter-linkages within subjects and the interconnectedness of their entire syllabus as a whole.

Online NCERT textbooks have also proved to be very valuable for parents who take a keen interest in their child’s lessons and progress in school as they can now easily access their child’s prescribed NCERT textbooks online from anywhere and read the chapters therein. Parents can thus be better equipped to help them with homework or simply supervise their studies.

The online NCERT textbooks are available on the NCERT website and can be viewed by anyone. Once on the website, you simply have to select the class, the subject and the title of the book and Viola! - the cover of your online NCERT textbook gets displayed on your screen! You have to click on the cover and you get to view the contents page of your online NCERT textbook. From there on, you can view any chapter by simply clicking on it. However, all you students be warned! As you read through the pages of your online NCERT textbook in all its colours on the computer, you may fail notice the time, as reading anything online can be a differently engaging experience after all.

Tips and Tricks to Excel in ICSE Papers

Scoring well in ICSE papers is no easy thing considering the vastness of the ICSE syllabus! Scoring good marks in ICSE papers really takes a lot of effort. A disciplined study-regimen that includes regular revision sessions and is backed by good health is a pre-requisite to scoring well in ICSE papers.

To help all you students out there who are preparing for ICSE papers or for that matter any other board papers, here are a few tips and tricks that can help you excel in your exams.

• Study regularly! An important secret to scoring well in ICSE papers is to have a consistent approach towards studies. Regular study sessions will help students stay abreast with the overall pace required to complete the syllabus within the given time-frame. When compared to the various other educational boards operating in India, ICSE has the most expansive syllabus for class 10 examinations. As a result many a times students preparing for ICSE papers find handling the sheer volume in so many subjects, a little difficult. As a precautionary step to avoid last moment chaos and to facilitate effective understanding of concepts, students are advised to study regularly for their ICSE papers. Students can also seek help from various websites that provide ICSE curriculum aligned study material. The study material by these websites provide study content in interesting and fun format in order to accelerate the pace of learning.
• Stay in touch! Ideally, students should study all the major subjects regularly in order to excel in their ICSE papers. But keeping in mind the time that is typically spent by most students in extra curricular activities, tuition sessions, relaxation activities etc. leaving them with very little time for self-study, it may be a little unrealistic to be able to touch all the subjects in a day. However, in order to score well in the ICSE papers students are advised not to lose touch with any of the subjects for more than 2-3 days. If students do not study any subject for a longer period, chances are that recall for that particular subject will be far lesser, and as a result they will lag behind. To help students schedule their studies better, a few websites provide online Study Planner. The Study Planner by these websites is an online organizer that helps students stay abreast with their progress and their level of preparation for each chapter.
• Self-study is a must! Self- study does not mean completing homework, but investing time in studying alone with the primary objective of improving grades in school. To perform well in ICSE papers, students should devote majority of the available time to self-studying. This will help in better and instant understanding of the subjects and lead to a speedy memorization of concepts.
• Study with breaks! In order to break the monotony that is usually a result of long study sessions, it is very essential for students preparing for ICSE papers to inject short breaks in-between their study routines. These short study breaks will help the mind to stay fresh and focused for a longer period. As a result studying for ICSE papers will become easier and also more fun.
• Revise using past year ICSE papers! One of the very important tricks to score well in ICSE papers is to test your knowledge using previous year papers and sample papers. An activity like this helps students assess their preparation levels for the final ICSE papers. As students practice using previous years’ ICSE papers, they can also identify their weak areas and evaluate their time management skills and accordingly work upon it. Students can browse through a lot of websites that provide ICSE curriculum aligned practice and model tests to prepare better for their ICSE papers.
• Eat healthy! The last and the most important tip to score well in ICSE papers is to eat healthy and stay fit. Students should try to increase their intake of fresh fruits and vegetables as it keeps both the body and brain healthy. With ICSE papers approaching, students should restrain themselves from eating food that can hamper their health in any way.

I hope all these tips and tricks will benefit students in many ways and will help make scoring good marks in ICSE papers easy. All the best for your exams!

Help Yourself Learn Chemistry through the Internet

Chemistry is considered a difficult and challenging subject to learn and often causes frustration in students.  In schools, teachers sometimes teach Chemistry in such a way that leaves students feeling lost and confused about the subject. This is the reason that thousands of students are seeking additional help for learning Chemistry.

A couple of years ago, the only way to collect knowledge on any subject was to visit libraries with stocks of thick and heavy books with text printed in uninspiring black. But with the introduction of internet, that scenario has become history. Now, just a click of the mouse can help students find any information   on topics ranging from Electro- chemistry, Chemical Reactions, Thermodynamics to Equilibrium. 

Students can find a number of websites that provide a thorough knowledge on various chapters of Chemistry. They can also find online tutorials and online encyclopedias for static information on the subject. Now-a-days interactive help is also available for students on the internet where students can submit their queries and get their answers. 

Online Help Forums for Chemistry

Online forums are one of the most interesting and innovative ways to get help for Chemistry. Students can enter most Chemistry forums as a guest and can read the questions and answers posted there. However, if the students want to put a question or answer a query, they would have to register themselves as a member. Registrations for such online forums are usually free and involve a simple process that requires very little time. These forums are handled by expert tutors and instructors who have years of experience and a thorough knowledge in their respective fields.

Questions put in online forums are open and can be answered by all registered members. Multiple answers to a single question can help to open up the mind of students to endless possibilities and can help enhance their learning experience. 

Online Chemistry study material for CBSE students 

Students of CBSE boards can find NCERT solutions, CBSE sample papers, CBSE practice papers and much more in numerous websites. After a thorough study of Chemistry NCERT books, students can frame the answers to end-of-chapter questions themselves or find them online at a nominal or no cost. They can also look for definitions, concepts, reactions, structures and nomenclature in these websites which are sometimes supported by audio, video, graphics, animations and PowerPoint presentations for a better conceptual understanding.  

Students can participate in interactive quizzes, tests etc to assess their level of understanding and judge their preparation levels. They can attempt online sample papers, practice tests and revision exercises for a thorough revision. Revision using online sample papers would not only help students in tracing their weaker links but would also assist them in making their hold over such concepts stronger. Time bound sample papers and model papers available online also help students in managing time so that they can complete the questions within the allotted time in the examination. 

Unlike traditional classroom learning with mundane books, online learning is an exhilarating way to learn Chemistry. It not only helps in getting solutions to queries but also aims at the all-round development of students by enhancing their confidence levels.

Online study material for Chemistry, centers on the understanding the core concepts of the subject and improving the problem solving skills of students. If students follow the online study material for Chemistry with dedication, it would no longer be a difficult subject for them.

Tackling CBSE Question Paper

You prepared well, wrote your CBSE Question Paper satisfactorily and accordingly calculated your score to lie somewhere between 75-80%.  But your final results leave you feeling shocked! For no apparent reasons, you seemed to have scored far less than your expectations. Does this not sound familiar too many of you students who are reading this?

Let us try and understand what might have happened. Though you attempted the CBSE Question Paper to the best of your best ability, you might have overlooked some important points while writing the answers to the CBSE Question Paper. Let me spell out a few tips that you can use the next time you write/prepare for your CBSE Question Paper:

1. Read all the instructions carefully and use the 15 minutes allotted for reading the question paper judiciously. While glancing at the CBSE Question Paper, pay attention to key words like ‘elaborate’, ‘classify’, ‘comment’ etc and tailor your answer accordingly.
2. Strictly adhere to the word limit prescribed for the CBSE Question Paper. Many students may not know that marks are deducted for exceeding the word limit. Therefore, the next time you answer a short answer question carrying two marks weightage, there is no point writing unending paragraphs for the same. Try to restrict your answer to 2-3 lines.
3. It is advisable to attempt all the questions in a section at a single go (like section A, B, C) while writing your CBSE Question Paper. Irrespective of the order of the sections, attempt first the section that you are most comfortable with. Doing so will boost your confidence as you smoothly tackle section after section and will set the pace for writing the answers to those tricky questions, as you attempt the CBSE Question Paper.
4. Start by attempting those questions within a section the answers to which you are 100% confident about. A terrific start makes a positive impression on the examiner and there are chances that he/she might just overlook some of your minor mistakes.
5. Students make the common mistake of not marking the question number clearly in their answer sheets while attempting their CBSE Question Paper. An answer like this may go unnoticed by the examiner while checking the CBSE Questions Paper and thereby you may lose precious marks. To avoid such a situation the next time you attempt the CBSE Question Paper highlight the question number in the answer sheet.
6. While answering the comprehension type of questions, especially in the language papers read the whole paragraph first and understand it in totality before attempting to answer. Doing so will help you score better.
7. While attempting your CBSE Question Paper, base your answers on your NCERT text books. For an enhanced conceptual understanding of some topics, you may refer to other books but you will earn more marks if your answers are aligned as per the content in the NCERT books.
8. To avoid skipping a question in the CBSE, ICSE, SSLC question paper, each time you are done with a question, tick off the corresponding question number on the CBSE Question Paper so as to avoid any confusion.
9. Pay special attention to correct spellings, a neat and legible handwriting, a tidy and organized paper etc. as these can fetch you that additional mark or two, that can give you the much needed edge!.

Hope these tips will help you identify and take care of these small but significant details the next time you attempt your CBSE Question Paper.

Perform better with CBSE Sample Papers

CBSE sample papers have always been popular with school students. Extensive revision sessions using CBSE sample papers are often considered as a sure-shot mantra for success in school exams. However, there are many who do not value such mock exam papers. These CBSE sample papers are not only a prototype of the final CBSE papers but are also a tool to assess preparation levels of students for their final exams. Apart from evaluating students’ preparedness for exams, these model papers also act as a tool to help students build confidence for performing well in exams.
 

A majority of students are stressed out before final examinations either because they lack confidence or they are underprepared for exams. Students can practice using these CBSE sample papers to identify their weak links and be fully confident of their preparation for exams. While practicing from CBSE sample papers, students should also evaluate their skills related to managing time so as to be fully sure of a good performance in the exams.

How to make the most of CBSE Sample Papers?
 

Students planning to study from CBSE sample papers are suggested to only start practicing from such mock papers after they are through with their final preparation for exam. This will not only help to evaluate their learning for topics but will also help them identify their weak areas. This will therefore enable them to take timely remediation actions for weak area(s) improvement. However, there are many who study exactly in the reverse order. They start studying by first having a look at the questions in the CBSE sample papers and thereby modifying their learning according to the questions asked in the CBSE sample papers. This approach to studying may help students reap instant benefits, but in long run such style of studying may be highly detrimental for them as it is not a comprehensive approach and will not help them to build a strong foundation of concepts. Such an approach towards studying may be based on rote learning and in some cases cramming and not conceptual understanding. Therefore, students are advised to first go through the chapter(s) and then start referring to such CBSE sample papers.

Online CBSE sample papers & model papers for an excellent score

There are a variety of websites that provide chapter-wise practice papers and full-course model papers/ CBSE sample papers. These chapter-wise and full course tests are completely aligned as per the CBSE curriculum to help students assess their preparation levels thoroughly and accurately. These CBSE sample papers are available in multiple choice question format and descriptive question answer (Q & A) format to add variety into testing. Students can further make their revision sessions thorough by referring to the revision notes available on these websites. These readymade revision notes will help students save some precious time in preparing quality and crisp revision notes.

Students can make use of the notes in the articles to optimize the benefits while revising from the CBSE sample papers.

Quality NCERT Solutions for an excellent performance

Studying from the right kind of NCERT book solutions and rigorous practice sessions can guarantee students a great performance in their final examinations. Students often commit a common mistake of referring to poorly drafted solutions to NCERT book questions that usually results in their poor performance in school exams. Therefore, students who wish to do well in their school exams and want to be sure of complete conceptual clarity should only refer to good quality NCERT book solutions. These end-of-chapter solutions to NCERT book questions not only test students understanding of important concepts in the chapter but also help them build on techniques related to answering different types of questions. 

How to write solutions to NCERT book questions?

While planning to attempt end-of-chapter NCERT questions it is of utter importance for students to first give the chapter a thorough read. After getting acquainted with the concepts that have been covered in the chapter, students should then tackle all the concepts one-by-one. While going through the concepts, students can then choose to highlight important information and/ or make their own notes for quick revision. After doing so, now comes the time to tackle end-of-chapter NCERT questions. While arriving at NCERT book solutions, students should make a mental note of all the important instructions that have been mentioned. Instructions related to word limit for the answers and marks allotted are important instructions that need to be kept in mind while writing the answers. Students should customize their answer as per the requirements of the question. While writing a solution for NCERT book question, students should make sure that all important points related to the question have been covered in the answer. 

This will not only help students arrive at a complete answer but will also help them fetch good marks. Students should support their NCERT book solutions with explanatory diagrams wherever required.

Free solutions for NCERT book questions!

If students choose not to invest so much time and effort in preparing solutions to NCERT book questions and want to seek help from readymade solutions, the following information might cheer them up. There are a few websites that offer NCERT solutions to end-of-chapter questions absolutely free of cost! These websites offer solutions for Maths, Science, English, Hindi, Social Sciences and Sanskrit. These detailed end-of-chapter solutions are accompanied by explanatory videos that use audio and visual cues to help students understand the concept easily. Apart from the quality NCERT solutions, students can also seek help from other learning and assessment resources available at such websites. The learning and assessment solutions available at such website include study material, interactive puzzles, chapter-wise tests, full-course tests, revision notes and lots more. 

After reading this article, I hope that arriving at good quality NCERT book solutions will not be very difficult. Take cues from the article and try your hand at end-of-chapter questions.

Good luck!

CBSE Biology

Do you find studying CBSE Biology from textbooks bland and monotonous? If yes, then I have an interesting piece of information that might cheer you up! Now all you students out there need not study CBSE Biology just from your not-so-interesting textbooks as multimedia enriched study content is here to jazz up your studies. Multimedia enriched learning solutions can not only make studying CBSE Biology interesting for students, but can also simplify complex processes and concepts for effective understanding.

Here are a few interesting points that has made multimedia enriched learning solutions an instant hit amongst CBSE Biology students.

• Animations can be fun! Want to learn CBSE Biology by being a live witness to various biological processes instead of just reading about it in textbooks and are you exploring ways of doing the same? CBSE Biology animation can make your wish come true! Through various CBSE biology animations you can not only view various complex biological processes but can also discover some not-so-known interesting facts about the flora and fauna involved. Did you know that a frog has to go through seven stages before he becomes an adult frog? Through a click you can view all these eight stages of the life cycle of Frog from an egg to a tadpole and lastly to an adult frog. So the next time you find studying any concept in CBSE Biology difficult just look out for these animations online and add of the much required zing to your studies.
• Learn better through videos! One interesting feature of multimedia enriched studies is the availability of different types of subject-aligned videos. How about viewing a real-life video of blossoming of Ocotillo flowers? For all CBSE Biology students, real-life videos like this can be a true blessing. Apart from these real-life videos, there are other video that explains concepts in the same manner as the teacher does in a class. Students can go through these videos as many times as they desire in order ensure thorough understanding of the same.
• A boon for auditory learners! How about listening to an audio file of chirping of all the popular birds while studying about ‘Animal Kingdom’ in your school? Sounds interesting! I am confident that through an exercise like this, the interest levels of students for such topics are bound to raise manifolds. Study material supported with audio-video files like this is one of the USPs of multimedia enriched learning solutions. While studying CBSE Biology, students can choose to support their study material with such audio-video files and make learning a lot interesting and fun.
• Low cost! Unlike other mediums like live experiments, researches etc that can also make studies interesting and fun but with a relatively high price tag attached, this medium of studies is available to the students 24x7 at very low cost. There are various websites that make available multimedia enriched CBSE Biology study content at very low prices. Students can subscribe to these websites and make studying complex processes and concepts in CBSE Biology very interesting.

Students can indulge into these multimedia enriched learning solutions and see their marks go up!

How to prepare for the board papers?

Board papers are usually geared to test the knowledge and preparation levels of students after year long rigorous studies. The board papers not only check a student’s conceptual understanding of key concepts but also test their mettle to stand extreme situations. Students should not get cowed down at any point and take on their board papers with a single minded focus of giving it their best shot.

In order to ensure that students excel in their board papers they should follow this simple three-step process. Doing so will not only help students to effectively plan and structure their studies but will also make their learning smooth and effortless.

Step I- Set goals! While planning for the academic year, students should set their long-term and short-term goals. A long-term goal is what student aspire to achieve after their year-long (or more) hard work. Short-term goals on the other hand can be defined as small steps taken by students towards achieving their ultimate goals. Both the short-term and long-term goals are important for achieving success in board papers. The first step towards formulating short-term goals is to prepare a schedule. Instead of preparing a fresh schedule everytime, students can also choose to follow a schedule template. With minor changes in the template, students can use it on a regular basis. Students preparing for the board paper can make their schedule template an ideal one by incorporating the following points in it.

• The study schedule template should aim to be specific by clearly listing down what to achieve and by what time.
• The schedule template should be flexible with ample scope for accommodating unexpected and unforeseen events.
• The study targets should be realistic that can be achieved within the allocated time.
• The schedule template should incorporate essential breaks for sleeping, relaxation and leisure activities.

Step II- Study Effectively! Setting goals should ideally be followed up with preparing study notes, revision notes, studying etc. These are some essential activities that students are required to undertake, in order to achieve their short-term goals and also score well in board papers. To make the studying activity effective for the final board papers, students should keep the following tips in mind.

• Students should study according to their learning styles and not force themselves to adopt a path that could slow down their pace of learning.
• Students should try to include small breaks while studying as it will help both the mind and the body to stay fresh.
• Students should not stress on cramming and lay emphasis only on understanding the concepts thoroughly.

Students can also seek help from websites that provide curriculum-aligned study material and other study content that can make understanding and studying easy.

Step III- Revise! Students preparing for the board papers should sum up their studies with robust revision sessions. It will not only help students to assess their preparation levels before the examinations but will also allow them to take requisite corrective actions so as to score well in final board papers. Students can follow these following tips to make their revision activity effective.

• Students can choose to revise using self-made or readymade revision notes that will help them obtain a quick overview of the entire chapter.
• Students can also practice concepts using previous year board papers or sample papers and get acquainted with the overall pattern, marking scheme etc.
• Students can also prepare flash cards for an easy recall of difficult points in the chapter.

Students can also surf their way through a few websites that provide a variety of curriculum-aligned revision aids for effective revision before the final board papers.

Now all you students out there preparing for your board papers can go ahead and seek help from these steps for a great score in your exams.

All the best!

How can CBSE class X students improve their reading skills?

A vast syllabus and poor reading skills are two main reasons that make CBSE class X students take to cramming while they prepare for their final exams. Right from the start, students are discouraged both by parents and school teachers from ‘mindless’ cramming and are advised to understand the meaning of the text before they actually try to memorize it. The intention is to improve their reading skills. Good ‘reading skills’ can help students read quickly and grasp the meaning from the written text. Good reading skills also helps develop a good command over the language which makes it easy for students to re-write in their own words. However, very little is actually done to improve the reading skills of students in school. Essentially, a focus towards developing sound reading skills should be maintained from the early years of primary schooling. However, it is never too late for students of CBSE class X to build on their reading skills and score great marks in final examinations.

Now that all you CBSE class X students out there understand the importance of good reading skills, here are a few tips that will help you improve your reading skills.

• Have clear reading goals! Before starting to read, students should set their reading goals clearly. CBSE class X students should first assess their reading objective/s and then should start reading the text. For example, while reading a novel, one is expected to read the entire sentence carefully so as to understand the story as a whole and ensure that he/she is not missing out on any important link. Where as in case of a newspaper report the objective usually is to gather a gist of the event. Likewise, the CBSE class 10 students should keep in mind the objective of the reading exercise and accordingly set their reading goals. The reading goals for a student could possibly range from quickly completing the syllabus to trying to understand the various aspects of a given topic or problem in detail.
• Choose the reading text carefully! While preparing for your CBSE class X board papers, students should practice caution while choosing the book that they are planning to study from. To improve reading skills students should first give the prescribed NCERT book a thorough read. Since the concepts in NCERT books are explained in a very simplified manner, it can be of immense help to students with relatively weak reading skills to make a framework for the concepts. After going through the NCERT book, CBSE class X students may then follow it up with books by publishers on the topic to gain further understanding of the topic.
• Choose your reading technique! While giving the chapter a read, student can choose the reading technique as per their reading goals. If a student needs to pick up details from the text then he/she may read through the entire text using scanning -a process wherein a student scans through the text in detail and then selects the information to study. Skimming, on the other hand is technique that can be employed when one has to read through quickly and efficiently. Under this technique, the CBSE class X student glances through all the text and obtains a quick overview of the topic. In order to improve reading skills, students should choose the reading technique according to the available time and proficiency level that he/she intends to achieve.
• Take notes!  CBSE class X students, who wish to improve their reading skills, should follow up a thorough read of the chapter with preparing personalized notes of the chapter in their own words. Preparing notebook in own words will not only help the student improve his/her understanding of the topic but will also help them learn how to express their thoughts in their own words.  Students can prepare their own revision notes and compare their notes for any inaccuracies with those made available online by a variety of websites.

Now that all you CBSE class X students know how to improve your reading skills, take a go at these tips for a great score.

How to study effectively from free NCERT Solutions?

The one thing that can help students score great marks in the final CBSE examinations is quality NCERT solutions. Students usually find the exercise of writing end-of-chapter NCERT solutions mundane and often try to keep away from it. Writing NCERT solutions with low interest levels can not only hamper the quality of NCERT answers but can also have an adverse effect on the marks obtained by the student in the final CBSE examinations. Therefore, it is very important for the students studying under the CBSE board to practice caution while attempting their NCERT solutions.  To make their NCERT solutions apt for the final examinations, students can also seek help from the free NCERT solutions available online by a variety of websites. These free NCERT solutions will not only help students frame complete and correct answers, but will also help them score great marks in the final CBSE examinations.

However, while referring to these free NCERT solutions it is very important for students to check their NCERT solutions against the ideal NCERT solutions for any inaccuracies. Students should also make sure that their free NCERT solutions have all these essential features to help make their solutions perfectly apt for the final CBSE examinations.

Here is a checklist of the essential features that all you students out there can refer to and ensure that your free NCERT solutions are complete and comprehensive.

• To make the activity of referring to free NCERT solutions quick and smooth, it is very important to first organize the solution sheets chapter-wise and within that page number-wise. To save time and effort, students should only seek help from those websites that provide free NCERT solutions in an organized and systematic manner. This will not only speed-up the process of referring to these NCERT solutions but will also make learning effective.
• While referring to free NCERT solutions available online, students should make sure that each answer is tailored as per the requirements of the question. Studying from NCERT solutions that are not customized as per the instructions in the question can not only hamper students learning process but often can have an adverse impact on their final marks. Therefore, it is very important for students to look out for ‘quality’ NCERT solutions that will make scoring great marks in exams easy.
• For your NCERT solutions to be ‘ideal’ it is very important that the solutions are supported with explanatory videos and value-adding graphics and illustrations, wherever necessary. Neatly drawn and appropriately labeled illustrations and graphics can further promote effective understanding that will enable students write quality answers to score great marks in final examinations.
• Grammatical and language accuracy is a pre-requisite for these solutions to be ideal. While referring to the free NCERT solutions, students should make it a point to check these solutions with respect to the grammar and language used. If students come across any error with respect to the above mentioned fields, it is advisable that students should suspect the accuracy of the solutions in general.

Having listed all the essential points to be kept in mind while referring to the free NCERT solutions, it is advisable that the next time students seek help from any free NCERT solution available online they look for these features and ensure a great score in the final examinations.

NCERT Science Books- Stressing on Sequential Growth

The driving philosophy of NCERT while drafting the NCERT Science curriculum and books has always been to provide students with education material that is ‘true to life, true to child and true to science’. The NCERT has been publishing NCERT Science text books with content that reflects this philosophy.

To make the process of conceptual understanding and learning systematic, NCERT has divided the entire NCERT Science curriculum from grade 1 to XII into various levels. These levels focus on the progressively incremental nature of the knowledge acquiring process that emphasizes a sequential building of concepts. A learning process that is sequential in nature helps students  understand the concepts easily and also leads to a better retention of the studied material as it fits into the knowledge schema that already exists with the child. This helps  students to efficiently master all important concepts particularly in the in sciences and maths.

At the first level, that is the primary level, the focus is on ‘exploration’. Here the students are encouraged to explore the world. Through the various activities and practical exercises in the NCERT Science books, the students are encouraged to gain knowledge through hands-on experience. For example in the primary classes while teaching about trees, the students are asked to collect different type of leaves and prepare a scrap book with the names of each of the leaves.

Once a student passes through the first level the next is the upper primary level. Here the stress is on learning by involving the students in group discussions with peers, performing simple experiments etc. Under the ‘Extended Learning’ activities in NCERT Science books, the students are guided to explore more information about the topics already studied. Once the required information is gathered a classroom discussion following it helps to concretizing the learning and fills the gaps. A group discussion facilitates easy exchange of information. For example, in the NCERT Science book for Class VII an activity in the Chapter ‘Nutrition in Plants’, asks students to visit a greenhouse and observe how plants are raised. They are also asked to collect additional information on the regulation of light, water and CO2 and discuss the same with the classmates.

The next level is the secondary level. Under this level the onus is on learning through advanced modules of learning in NCERT Science books. Various initiatives such as the National Talent Search Exam, National Science Exhibitions etc are also organized to assess the grasp of theoretical principles and their practical applications. For competitions like these, the entire syllabus is based on the NCERT Science curriculum.

Fourth and the last level is the higher secondary level. In this level, Science is promoted and taught as a discipline. Under this last level, Science as a composite subject is bifurcated into three to four different subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology. Students studying NCERT Science take up their respective streams and combinations. The NCERT Science Books for these classes focuses on helping students master each subject individually so that students pursue higher studies in Science and may even take up the field of Science professionally.

NCERT Revision Notes

With NCERT revision notes in place, scoring great marks in final CBSE exams will not be that difficult! Preparing NCERT revision notes that are in sync with the ideal revision notes can not only make the act of revising easy but can also help in speeding up the pace of revision. However, it is very important for students to be cautious while preparing NCERT revision notes. Students should not only make sure that their NCERT revision notes are in the desired pattern but also ensure that are only referred to after the completion of the entire course.

Here are a few tips for all you students out there to help you arrive at NCERT revision notes that can be considered ‘ideal’.

• Keep it crisp! While preparing the NCERT revision notes, students should make sure that they are crisp and brief. The NCERT revision notes should include all the important points in the chapter in a very crisp manner. While preparing NCERT revision notes, students usually commit a common mistake of preparing lengthy and elaborate notes. NCERT revision notes like these won’t suffice the purpose for which these notes are actually made.  Essentially, these revision notes are prepared for a quick glance before the final examination. Preparing notes that are lengthy won’t help students with a quick look at the entire chapter. Therefore, while preparing the NCERT revision notes students should make sure that are brief highlights of the chapter only.
• Bulleted format works! NCERT revision notes that are in bulleted format will any day score over the revision notes in paragraph format. Students should practice enough care to make sure that these NCERT revision notes facilitate an easy read for quick understanding. The NCERT revision notes in bulleted format essentially lends an ‘any-time read’ feel to this written document, as a result one can glance through all the important points in the chapter even while on they are on a move.
• Keep it organized! Students should prepare NCERT revision notes on loose sheets rather than hard-bound thick note books. It will not only help make the activity of managing and organizing the NCERT revision notes easy for the students but will also enable them to refer to these notes quite often. Instead of carrying the entire notebook of NCERT revision notes, students can choose the chapters they wish to revise and only carry notes for the same.
• Seek help from online curriculum aligned notes! For students who have a lot of other academic activities to perform and are facing dearth of time can refer to the NCERT revision notes available online. There are a variety of websites that provide curriculum aligned NCERT revision notes. These NCERT revision notes are supported by videos and illustrations that can be easily downloaded as they are available in PDF format. Apart from these notes, these websites also provide CBSE aligned study material, practice tests, model tests, formative assessments, puzzles etc.

Ideally, students should only refer these NCERT revision notes once they are through with their studies. Students should seek help from these notes solely for revision purposes.

NCERT Questions

A study guide can give answers to the NCERT questions but seldom can it do justice to the length and breadth of the syllabus for a given subject! Students often consider writing the solutions to the NCERT questions as wasteful time-consuming and futile activity. However, a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the NCERT questions and its utility can change their existing notions.

NCERT questions are typically the questions printed at the end of the chapters in the NCERT text books. Sometimes, questions by other private publishers based on the content in the NCERT text books may also be referred to as the NCERT questions. The end-of-chapter NCERT questions are made available in array of formats with the purpose to accelerate students’ pace of conceptual understanding. Therefore, while writing answers to the NCERT questions students should try to attempt all the questions since doing so will help them gain a thorough understanding of all the concepts present in the NCERT textbooks and give them the opportunity to assess their understanding of the said topics.

Apart from the overall understanding of concepts in the chapter, most of the problems that are asked in the CBSE board papers too are either from these end-of-chapter NCERT questions or are based on the topics addressed in them. For subjects such as Social Sciences and for some topics in Science these NCERT questions are hot favourites for the examination paper setters. It has been further observed that for application oriented subjects such as Maths and Physics the questions posed in the CBSE board papers may be loosely based on the NCERT questions–often the core concept being tested remaining the same, with variations in the values therein.. Therefore, all the students out there who are preparing for their class X and class XII CBSE board papers better take these NCERT questions seriously!

Students should essentially start tackling these NCERT questions once they are through with the entire chapter. A thorough understanding of the concepts in the chapter will help students frame conceptually correct and complete answers. If possible students should try to support their answers to these NCERT questions with neat and well labeled illustrations. While writing answers to the NCERT questions, students should also stick to the prescribed word limit.

While attempting these questions, students can seek help from the readymade NCERT solutions booklet. However, students should be cautioned to use the solution booklet as a reference book only. Complete dependence on such readymade material could be detrimental for students learning as it could hinder the ability of students to comprehend text and write answers in their own words. While seeking help from these readymade solutions booklets for NCERT questions, students should look for the following factors: clarity in language, , relevance to the chapter, word limit etc. There are various websites that provide free NCERT solutions to the NCERT questions for classes VI- XII.

So go ahead and use these free NCERT solutions to improve your grades.

Wishing you all the very best for exams!

NCERT Online

NCERT goes online! The NCERT textbooks can now be viewed online. Even a decade back something like this would have been difficult to imagine.

The NCERT was set up way back in 1961 by the Government of India as an autonomous organization to assist and advise the centre and state on policies related to education and help in the implementation of the same. Over the years, the council has increasingly taken on the role of the introducing innovations in the field of education in areas of reforms and curriculum framework.

The NCERT online textbooks have made life easier for a lot of students. The availability of online NCERT textbooks has taken the student-focussed educational initiatives of NCERT to new heights. The NCERT as an organization is not new to initiatives in the area of educational technology.  The Central Institute of Educational Technology set up in 1984 is a constituent organization under NCERT that undertakes several technology-based educational initiatives. The knowledge explosion of the last decade has enabled a situation where the knowledge-base doubles every 2-3 years (source: UNESCO “ICT in Teacher Education”). The Council’s decision to introduce NCERT online textbooks can also be rightfully viewed as a first step towards weaving knowledge in a multi-disciplinary fashion.

With the introduction of online NCERT textbooks the Council has made an effort to make the source of learning more flexible than the traditional ones. The driving force behind a move like this may well be the increasing awareness that knowledge does not come from a central source, but that it actually emanates from all around us. The move to make available online NCERT textbooks is a step that recognizes the huge potential of the internet.

As expected, the NCERT online textbooks are a huge hit with both students and teachers. The students can now easily access the textbooks for all classes from class I to class XII. They are free to read these NCERT textbooks online or download them for free, as they are available in PDF format. Each chapter is available as a separate PDF file and can be opened by clicking on the chapter title in the table of contents. With the textbooks going online, students who were previously likely to use ‘non-availability of textbooks’ as an excuse for their poor performance in schools, now had no one to blame but themselves! So, it was time to dig in their heels and study. That is a good job done by NCERT online textbooks!

Cheers!

NCERT Maths Solution

If calculating and arriving at the NCERT Maths solutions is an uphill task for you then this article could make your life easy!  Students studying under the CBSE or for that matter any other board usually find practicing Maths problems a strenuous and challenging exercise. They may even often try to keep away from practicing Maths and calculating NCERT Maths solutions for the end-of-chapter questions for as long as they can. 

Here are a few tips for all you students out there on how to enjoy doing NCERT Maths by learning some fun and innovative ways that can help make the process of obtaining NCERT Maths solutions easy.

• Short-cuts can make your life easy! Students who have still not been introduced to the world of mathematical short-cuts have no idea what they are missing out on. These mathematical short-cuts are nothing less than magic that can do wonders with your ability of doing mental calculations. Within seconds you can perform complex divisional and multiplication calculations and leave your class and teachers awestruck. These short-cuts use some basic and not much popular principles that help in speedy and accurate calculation of questions to arrive at NCERT Maths solution. 
• Vedic mathematics can also help! Vedic mathematics is actually an ancient system of mathematical calculations, where functions are performed on the basis of sutras as propagated in this ancient system. While arriving at the NCERT Maths solutions, students can make use of the short-cuts available in this Vedic system of calculations. Once through with understanding the system of sutras students are also equipped to start inventing and devising their own new ways of simplifying complex calculations. This activity of learning and experimenting with simpler ways of performing complex calculations and arriving at NCERT Maths solution can make understanding and learning activity extremely fun. Apart from simplifying calculations, the interest level of students for a subject like Maths is likely to go increase manifolds.
• Music can make a difference for some! While tackling the Maths problems and arriving at the NCERT Maths solutions, some students choose to play some soft music in the background. Researches have suggested that listening to music before or while studying can considerably improve the pace of processing of information in the brain. Listening to music without lyrics i.e. ambience music while studying helps soothe and relax the mind and thereby enhancing learning. However, be warned! While listening to music works for some, it may not work for others. So do exercise your own honest judgement. 
• Surf for free NCERT Maths solutions! Students studying under the CBSE board can refer to a few websites that provide free NCERT Maths solutions. These free NCERT Maths solutions tackle all the end-of-chapter problems. The free NCERT Maths solutions by these websites not only explain the answer in textual format but are also occasionally accompanied with videos explaining the various steps involved in detail.

Now that all you students out there know how to make arriving at the NCERT Maths solution fun, go ahead and try out these interesting ways.

All the best for your exams!

A Closer Look at NCERT Delhi

CBSE students everyday come across NCERT books for almost all subjects. The last thing that occurs to anyone while flipping through the pages of these text books is ‘to think about NCERT Delhi- as the organization behind the books’! In this article I attempt to take you through a ride that will introduce the various aspects of the organization and try to showcase the vastness of its services.

NCERT Delhi has been working for over for over 48 years in line with its endeavour to provide students with quality educational material. NCERT Delhi was set up by Government of India as an autonomous organization for advising and assisting Central and State Governments on policies and programme related matters in the field of school education.

At present the NCERT Delhi has a host of departments and units, each of which perform their specialized functions. There is a department each for areas such as Elementary Education, Teacher Education, Arts and Aesthetic, Science & Maths, Social Studies & Humanities. The department of Educational Psychology and Foundations of Education under NCERT Delhi conducts an international level counselor training course in addition to undertaking psychological testing and other activities.  Interestingly, the NCERT Delhi also has specialized departments that are dedicated to the Special Needs group and to Women’s Studies! As you can guess, the department responsible for your school textbooks—the Publication department—is only one of the several departments housed within the NCERT!

From the time that it was set up to the present, a period of over four decades, has witnessed NCERT Delhi diversifying into various areas within the field of education. Apart from formulating policies and publishing NCERT Text Books, NCERT Delhi also publishes other material like journals, recreational books for children and non-curriculum based educational books. The National Talent Search Exam conducted by NCERT Delhi is very popular amongst school students. NCERT Delhi also prepares the curriculum for CBSE schools across the world, conducts periodic educational surveys and teacher training workshops. So you see, NCERT really does a lot more than just publishing your text books!

As per the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework 2005, NCERT Delhi has taken a paradigm shift from a ‘teacher-centric’ design to a ‘learner-centric’ flexible process. Under this shift, efforts are also made by NCERT Delhi to take learning beyond the four walls of the classroom into a wider social context. As a result a host of innovative changes have been introduced in the NCERT text books. Features like ‘Activity and Project’, ‘Did you knows’, quizzes etc are some initiatives in that direction. Changes like these have given a fresh lease of life to the previously ‘not so interesting’ NCERT text books.

So the next time you open your NCERT text books, it will probably be easier for you to appreciate the team effort by the various departments in the organization towards making your school years fruitful. 

Fun-to-learn NCERT Books

I still remember the times in school when I used to line up before the Book Shop to buy a copy of an NCERT textbook. Even in those days a lot of reference and other books were available, but the NCERT Book was a ‘must have’.  And it amuses me to see that the scenario has still not changed much! Even today students queue up before the book shops at the start of each session to be among the privileged early birds to own a copy of the NCERT (prescribed) Books.

A little background about the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is in place. The NCERT provides academic and technical support to Central and State Governments for all matters related to school and education. Each year NCERT comes out with NCERT Text Books for classes I to XII, Educational CD’s, Non-Text Books, a multitude of Journals and Childrens’ Books on a range of topics. NCERT through its host of books, attempts to cover all the essential topics and subjects for students studying under CBSE. 

Time and again efforts are made by NCERT to introduce innovative features in its books that make learning fun and schooling a happy experience. Its recent initiative to make the NCERT (text) books available online is one such endeavour. The latest editions of the NCERT Books for all grades are based on the National Curriculum Framework, 2005. These NCERT Books introduce fun and interactive ways of learning. Many features like ‘Boojho and Paheli’, ‘Extensive Learning-Activities and Projects’, ‘What You Can Do?’, ‘Talk About It’ etc in these NCERT books are some of things that catch my attention as I glance through these textbooks .  Simple practical activities suggested in these textbooks help to weave the concepts into the learners’ everyday experiences and makes learning integral to the entire process. Such an approach makes learning trouble-free and goes a long way to infuse a fresh dose of fervour in the entire teaching-learning process. This is a good attempt is to do away with the practice of tedious bookish learning.  

Additionally, I would also like to point out that the language in the latest NCERT Books is simple to understand and the concepts are presented in a manner that makes for effortless comprehension. The text in the NCERT Books is supported by colourful photographs, cartoons, illustrations, and interesting blurbs that do not necessitate the rote method of learning.

This is not all! Students have yet another very important reason to study from these exciting and fun-to-learn NCERT books—apart from the attractive features in NCERT Books, all the questions in the CBSE board exams are based on NCERT Books, or are built around the concepts in NCERT Books!

Wishing happy studying to all!

How to Write Good NCERT Answers

While writing the NCERT answers, students sometimes adopt a casual approach to this important end-of-chapter exercise. Many also consider it a futile activity. Through their laid-back attitude students, thus undermine the advantages of writing quality NCERT answers.

Many students may not have realized, but their approach to the NCERT answers can make a lot of difference in their final scores. These days, most of the questions in CBSE board exams are either a part of these NCERT questions list at the end of the chapter and/or are based on the concepts covered in these questions. This fact further reiterates the importance of quality NCERT answers.  Apart from the quality, it is important that while writing NCERT answers students learn to modify their answers keeping in mind the specific key words in the questions such as ‘Explain’,’ Classify’, ‘Differentiate’ etc. Certain subject-specific points should also be kept in mind as the student goes about writing the NCERT answers. Here are certain points that need to be kept in mind while drafting the answers for different subjects.

• Maths:- While working on any mathematical problems, accuracy is of utter importance. The answers calculated by the student during the practice sessions should be immediately checked with the available NCERT answer list at the end of all the chapters. Also as you work your way through the questions, your NCERT answers should incorporate all the necessary steps that are essential to arrive at the solution. Usually students miss out on writing the ‘in-between’ steps. This may sometimes result in the deduction of marks. Apart from the questions that are available in the exercises at the back of the NCERT textbooks, students should not miss out on the solved examples at the start of each chapter. An interesting observation is that these solved examples top in some of the examiners ‘must ask’ question list!
• English:- Readymade NCERT answers for end-of-chapter English questions are available by a lot of publishers. Publishers usually write these NCERT answers keeping in mind the learning outcomes a student is expected to achieve in a certain grade. However, it must be pointed out that by simply reproducing these NCERT answers verbatim on your answer sheets won’t fetch you great marks. Examiners look for original use of words and expressions and favour the attempt to explore new ideas. Therefore, while writing NCERT answers in the final examinations, try to be original. Read the chapter thoroughly and write the answers to the questions in your own words. Self-composed, grammatically correct answers will help a student obtain more marks than merely reproducing the readymade NCERT answers from the solution booklet.
• Science:- Before working on the NCERT answers for any of the subjects in Science, achieving a thorough conceptual understanding of the topic in question is very important. Students should lay emphasis on understanding the concept and only then move on to drafting the answers. The NCERT answers to the questions should be accompanied by correctly labeled and neatly drawn diagrams wherever necessary. This will fetch additional marks in comparison to an answer that is not accompanied by any supporting diagrams and illustrations. Sticking to the prescribed word limit while writing NCERT answers is another important point that needs to be kept in mind.
• Social Sciences:- While writing NCERT answers for a subject like History, students usually think that a lengthy and verbose answer is what the examiner is looking for.  However, this is not the case. Precise and complete answers within the prescribed word limits, that cover all relevant points is considered an ideal NCERT answer.

So the next time you write NCERT answers, keep in mind these points. I am positive that these tips will guide you to write better NCERT answers and will result in an improved overall performance in exams.

How to frame quality NCERT answers?

Students studying under the CBSE board often unable to frame quality NCERT answers to the end-of-chapter NCERT questions. They consider the exercise of framing NCERT answers as tedious, tiring and time consuming. A very thought like this, undermines the importance of this chapter-end exercise. It is imperative for students to understand that a majority of questions asked in the final CBSE examinations are in accordance to the question pattern prescribed in these NCERT books. Therefore, in order to score great marks in the final examination students should give the required emphasis while framing NCERT answers to the end-of-chapter exercise.

Here are a few tips for all the students who face difficulty in framing NCERT answers. These tips will help students frame quality answers and that too with ease.

• Before starting to write the NCERT answers, students should first thoroughly go through the chapter and highlight the important points under each topic. An exercise like this will help students get a hang of the chapter and will also equip them with key points that could make the task of writing NCERT answers easy!
• Once through with reading the chapter thoroughly and highlighting the key points, the next important step is to understand the question and accordingly write the answer. In order to write NCERT answers that can fetch students their dream score, students should first analyze various aspects in the question closely. Writing NCERT answers as per the requirements of the question can help students arrive at solutions that can make scoring in the final examinations very easy. To help students learn how to analyze a question here are a few pointers
• Before starting to write the NCERT answer, students should carefully read the instruction in the question and accordingly tailor their answer. The approach towards attempting to answers should ideally vary on the basis of the key word in the question such as ‘classify’, ‘compare and contrast’, ‘elucidate’ etc.
• While framing NCERT answers students should lay maximum emphasis on the main subject in the question. For example in a question like- ‘Enumerate the measures taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to curb the problem of female infanticide in Rajasthan?’ The main subject is ‘the problem of female infanticide’. Therefore, while answering, students should build the introduction to their answers and the main content around this subject.
• Students should also not miss out on the other significant information in the question. In the above example, all relevant measures taken should be pointed only in the context of Rajasthan and not any other state. Doing so will help them score good marks
• If students choose not to invest so much s NCERT answers, they can seek help from the free NCERT solutions available by a variety of websites. The free NCERT answers provided in these websites follow the guidelines prescribed by the NCERT and the CBSE. These NCERT answers are further supported by relevant illustrations that can make understanding easy.

So what are you waiting for! Go ahead with framing your NCERT answers and score top marks in your exams.