10th Standard Board Examination or SSC, a popularly fear-inducing term as perceived by all students is set to shed its dreadful and scary image from this year onwards. According to the latest changes made in the syllabus and the paper pattern, 10th-standard students can now breathe a great sigh of relief. The reason for this is that the academic curriculum is moving away from rote learning towards application-based learning in quite a steadfast manner. The focal point of all Std. 10th books will be on the development of a robust concept base within students. This is in stark contrast to the way things were done previously.

Let us talk about the first subject, 10th Std. English books will play an instrumental role in the development of comprehension skills among students. The whole idea is to help students derive the most important information by way of understanding instead of the age-old method of mugging up. This is the case with many other subjects such as Marathi, Hindi and so on. Gone are the days when students would be asked straightforward questions. In lieu of making the learning process quite easy to understand, the questions will be asked in a manner to test the conceptual understanding of 10th Std. students.

Here is an example of the difference in questions:

Previously asked a question: Draw a diagram and label it

New question: Make a concept diagram and give its explanation

Diagrams play a role of great importance when it comes to the 10th standard examination. The kind of weightage that was given to diagrams before, many students spent hours practising them and yet ended up making quite silly mistakes, which greatly affected their Std. 10th result. In accordance with the latest paper pattern and the changes in the syllabus, diagrams hold almost the same amount of importance as they did previously. At the same time if you happen to be a student looking to get excellent marks as part of their Std. 10th result, there are a few things you must understand.

Following are the type of diagrams that questions may be asked upon in the examination:

  1. Neatly labelled diagram from your 10th Science book
  2. Properly constructed diagrams from your 10th  Maths book
  3. Flowcharts, Graphs,  Maps (these need to be filled in) from you 10th  Social Science books (Geography as well as History & Political Science)

A few things to remember when it comes to diagrams in your 10th standard books that will help you prepare for an excellent Std. 10th result:

  1. Diagrams or diagram-based questions will be asked majorly in five subjects. These are Geography, Science and Technology Part 1 and 2 as well as Mathematics Part 1 and 2
  2. Most of the questions will not just involve diagrams but will be part theory based
  3. Direct questions that will not be asked, rather those questions which will test your knowledge of the application may be asked
  4. More emphasis is to be laid upon understanding a diagram as opposed to memorising the process of how the figure is constructed
  5. An important part of your preparation is the practice of labelling the diagram. Don't underestimate the impact that may have on your Std. 10th result.

Now that we have had a bird's eye view of how diagrams will play a greatly important role in your SSC board Exams, let us look at them from a more detailed perspective.

How will diagrams/ graphs play an important role in Std 10th Geography?

When it comes to Std. 10th Geography, majorly the questions asked will pertain to Graphs. Students will get to choose between a question wherein they have to draw the graph and answer three questions. This question will fetch them up to 15% marks out of the total marks that the question paper will account for.  Find a Std 10th Geography book which will help you get a grip on all such questions.

How will diagrams/ figures play an important role in Std 10th Science?

The Maharashtra board has made a novel decision to move away from questions which will involve diagrams directly taken out of the Std. 10th Science book. If we look at the previous year's question paper, nowhere would we be able to find a straight-out question prompting students to draw and label a diagram. Rather students will have to prepare their answers in a manner to satisfactorily tackle questions. These questions will broadly range from 'Draw a figure and give an explanation, 'Correct the given diagram and explain 'Make a concept diagram and give explanations' etc. Thus opting for an Std 10th Science book which complements your Science textbook would be the right way to go about it.

How will diagrams/ construction figures play an important role in Std 10th Maths?

Std. 10th Maths books are divided into two parts namely, Mathematics Part 1 and Part 2 covering Algebra and Geometry respectively. As a part of the question paper, students will be expected to answer questions which may fetch them close to 5 marks from the total. These questions won't be directly asked and will mainly be under the headers such as 'Draw a diagram from the given information', 'Complete the given flowchart' and so on.  Apart from this, the inclusion of a diagram in every relevant question will also help students pocket some valuable marks. While your Maths textbooks will help you understand but at the same time Std. 10th Maths books will provide a great impetus to the process of your study.

Thus, it can be inferred that diagrams do play an important role when it comes to ensuring your Std. 10th result is greatly positive. Similarly, it is important to find books which emphasise greatly the diagrams, flowcharts and figures to help you study and prepare effectively. Our 10th standard books come greatly equipped with all the features that emphasise both theories as well as diagrams in order to help you prepare for the SSC Boards. Our IQB (Important Question Bank) Series of books help students greatly as they come with proper segregation of questions equipped with relevant diagrams to study from. So give diagrams great importance and check out our books to crack the SSC Boards in an excellent manner.