Class 10 Physics Exam

Class 10 is a crucial part of our life where the mark of this examination plays a significant role in our higher studies and even careers. It is important that it is taken pretty seriously and prepared for properly. Let us take a look at the preparations and how to make class 10 physics notes for the same.

Refer to the syllabus:

First and foremost is to look into the syllabus of the topics. This is usually published by the CBSE board (or any other board) on the official website. The chapters and the units and their weightage should also be looked at. The most preferred book is the NCERT textbook. This should be studied as thoroughly as possible, line by line and understood well. Only then should you move to the other reference books. 

If any concept is too difficult to understand from the textbook, do not hesitate to ask the teachers or even look for additional reading material online. There are many YouTube videos that explain concepts in an easy manner. 

Reading the textbook

While reading the textbook, make sure you have a pencil or a highlighter at hand. In the first reading, mark all the important points from each topic. This includes laws, concepts, formulae and even graphs and diagrams.

At the end of the chapter, make notes of these important points in your own words. Use as much of diagrammatic representation as possible. This makes it easy at the time of revision and also helps in recollection.

Understand your purpose of making notes

For each person, note-making is for a different purpose. Some of us learn by writing, some learn by drawing. Some of us make notes simply to stay focussed while reading and some of us make notes to make our second and third revisions easier. Figure out your methodology of study so that you can make notes accordingly. Either way, when you look at them during revision, they will help in recollection, and this will in turn help in the exam. 

Quick glances

Start writing important formulae and definitions on a separate sheet of paper. These specifically consist of things that need to be memorized. If you look at the physics syllabus, there are so many different formulae, graphs and even derivations that require you to learn them as they are. Some may require understanding but ultimately, they need to be memorized. Whenever you have additional time, make sure you take a look at them, and this will be way easier to memorize than if you try to do them at one go. This can also be useful for glances whenever you are stuck.

Techniques of note-making

While making notes for future reference, keep in mind that these are meant for as quick a revision as possible. Within a glance, you must be able to revise all the important points and volatile points that are a part of the subject. 

Some of the commonly used techniques are:

  1. Making flow charts and mind maps. The entire chapter can be summarised in this method, and this is one of the best ways to recap quickly. There isn’t much detail under each chart, but the word alone will help you remember the concept that you have read before.
  2. Colour-coding. While making notes for a particular topic, use a specific-coloured pen for that concept. For example, you can use a red pen for all the derivations pertaining to work, energy and power. This will subconsciously register in your brain and will help in recollection. Using different colours will also make the notes much more attractive and will make you want to look back into them and read them later.
  3. Tabular columns.  Writing concepts that are quite similar but have specific differences into tabular columns will greatly help in understanding and comparing easily. For example, the moment of inertia for different shapes can easily be studied by making a tabular column. This makes it very easy for a quick glance while revising.
  4. Descriptive notes. These are mostly applicable for reasoning and theoretical topics. Write the most important and relevant topics as bullet points under the main heading and this will be very easy for you to glance through later. It also helps to remember lengthy answers very easily.

Notes within the textbook.

Along with the highlighting and underlining of matter within the text, you can also make short notes in the textbook. For this, use post-its or sticky notes and jot down important points right next to the relevant text. This could include extra formulae, examples, solutions for numerical problems or even doubts or questions that you had while reading.

Page markers are also a great tool to demarcate a certain page in the textbook that you would like to come back to. This is particularly useful for derivations and graphs.

Diagrams and graphical representation

One of the most important parts of note-making is drawing diagrams. For physics, the ray diagrams, circuit diagrams, diagrams in magnetism are all important, both for the exam and for self-learning. You can even make diagrams for concepts that seem tricky, based on your imagination, just for personal reference. This image will stay in the memory for much longer than textual matter.

Keep it simple.

One of the biggest mistakes people make while making and using notes for the exam is assuming that it needs to be the best of all textbooks. In this fix, we end up referring to multiple books and look through way too much information. Most of the time, this extra information is not only unnecessary but also ends up confusing us. Stick to the standard NCERT textbook and only when some concepts are difficult to understand, look at other sources for information and note it down. This is usually more than enough.

These are the tips on how to make great notes that would be of a huge help while learning and revising for the exam. Get started on your preparation and come out with flying colours!