Designing a comprehensive syllabus for a "Geography Optional Enrichment with Test Series" would involve covering a wide range of topics within the discipline of geography. Here's a suggested syllabus structure:
Physical Geography
Human Geography
Regional Geography
Environmental Geography
Geographical Thought
Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing:.
Geography of India.
Current Affairs and Contemporary Issues
Test Series:
This syllabus aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of various aspects of geography while also preparing students for the optional paper in competitive exams. It's important to periodically update the syllabus to reflect changes in the field and ensure relevance to contemporary issues.
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How should one prepare for the Geography Optionals, if he has already done his foundation learning? Ideally, a student must have revised his basic synopsis 3-4 times, written a lot of answers, and completed all the static portions before attempting any mock test. But, what if these things have not been done beforehand? Our Geography Optional Mains Support Program with Test Series is not a CRASH Course - claiming to complete the syllabus by teaching from basics. Rather, the focus is on a lot of answer-writing practice according to the trend and pattern of PYQs. Hence, the structure is such that before giving the Mock Test, you read and revise Practice questions based on PYQ with their model answers to help you write with confidence in the real exam.
First rule of presentation:Maps and Diagrams in every question of Geography Optional Mains. Sometimes one map or diagram per page. Ensure that the diagrams are relevant for Geography Mains Questions, although maps can be drawn in almost all questions where the scope of a diagram is not there.
Example: 1. In the question on religious minorities in border states, draw a map of India shading the border states, UTs and cities in which there are religious minorities.
2. In characteristics of biological deserts, draw a world map showing deep ocean regions, Artic and Antarctic region.
3. Intensity of energy crisis varies regionally. Explain. In this question draw a world map with demarcations as Regions of Severe Crisis, Moderate Crisis and Low Crisis.
Second rule of presentation: Incorporate both physical and human dimensions of Geography Optional Mains content in most questions. Except for core questions like Geographical Thought, try to provide a human angle in questions of physical nature.
Example - A question on difference between Himalayan and Peninsular Drainage can be enriched by mentioning the difference in cropping pattern and industrial use of drainage water at the end. This also gives the answer an administrative orientation which is marks fetching. A pure geographical orientation is required in only a few topics. Rest of the paper, especially Paper 2 should be attempted by an administrative
- geographical perspective.
Third rule of presentation: Write answers along the lines of Geography optional syllabus such as terrain, drainage (Geomorphology), climate (Climatology), soil or vegetation (Biogeography), environmental issues (Env Geo), Human geography parts such as population and
settlement, agriculture and industries (Economic Geography), development and planning etc. Thus you can generate 7-8 points on a general topic. This will not only help in incorporating the human angle but will also provide enough diversity and content in most questions
Any aspirant with Geography as an Optional subject and targeting 2025 exam.