The National Science Olympiad (NSO) is an annual competitive exam conducted at the school level by the Science Olympiad Foundation. Students from grade 1st to the 12th are eligible to appear for this exam. You can easily register for the 1st level exam using the registration forms sent to your school along with the prospectus if your school is registered with the Science Olympiad Foundation. If not, your school can easily apply for the same by sending an email to the Science Olympiad Foundation.
Once registered, you are free to appear for this annual science extravaganza intended to test students’ logical skills along with their conceptual knowledge. The exam is conducted only in the English language. If you are also looking forward to appearing for NSO 2019, we present here some helpful tips for your preparation:
Understand the NSO exam pattern
For students from the 1st to 10th grade, the question papers consist of around 35 to 50 MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions), divided into three broad sections – logical reasoning, science, and achievers’ section. Each section comprises of questions that require you to apply the basic concepts learnt during your academic year to find logical solutions for the same. Thus, this exam requires a more thorough and all year-round preparation from your side.
Enroll for a course
Managing school, board and competitive exam preparation simultaneously can be really tiresome for the students. To ease the pressure, you can join an online course for NSO where you can attend the classes at the convenience of your home. Further, it helps you get guidance from experienced teachers, get answers to your doubts and regularly check your progress through assignments and tests given by the teachers.
Pay attention
Yes, we know how hard it can be to actually take your school classes seriously without getting distracted by a thousand other things. However, to fare well in an Olympiad exam like the NSO, you need to keep your head in the game throughout your academic year. This doesn’t mean you need to cut down on the time you spend on your extracurricular activities instead, you need to stay focused while studying. Having a firm grip on the basic concepts as per your academic syllabus is a must.
This happens because the NSO doesn’t just test your conceptual knowledge but actually focuses on how well you are able to apply this acquired knowledge to solve questions using your logical reasoning skills. Thus, if you plan on appearing for this exam, you need to ensure that you are well versed with all your school books and keep practising online mock tests to regularly check your understanding level of different topics.
Get the right study material
To prepare efficiently for Olympiad exams, buying the right study material is the first step. If done right, the rest of the ride can be a piece of cake. It goes without saying that you need to cover every single topic in your NCERT, CBSE, or ICSE textbooks. However, students of higher classes should also buy books like MTG class-wise books, OSDS (Olympiad Skill Development System) to help them prepare effectively for the big day.
Along with such books, you can also take of online learning resources like e-Books, recorded video lectures etc. These additional resources help you understand difficult topics that you missed in the class. Further, some platforms also provide the facility of online doubt resolutions, using which you can get answers from the experienced teachers. This makes a great option for the students who hesitate to ask questions in the classroom.
Brace yourself for the impact!
The most important aspect of preparing for a National Science Olympiad, regardless of the class you are enrolled in, is to understand the level of questions you will be facing. Not only will you be facing questions that are more conceptual than any you have ever faced but also these questions will require your absolute focus and complete clarity of all the basic concepts.
Thankfully, with the easy access to the internet, you can now easily find a large number of online practice tests to prepare for any competitive exam. Just make sure, you solve tests on a platform that also provides answer keys, performance analysis reports and solutions as it helps in understanding the mistakes and improving the same.
Thus, as you can see – the best way to approach competitive exams like NSO is to create a routine that focuses on overall preparation and allows you to spend time understanding the concepts thoroughly.
