SST Syllabus Class 10 CBSE: Every Chapter and Its Marks

SST syllabus class 10 CBSE: marks for each book

Each of the four books carries 20 marks in the board paper. The map questions are counted inside history and geography.

Internal assessment is made up of periodic tests, multiple assessment through an interdisciplinary project, a portfolio and a subject enrichment project. Your school decides the exact schedule within CBSE rules.

History chapters

1. The Rise of Nationalism in Europe: the French Revolution and the idea of the nation, the making of nationalism in Europe, the age of revolutions, the unification of Germany and Italy, visualising the nation, nationalism and imperialism.
2. Nationalism in India: the First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation, the differing strands within the movement, towards Civil Disobedience, and the sense of collective belonging.
3. The Making of a Global World: the pre-modern world and the nineteenth century world economy; the board paper takes only the opening subtopics, and the rest goes to the interdisciplinary project.
4. The Age of Industrialisation: for periodic tests only, not for the board exam.
5. Print Culture and the Modern World: the first printed books, print in Europe, the print revolution, reading mania, print in India, religious reform and public debate, new forms of publication.

Geography chapters

1. Resources and Development: types of resources, resource planning, land use, land degradation and soil as a resource.
2. Forest and Wildlife Resources: conservation and the role of communities.
3. Water Resources: scarcity, multipurpose river projects and rainwater harvesting.
4. Agriculture: types of farming, cropping seasons, major crops and technological reforms.
5. Minerals and Energy Resources: mode of occurrence, conventional and non-conventional energy, conservation.
6. Manufacturing Industries: importance, industrial location, classification and pollution control.
7. Lifelines of National Economy: transport and communication; for the board paper this chapter is used for map pointing, and the rest feeds the project.

Political science and economics chapters

Democratic Politics II

• Power Sharing
• Federalism
• Gender, Religion and Caste
• Political Parties
• Outcomes of Democracy

Understanding Economic Development

• Development
• Sectors of the Indian Economy
• Money and Credit
• Globalisation and the Indian Economy (the board paper covers what globalisation is and the factors behind it; the rest goes to the interdisciplinary project)
• Consumer Rights (project work only)

Civics and economics carry no map questions, so they reward clear, well-structured answers. Learn the examples NCERT uses, such as the Belgium and Sri Lanka cases in power sharing, because case questions often build on them.

Map work list

The 5 map marks are among the easiest to secure in the class 10 social science syllabus because CBSE gives a fixed list.

• History (Nationalism in India): Congress sessions at Calcutta, Nagpur and Madras; Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad mill workers' satyagraha; Jallianwala Bagh; the Dandi march.
• Geography: major soil types; dams such as Bhakra Nangal, Hirakud and Sardar Sarovar; areas of major crops; iron ore mines, coal mines and oil fields; thermal and nuclear power plants; cotton textile, iron and steel and software technology centres; major sea ports and international airports.

Practise on a blank outline map every week rather than only reading the atlas.

Board paper design

CBSE now sets the paper book by book, and you must divide your answer book into the same four sections. If you put a geography answer under the history heading, examiners skip it, and re-evaluation will not rescue it. Within the sections you still meet MCQs, short and long answers, source and case based questions and map items; CBSE's sample paper for your session shows exactly how many of each type to expect, so work through it before your pre boards.

Plenty of marks ride on competency based items such as case and source passages, so understanding a chapter matters more than memorising it. CBSE also holds two board exams for class 10: the February exam is compulsory, and the optional May exam gives you a second try in up to three subjects, and SST is one of the subjects you may pick.

A revision plan for the four books

Give each book roughly equal time because the marks are equal, but start with the ones you find hardest.

• Months 1 and 2: read each NCERT chapter once, make a one page summary with dates, terms and examples.
• Month 3: solve the case and source questions from CBSE sample papers, and practise maps twice a week.
• Final month: full papers from the CBSE class 10 previous papers, timed for three hours.

For extra depth on the history book alone, see the CBSE class 10 history syllabus.

Books to use

The four NCERT textbooks are all you need for content, since every board question is built on them. Practise with the sample papers CBSE releases each session, and read the marking scheme that comes with them, to see how answers are scored, and keep an outline map of India for practice. Coming from class 9? Compare this page with the CBSE class 9 SST syllabus to see how the books continue.