How to Study Botany for IAS Mains There are many reasons to make Botany a favourite optional subject, of late, with the students of Botany, Zoology, Agriculture, Medicine, Pharmacy and Chemistry background. (1) The subject, being from the science stream, is straight and conceptual in nature. Even if you do not have great skills of language but if you can understand and internalize the basic concepts and facts in a simplified manner, you can score very well. (2) If you are a graduate with Botany, then all that you need is the coverage of the topics you have not covered in B.Sc. plus a finishing touch to your existing knowledge base according to the Civil Service Examination. These requirements can be fulfilled in a relatively short period of time. (3) Being a Science subject, the syllabus is very well defined. So, you can carry out your preparation by remaining precisely within the boundaries of the syllabus. (4) The questions which are asked are straightforward and basic in nature. So, writing a good, balanced answer is not difficult for anyone who has mastered the basic concepts. (5) Last but not the least; a number of areas in the Botany syllabus (for example Environmental Issues) are extremely relevant to the General Studies preparation as well. Strategy for Preliminary Test The pattern of question in the Preliminary Test is not very consistent but one thing is clear after looking at least the past three years’ question papers – a systematic and complete coverage of the syllabus will put the student in a commanding position. The candidate should try to develop an understanding in each topic rather than memorizing it. If one is conceptually clear with the topics, Pre examination would be a cakewalk and ever shifting trends will have no impact on the performance in Preliminary Test. The current pattern of questions is changing. Now, more questions are being asked on Reproductive Biology, Physiology, Molecular Biology and applied aspects like Ecology, Biotechnology, Botany & Human Welfare etc. The number of questions from Description of Families, theories of systematics, Lower Plants etc. is decreasing. Some of the areas in Prelims syllabus, where a student should focus the most for the Prelims are: (a) Cell Biology (b) Genetics, Molecular Biology & Biotechnology (c) Plant Physiology (d) Methods of Reproduction and Seed Biology (Embryology) (e) Economic Botany & Applied Aspects of Ecology Strategy for Mains The preparation for Mains must be over before you start with Preliminary preparation, as the Main exam syllabus covers nearly 75% of the requirements of the Preliminary examination. If a student has not done graduation with Botany, the suggested strategy would be as follows. (1) Surveying the syllabus of Botany carefully and identifying the completely unfamiliar areas. (2) Going through at least 2 basic books with a purpose to acquaint yourself with the unfamiliar areas. You can consider the following books:(a) The NCERT Text Books for Biology–Std. XI and XII (b) Botany for Degree Students – Dr. A. C. Dutta (3) Doing a careful survey of the past 5 years’ Main Examination Question Papers and identifying the areas of significance. (4) Identifying the most fruitful areas: The most fruitful parts in the Paper I of the Main Examination Syllabus are:(a) Plant Diversity –In this area, do not go for excessive study of life cycles. First of all, the selection of the genera for your coverage must be done carefully. (b) Angiosperm Systematics – as this area tends to give a fixed question in paper I (c) Embryology of Angiosperms and Morphogenesis – This area is relatively small but can give you at least one full length question plus one short note, thus accounting for about 80 marks in a paper of 300 marks. (d) Economic Botany, which normally carries a weightage of about 40 marks. If a student covers these areas thoroughly (with a possible elimination of the questions that were asked just the last year), s/he can be absolutely sure of handling 5 questions in the Main Examination Paper I with very balanced answers. For equally good performance in Paper II, the student needs to cover the following areas: (a) An account of cell organelles & processes. In Botany, you need to focus a bit more on Cellular Processes like Cell division cycle and its regulation, Vesicular transport, Signal transduction, Chromosomal aberrations etc. There is usually a greater focus on these topics in the recent years. (b) Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology. (c) Plant Physiology & Biochemistry (d) Ecology (Only for Short Notes) (5) If we see the Main Examination paper of last few years, then it is obvious that the UPSC can ask even a short note on a topic which is otherwise quite long in coverage. Recent short notes on Cell Signaling and DNA Replication are examples of such questions.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 05:17:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015