For examinations and tests we may need to commit to our memory some bits of information in any subject. Mnemonics can help us mainly to remember lists of words and order of things.

Mnemonics are memory devices that improve our memory to remember details especially in the form of lists like the atomic value of elements, the order of adjectives, characteristics, steps, stages, parts, etc.

How do we use Mnemonics?

If we have a list of words to remember in the same order, we take out the first letters of each of the words and make a sentence that we can easily remember.

For Example, learners of Class X need to learn a list the Reactivity Series, which is a list of metals arranged in the order of their decreasing activities.

Here is the list of Activity Series: Relative reactivities of metals

Reactivity Series

Learners need to remember this list of metals in the same order. The Mnemonic trick that we can use here is to take the first letter of each word and create a sentence that they can commit to memory easily.

The first letters are: P S C M A Z I L H C M S G

Mnemonic sentences are easy to remember if they are woven around a specific theme, if they are unique and unusual and if they bring a picture in front of the mind's eye.

One example sentence here could be:

Princess Sophia calculates maths adding zeroes in LCM HCF covering mainly silver and gold.

If learners are able to remember this sentence and associate the P of princess with the P of Potassium and S of Sophia with the S of Sodium and so on they can easily recall this list in the same order.

Composition of Atoms of the First Eighteen Elements with Electron Distribution in Various Shells

If Class X learners need to learn the first 18 elements and their atomic values they can use Mnemonic tricks.

Composition of Atoms of the first 18 Elements

If we take the first letters we will get H for Hydrogen, H for Helium and so on. Taking all these letters we can try to create a sentence for ourselves. 

Here is a sample sentence:

Have her light brown blue candles at night Over flashy neon streetlight, make all sleep peacefully, soon children awake

If learners memorise this sentence and then try to link the first H with Hydrogen, the second H with Helium, Lithium with the L of light etc. they can easily remember the order. The atomic numbers 1 to 18 can be easily remembered. Since the number of protons and electrons remain the same, they only have to learn a few calculations to learn the whole table.

In the same way if the learners want to know the order of adjectives in a sentence, they can use Mnemonics.

English

Order of Adjectives

The order or adjectives in a sentence has the following pattern:

Opinion, Size, Physical quality, Shape, Age, Color, Origin, Material, Type, Purpose

The first letters are OSPSACOMTP

Now let us try to create a sentence with words starting with these letters. They can be any words but when we read the sentence it should make a visual impact that remains in our memory for a longer time.

Mnemonic Sentence:

Oh! Spiderman paints sky and clouds orange mountain tops pink

Example sentence using multiple adjectives: She is a beautiful, tall, thin, young, black-haired, Indian woman.

The sentence we make for Mnemonics should be memorable and create a picture in front of our mind's eye. Then alone we can remember it for a long time. It is also important to associate the beginning of each word in the Mnemonic sentence with the original words they stand for.

Computers

Let's try it for one more subject. In computers you may need to remember the following and know which is bigger than which one.

KMGTP - these are the first letters. So we can make a sentence like

Keep, moving gadgets tied properly.

We can imagine the gadgets running away and someone advising us to keep them tied properly.

We can visualize this image in our mind. We should not forget to relate K to Kilobyte, M to megabyte and so on.

We can also create Mnemonics in our own languages.

கஞ்சகருமி மொட்டமண்டை குண்டு தக்காளி பூசணிக்காய் 

कल मंडप गिरके टूट पड़ा 

The beginning sounds of these words are KMGTP

Try to use this Mnemonic trick for whatever you want to remember.

Social Studies

Class X Federalism

In Social Studies which includes History, Civics and Geography, learners need to remember bits of information. At the time of examination they get confused because all the different information they commit to memory get into a chaotic pattern. The examination stress adds to the confusion. Hence some examples are given here to create Mnemonic bits that are easy to store and retrieve. This does not disregard the higher level understanding of the content learners are expected to acquire.

Different tiers of government

govern the same citizens, but each tier

has its own JURISDICTION in specific

matters of legislation, taxation and

administration.

A - administration

L - Legislation

T - Taxation

Jurisdiction Alt - Administration, Legislation, Taxation

The first route involves independent States

coming together on their own to form

a bigger unit, so that by pooling

sovereignty and retaining identity they

can increase their security. This type of

‘coming together’ federations include

the USA, Switzerland and Australia.

U - USA

S - Switzerland

A - Australia

Coming together federation USA

USA - USA, Switzerland, Australia

The second route is where a large

country decides to divide its power

between the constituent States and the

national government. India, Spain and

Belgium are examples of this kind of

‘holding together’ federations.

S - Spain

B - Belgium

I - India

SBI is easy for Indian students to remember as it stands for State Bank of India.

Holding together federation - SBI

SBI - Spain, Belgium, India

Union List includes subjects of

national importance such as defence

of the country, foreign affairs, banking,

communications and currency. They

are included in this list because we need

a uniform policy on these matters

throughout the country. The Union

Government alone can make laws

relating to the subjects mentioned in

the Union List.

B - Banking

C - Communications

C - Currency

D - Defence

F - Foreign affairs

Union List BCCDF (according to alphabetical order)

Banking, Communications, Currency, Defence, Foreign affairs

State List contains subjects of

State and local importance such as

police, trade, commerce, agriculture

and irrigation. The State Governments alone can make laws relating to the

subjects mentioned in the State List.

C - Commerce

A - Agriculture

P - Police

I - Irrigation

T - Trade

State List CAP IT - Commerce, Agriculture, Police, Irrigation, Trade

Concurrent List includes subjects

of common interest to both the Union

Government as well as the State

Governments, such as education, forest,

trade unions, marriage, adoption and

succession. Both the Union as well as

the State Governments can make laws

on the subjects mentioned in this list.

Edu - Education

For - Forest

Tr - Trade unions

A - Adoption

M - Marriage

S - Succession

Concurrent List EduforTrams - Education, Forest, Trade unions, Adoption, Marriage, Succession