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Some questions in a CBSE paper look like nothing you have practised: a toaster instead of a resistor, a hill station instead of a textbook diagram. These are higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) questions, and they follow a pattern you can learn.
What is a HOTS question in a CBSE paper?
A HOTS question asks you to use a concept you know in a new situation, or to analyse, compare or judge, rather than recall a fact. CBSE's question paper design for Class 10 Science (2026-27) splits the 80 theory marks by competency: 50% for demonstrating knowledge and understanding, 30% for application of knowledge or concepts, and 20% for formulate, analyse, evaluate and create (CBSE Class 10 Science curriculum 2026-27).
The same document lists the verbs that signal each level. Application questions use verbs such as calculate, illustrate, show, adapt, explain and distinguish; the highest level uses interpret, analyse, compare, contrast, examine, evaluate, discuss and construct. That verb is your first clue to what the examiner wants.
For the thinking levels behind these verbs, see Bloom's taxonomy: using levels of thinking to test yourself; for the formats, see CBSE competency-based and case-based questions.
Why do HOTS questions feel hard even when you know the chapter?
Because the surface is new, even when the idea is old. In a 1981 study, Michelene Chi, Paul Feltovich and Robert Glaser found that physics experts grouped problems by the underlying principle, while novices grouped them by literal surface features such as the objects in the problem (Chi, Feltovich and Glaser, Cognitive Science, 1981).
A HOTS question changes the surface. Read by its objects, it looks unfamiliar; read by its principle, it is usually a chapter you already know.
How do you answer a HOTS question step by step?
Spot the concept. Circle the command verb and the quantities given. Ask which law connects them, and write its name in the margin.
Link it to a known example. Recall a textbook example that uses the same idea. Note how this question differs.
Explain in steps. One idea per line: the principle, how it applies here, the working, and a final sentence that answers exactly what was asked.
Before you move on, check the answer against the command verb. Compare needs both sides. Justify needs a reason, not just a result. Calculate needs units.
Worked example: which bulb glows brighter?
Question: A 60 W bulb and a 100 W bulb, both rated for 220 V, are connected in series across a 220 V supply. Which glows brighter? Justify your answer.
The tempting answer is the 100 W bulb. Here is the routine.
Spot the concept. In series, the same current flows through both bulbs. Brightness depends on the power each bulb actually uses, and with the same current that power is P = I²R.
Link it to a known example. At home, bulbs are wired in parallel, each gets the full 220 V, and the 100 W bulb is brighter. This question flips that case: now the current is shared, not the voltage.
Explain in steps.
Find each resistance from its rating, R = V²/P. The 60 W bulb has 220²/60, about 807 ohms; the 100 W bulb has 220²/100, or 484 ohms.
In series, the current is I = 220/(807 + 484), about 0.17 A, through both bulbs.
Power used is I²R, so the larger resistance uses more: about 23 W in the 60 W bulb and about 14 W in the 100 W bulb.
So the 60 W bulb glows brighter, and both glow more dimly than their ratings.
If the question does not ask for numbers, the argument alone answers it: same current, so power is proportional to resistance, and the lower-rated bulb has the higher resistance.
If you cannot name the concept, revisit it in the Fermi Concept Library, which gives each concept its own lesson. If you named the concept but the method went wrong, the Fermi Problem Library has worked problems with a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning rather than printing an answer.
How should you practise HOTS questions before the board exam?
Name-only drill. Take five questions from a past paper and, without solving, write the concept each one tests. Then check.
Known-example list. For each chapter, keep three everyday situations that use its main idea, such as household wiring for electricity.
Check against the scheme. Compare your steps with the official marking scheme; using CBSE marking schemes shows how.
Try the routine on the last three questions of your next practice paper, and write the concept's name first every time.
