Hands-on science activities thrill students

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Oct 10, 2014 :  Experimenting on all probabilities,  the school students  went beyond the classrooms to rediscover a different realm of science.  A one-day hands-on science workshop organised by Centre for Advanced Learning, St Agnes College and Sunday Science School, Pune, at St Agnes College in Mangalore on October 9 gave an added dimension of science to the child participants through a host of experiments, honing their science model making skills.

Starting from simple experiments like creating pattern of a magnetic field with iron filings, the students learnt how to make a controllable plane, DC motor and other experiments on physics and chemistry. These were meant to be the take home projects. A compact science kit provided to students was inclusive of the materials to be used for model making.

Sunday Science School (Pune) Director Dhake Suyash was the resourceperson. He said that children studying in Primary and High School are less prone to the practical knowledge of basic science subjects such as physics and chemistry. The workshop was organised to provide them with an opportunity to learn with playful activities which will be complimentary to the theory, he added.

CFAL Principal Severene Rosario speaking to media highlighted  the objective of the programme was to inculcate the knowledge of basic science among children by giving them a hands-on experience in science modeling. In adue course, the students would be able to grasp the functioning of electrical devices, chemical reactions etc and thereby explore innumerable possibilities of science. These experiments increase their curiosity on various aspects of the subject and they will be encouraged to find answers to their questions. This is an effort to kindle the scientific temper in students. The classes of Sunday Science School are conducted on every Sundays at St Agnes College with this very purpose, she said and added the understanding of basic science will help them face competitive examinations.

St Agnes College Chemistry department Head Dr Jayanth said that much hands on experience along with theory is needed for students in high school as they have insufficient exposure to practicals.  The children’s instinct towards science should develop with practical oriented activities, rather than through mugging up of theory he said.

A  student from Sharada Vidyalaya, Mangalore, said it was  ’science made easy’  for her and it was fun to experiment with difference principles of science such as electromagnetism and aero-modeling although she doesn’t possess a deep knowledge on the  topics.   Around 25 students from classes 7, 8 and 9 in various schools in Mangalore took part in the workshop. They carried out various experiments and created simple models, getting acquainted with many laws of science which included total internal reflection, buoyancy, electromagnetism and so on.  The furtherance of this programme was eagerly looked forward to it was gathered.